Lower Merion, Harriton celebrate spirited basketball twinbill

Rosemont >> The Lower Merion School district boys’ and girls’ basketball teams were put on center stage Jan. 19 for their annual doubleheader – hosted this year by Harriton High School.
The gym was packed; the student sections were spirited; and the games did not disappoint with both contests coming down to the final minutes before the outcome would be decided with Harriton winning the girls’ game 57-50 and Lower Merion the boys’ contest 75-62.
“It was a wonderful night for the community,” said Lower Merion High School Assistant Superintendent Scott Eveslage, who previously served as Lower Merion High School Athletic Director and Vice Principal at Harriton High School. “It gave us an opportunity to celebrate the pride in our district and pride in our schools. There is a mutual admiration on both sides and especially since Harriton entered the Central League (in 2009) it has not only a neighborhood game but a league game that has meaning to it and I think it has become more and more special each year.”
“Tonight was fun,” said Harriton senior Meg Willcox, who finished with 11 points (including a trio of three-pointers). It’s a good feeling to get the win in my last Harriton–Lower Merion game but with my time winding down at Harriton it’s kind of bittersweet knowing it’s the last time I will play Lower Merion.”
“It was huge,” said Lower Merion senior Jared Robinson. “Big crowd. Big game. Fun atmosphere. It was everything you could want in a basketball game.”
As the girls’ game entered the final stanza and Harriton had rallied from a 24-19 halftime deficit to take a 38-36, the student sections came alive to provide motivation and hopefully give their team a lift.
After Brown had down most of the scoring damage for the first three quarters, she continued to cause problems for the Lower Merion defense by driving the lane which caused the defense to collapse and allow Brown to kick the ball out to Willcox along with freshmen Lexy Calhoun and Alexia Louca who would help keep the Aces at bay.
“We know it’s super important to get everyone involved for us to be successful,” Willcox said. “Christina was huge for us tonight and made the right decisions of when to shoot and when to kick the ball out.”
Knowing the final minutes would be tense, seniors Bethany Eldridge and Sarah Fitzpatrick did everything they could to get their team over the hump but the closest the Aces would get would three (47-44 and 51-48) but clutch foul shooting helped the Rams fend off the Aces and pick up the victory.
“Tonight was awesome,” said Eldridge, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds for Lower Merion. “This is my 4th time playing in this game and every time the energy brought into the game is great to see. We have grown up playing against each other in basketball and seeing these people all around who have had a shared experience and then seeing them kind of reunite at tonight’s game was great to see. I just wished we could have pulled this one out.”
Following the women’s game, it was the boys’ chance to take center stage. As the starting lineups were being introduced the respective student sections did their part in getting the players pumped up.
As expected, the game was a physical one with Lower Merion jumping out to an early 11-6 lead thanks in large part to senior Harrison Klevan and junior Darryl Taylor. However as they have done all season, the Rams came roaring back eventually knotting the game at 16 thanks to a 9-0 run spurred by junior Zach Schulman and seniors Griffin Berkowitz and Luke Glickman.
The game would go back and fourth until midway through the third quarter when Lower Merion gave themselves some breathing room. The Rams would continue to scratch and claw but Lower Merion would prove to be too much and pull away at the end.
“The fans were rockin on both sides,” said Harriton senior guard Drew Levin. “We did not win during my four years and that leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but I believe this young team may be able to achieve that goal. Playing in front of family and friends helped push us to new limits and it was awesome. We would have loved to win it for them but unfortunately we could not get it done.”
Lower Merion senior Harrison Klevan said, “This is a resilient group. This group practices super hard and know when it’s time to step up. The two student sections and the atmosphere was unbelievable. We have known each other since playing PVJSA (Penn Valley Junior Sports Association) and even in middle school. The crowd and the atmosphere was just awesome.”