Neylon’s 32 points power Unionville past Upper Moreland in District 1-5A quarters
UPPER MORELAND >> Unionville’s Sean Neylon made big shots when he was open and bigger ones when he was not.
“He played unbelievable,” Unionville coach Chris Cowles said. “That was an elite performance by him. He’s a great player and I’m really happy for him.”
Neylon hit six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 32 points as the driving force in Unionville’s 55-43 upset of top-seeded Upper Moreland Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the District 1-5A Playoffs.
“This is a pretty big win. We’re excited obviously, but we know we have more work to do,” Neylon said.
The No. 8 Indians will head to No. 4 West Chester Rustin for a Friday night semifinal matchup.
Upper Moreland finished a terrific season at 13-4.
“(Unionville) did a great job. Sean did a tremendous job shooting tonight,” Bears coach Matt Heiland said. “I’m very proud of this group. Obviously, we didn’t want it to end this way, but sometimes the cards don’t fall your way.”
Neylon’s off-balance three sent Unionville into the fourth leading 39-32.
The Indians, who led all the way since midway through the first quarter, widened the gap to eight on a hard drive and three-point play by Neylon.
Kevin Nowoswiat hit a jumper and Neylon scored in transition to give Unionville a 47-38 cushion with three minutes to play.
Neylon was hot from the outside and got to the basket when he needed to.
“I was feeling it, and our coach puts us in a great position to score,” Neylon said. “Kevin hit a bunch of big shots and we just came out with the attitude that we’re gonna be aggressive.”
Unionville’s standout guard had a big first quarter, scoring in transition moments later to build the advantage to 9-6.
He hit his second 3-pointer from deep to widen the margin to 12-6 and hit again from the outside to allow Unionville to take a 15-8 advantage into the second quarter.
The Indians controlled things right through to the break.
Upper Moreland found something inside with Matt Tiernan, who scored 13 of his team-high 17 in the first half, but Neylon continued to hit key shots for the visitors.
The guard hit his fourth 3-pointer to build the lead to 23-15 and later hit a jumper to make it 27-20 at the break.
Upper Moreland surged in the third quarter, its outside game helping to get the Bears as close as four.
But Neylon’s off-balance three helped build the lead back to 39-32 heading into the fourth.
A jumper by Byron Hopkins brought the Bears within 42-38 early in the fourth, but that’s as close as they would get.
Key for Unionville (6-5) was the return of Nowoswiat, who scored 18.
“Kevin’s finally healthy. He hasn’t been healthy all year,” Cowles said. “He broke his ankle in November so he’s just getting back to full strength. And you could see his impact on the game at both ends.
“(Upper Moreland’s) a really good team. And we knew that going in, from watching every game they played this year. So we knew they had a bunch of runs in them. And we knew we were gonna have to do everything on defense to have a chance.”
The defense dug in for Unionville.
Said Neylon: “Our defense really picked us up when (Upper Moreland) made a run. We locked in on that end.”
Tiernan battled hard inside for the Bears.
“Matt’s been one of the most constant, steady pieces for us all season,” Heiland said. “Offensively, defensively, rebounding the ball…He does all those little things that we preach in practice and it shows up in the game.
“He’s a crucial part of this team’s success this year and he’ll be a tremendous part of it coming back next year as well.”
As for his squad as a whole, Heiland said: “I’m very proud of this group. We didn’t want it to end this way, but I’m super proud of this group. I thanked the seniors for everything they’ve given us.”
Unionville 55, Upper Moreland 43
#8 Unionville 15 12 12 16 – 55
#1 Upper Moreland 8 12 12 13 – 43
Unionville: Jack Regenye 0 0-0 0, Sean Neylon 10 6-6 32, Ryan Lenkaitis 1 1-2 3, Kevin Nowosiat 5 7-8 18, Brian Kammeler 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 14-16 55.
Upper Moreland: Justin Sanders 1 0-0 2, Byron Hopkins 3 0-0 8, Jahire Johnson 2 1-2 5, Jourdan Gregg 3 0-0 7, McKie Walker 0 1-2 1, Jake Tiernan 1 0-0 3, Matt Tiernan 7 3-3 17. Totals 17 5-7 43.
3-pointers: U-Neylon 6, Nowosiat; UM-Hopkins 2, Gregg, Tiernan.
