Ray rallies Fords to seal perfect season with PAISAA title

PHILADELPHIA — Trailing for nearly the entire 32 minutes of regulation in the PAISAA boys basketball championship final against tall and talented Westtown, Haverford School came back for a 67-62 overtime win in its final test of the season Saturday evening in front of a packed house at Jefferson University.

The win completes a 28-0 season for the Fords, their first PAISAA title to add to consecutive Inter-Ac crowns.

Westtown relied on solid rebounding and the offensive talents of Jalen Gaffney (27 points) to forge a 34-27 lead at halftime. Late in the third quarter, the Moose still enjoyed a 45-35 advantage.

But the Fords slowly came back, as La Salle University-bound Christian Ray began to take over. When Ray grabbed back-to-back offensive rebounds and scored on a putback to cut Westtown’s lead to 52-50, there were four minutes left. Jameer Nelson’s end-to-end drive and free throw made it 54-53 with 3:03 left.

Twenty one seconds later, another putback by Ray gave the Fords a 55-54 lead — their first lead since early in the first period.

“I’ve received so much support from this community, and this being the last time I’ll have this Haverford School uniform on my chest, I wanted to give back, to win the (PAISAA) title no matter what it took,” said Ray, who finished with 17 points, 13 after halftime.

After a three by TJ Berger gave Westtown a 57-55 lead, Ray scored underneath to tie it at 57 with two minutes left.

In the overtime period, Ray fired the first shot, a trey from the top of the key, to put the Fords ahead 60-57.

After a Gaffney trey tied it at 60, Nelson hit a short jumper from the baseline, was fouled and made the free throw to put the Fords up 63-60.

Following a Gaffney drive to the basket, Nelson scored inside under heavy traffic for a 65-62 lead with 30 seconds left. Two free throws by senior Gavin Burke in the waning seconds iced the win.

“This is a great way to go out,” said Burke. “In the fourth quarter, we strapped down on defense, kept making stops and getting shots. We kept believing in each other to make the next play.”

“Our kids willed things to happen late in the game,” Haverford School coach Bernie Rogers said. “They got stops on defense, came up with loose balls, got some big shots down the stretch.”

In the first half, Jameel Brown kept the Fords in the game, with 18 points before halftime. He finished with 24 points and six treys.

“Hustle and grit was the key for us tonight, fighting for each other as brothers,” said Brown.

Nelson, who finished with 17 points, smiled and said, “I’m kind of in shock right now. The key was believing we could fight to get back in it when we fell behind.”

Rogers said, “This group of kids really like each other, and they really share the ball well.”

“We lost in the final last year, and in the locker room before this season, when we talking about our goals, someone mentioned going undefeated,” Ray said. “It was kind of a laughing moment, but we kept winning and this feels great, giving back to the community with an undefeated, history-making season.”