No. 11 Upper Merion breaks cycle of first-round exits, topples No. 6 Pottstown in District 1 boys basketball opener

POTTSTOWN >> It’s hard to beat a good team three times. It’s even harder when you’re missing firepower.

No. 11 Upper Merion traveled to No. 6 Pottstown for the opening round of the District 1 Class 5A tournament on Friday, but sophomore starting guard Devon Nelson arrived with crutches and a boot, having fractured his right ankle in practice just 24 hours prior.

But in a next-man-up effort all around Upper Merion’s squad, the Vikings were able to handle the Trojans, winning 55-50 — and going 3-0 against their divisional foe on the season — to break a four-year cycle of first-round exits in the district bracket.

With the win, Upper Merion (14-11) will head to No. 3 Unionville in the second round of the District 1-5A tournament on Wednesday, tipoff at 7 p.m.

“It’s amazing. I love these guys to death,” Vikings guard Colin Hirshorn said. “(The seniors) deserve it. We all deserve it.”

FINAL — No. 11 Upper Merion 55, No. 6 Pottstown 50

Upper Merion advances and will take No. 3 Unionville in the second round of the District 1-5A tournament.

After making the PAC tournament for the first time in 10 years, a magical year for Pottstown comes to an end. pic.twitter.com/9fQHcwZpKd

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) February 18, 2023

Hirshorn and Nick Smiley dished out 14 points apiece for Upper Merion while senior guard Zayd Etheridge put up 12. Devin Swayze added eight points as the workload was divvied up.

Having gone 6-16 overall last year, Pottstown reached the PAC tournament for the first time in 10 years, hosted a district playoff game and finished 15-9. Junior guard Sadeeq Jackson hit for a game-high 23 points.

Having rolled out to a 9-1 run to start the game, the Vikings never trailed in the contest. While Upper Merion had different pieces step up to fill the void of Nelson’s offensive production, it was a stout defense that got the Vikings off on the right foot.

Upper Merion, which bounced back from being handled by District 1-6A top-seed Spring-Ford in the PAC final earlier in the week, allowed just one field goal and two made free throws from the Trojans through the first eight minutes, taking a 16-4 lead into the second quarter.

“It was every guy coming out and making a stop,” Hirshorn said. “Everybody, on-ball, off-ball defense. Taking charges, getting in their heads, keeping them out of the paint, that’s their big thing. Just taking people off the dribble trying to score. I think we did a great job with ball pressure.”

Pottstown woke up in the second quarter as its shooters found their rhythm. Sadeeq Jackson opened the frame with a layup and scored six of his 23 points to pull the Trojans within eight points at different points.

Q2, 7:02 — Sadeeq Jackson has entered the chat. The junior cuts the game to 10 for the Trojans.

Upper Merion 16, Pottstown 6 pic.twitter.com/AlcoDtCYJT

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) February 18, 2023

But the Vikings were able to keep their distance, being forceful in the low block and trading buckets with Pottstown to head into the locker room with a 24-14 halftime advantage.

“You gameplan and you talk a lot about personnel and what their strengths and weaknesses are, you try to get the right matchups and scheme the right sets,” Upper Merion coach Jason Quenzer said. “But at the same time, I also feel like when you go into a game like this, with players, there’s always some nerves. Earlier on, they didn’t seem as aggressive as I’ve seen them play.”

Pottstown has been quite the aggressive bunch this winter. Jackson is fifth in the Pioneer Athletic Conference in scoring at 15.3 points per game while senior guard Ty Elliot-Moore is just behind him at 15.1. Jackson’s twin brother, Abdul, bolsters the engine with 13.9 ppg for a high-octane offense that produced a PAC-best 59.1.

That beast of an offense has twice pushed Upper Merion to the limit in the regular season, the Vikings taking wins of 69-68 and 80-75 in overtime. But in Friday’s meeting, Upper Merion was able to hover around a 10-point lead for much of the game and led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter.

However, Sadeeq and Abdul Jackson (10 points) lit the sparks for the Trojans in the fourth frame, amassing 11 and nine points respectively in a period that saw Upper Merion outscored 26-19 as Pottstown fought to keep its season alive to the end.

The closest the Trojans came was within five points on an Abdul Jackson layup with five seconds left to close out the scoring.

“Obviously later in the game, they looked a lot more like themselves,” Quenzer said. “They were making shots, turning us over, a little mix of both.”

Q4, 2:30 — Sadeeq Jackson scores in transition and he’s up to 19.

Pottstown cuts it to eight. pic.twitter.com/8Xo5wxs33u

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) February 18, 2023

The Trojans had won just three games in the PAC last year, all within the Frontier. While Pottstown will be losing key seniors in forward Terryece Phillips and Elliot-Moore, the squad will retain much of its talent in the Jacksons, Jurrell Young and Jullian Beasley.

“I think it was big for our program to have this little bit of success. Like one of my players said, there’s a lot of crappy stuff that goes on around here and people are happy to come watch us play,” Trojans coach Ken Ivory said. “People come out and pay money to see us play and we were able to pack the gym. It was great, the support we got from the community.

“I realized it might’ve been the most packed it’s been in a long time.”

Upper Merion did more than break the cycle of District 1 first-round exits this season, having won the Frontier and reaching its first PAC championship since joining the conference in 2017. The Vikings’ next test will lay in the hands of a Unionville program that’s been a major cause for Upper Merion’s early postseason exits in the past.

Meanwhile, Pottstown ends a longer season than its had in a decade after having played three games this postseason between the PAC and District 1 tournaments.

“This class did a great job for us, man. They provided the foundation for the rebuild,” Ivory said. “We just need to get better. Now, maybe we’ll be a little hungrier.”

Upper Merion 55, Pottstown 50