Upper Merion uses strong 2nd quarter to best Springfield-Montco

UPPER MERION >> Hampered by a shoulder injury the past few weeks, Friday night was Izzy LeGendre’s full return to the court after getting some minutes in Monday’s loss to Harriton.

“Definitely really sore right now,” the Upper Merion junior said. “But it’s definitely getting better. A work in progress.”

The same could be said for the Vikings girls basketball team. Upper Merion battled to find consistent play hosting Springfield-Montco in the Vikings’ holiday tournament but for a time found it in the second quarter. UM scored the last 13 points of the first half then collected the opening four of the third to build a 18-point lead as the Vikings went on to snap a three-game skid with a 50-38 victory over the Spartans.

“When we’re dialed in and focused on what we’re trying to do, we’re pretty good. When we’re not, we’re pretty bad,” Vikings coach Shawn Wheeler said. “So I think that the Springfield team stayed in a zone which made us — we were relatively comfortable offensively. They switched to a man and our IQ is high enough to make the right adjustments and so I was happy with that and that’s kind of what you saw in that stretch there.”

LeGendre scored a game-high 17 points, 12 coming after halftime in the free-throw heavy contest — the teams combining for 63 shots from the line. Upper Merion (4-5, 2-1 PAC Frontier) was 21-of-37 on free throws while Springfield finished 10-of-26.

“We wanted to speed the game up to force their bigs to kind of handle the basketball,” said Wheeler, in his first season with the Vikings. “And it does in a sense, it was effective but then it turns into a free-throw shooting contest because one of our keys is to defend without fouling and clearly we didn’t do that tonight, I don’t know what the foul (total) looked like.”

Springfield’s Rileigh Serroni collected 11 of her team-high 14 points in the fourth. Maddie Yoder added 10 points for the Spartans (0-6 0-3 SOL American), who trailed by as much as 21 before finally get shots to drop in the final quarter.

“They just need to relax,” Springfield coach Dave Giordano said. “I think the break had a little bit to do with it. They just need to calm down with the basketball. We didn’t play as good as defense as we’re capable of. And they didn’t rebound very well at all. But once they woke up at halftime, they played like it should have been at four o’clock.”

Upper Merion takes on Bishop Shanahan — a 27-21 winner over Conestoga in Friday’s first game — in the tournament final at 2 p.m. Springfield takes on Conestoga in the consolation at noon.

“I was very proud that we pulled out the win, I was very happy,” LeGendre said. “Definitely need to work on staying connected a little bit which we know. But I think overall we’re coming together really well which is nice to see.”

LeGendre’s injured shoulder is not the only ailment the Vikings are dealing with as they finish out the 2019 portion of the season.

“We’ve had a shoulder injury, we had two in concussion protocol, we had the stomach bug come through the team,” Wheeler said. “So practice attendance has been light but we’re learning how to win, we’re learning how to play a new style.”

Springfield pulled within 9-8 in the second quarter on an Emma Cawley putback but those points ended up being Spartans’ last until after the break. A Skye Omoqui basket put Upper Merion up 17-8 while a free throw from Katie Frey — who finished with nine points — pushed the lead to 10 at 2:51. A LeGendre baseline jumper had the Vikings ahead 22-8 at the break.

“I think we honestly started flowing a little bit better together which gave me a little more confidence on the court in general,” LeGendre said. “Working together definitely helps me feel more secure on the court knowing that my team’s there.”

A LeGendre basket and two Frey foul shots extended Upper Merion’s run to 17-0 early in the third before Yoder’s 3-point play at 6:11.

Springfield got within 14 at 29-15 after a Yoder basket but the Vikings responded by scoring the next five — Leila Borghaei’s 3-pointer making it 34-15. Morgan Donovan’s putback at the buzzer putting the Vikings up 38-17.

Springfield shook off its offensive struggles in the fourth, starting the quarter with 8-0 run. A Frey basket had the Vikings’ lead at 43-29 before Serroni and Raya Davis knocked down consecutive 3-pointers, cut the margin to 10 with under two minutes remaining.

“First quarter I think again with the break we were settling for jumpers, we should of been driving to the basket,” Giordano said. “And I think some of those same calls that happened in the fourth quarter would have happened in the first which would have put us on the line in a more comfortable (position). And then when the shots finally went down, it opens up the whole floor and changes everything.”

The Vikings, however, did not let its lead dip below double digits, and was up 50-37 after two LeGendre foul shots with 44.9 seconds.

Upper Merion 50, Springfield-Montco 38
Springfield          5   3   9 21 — 38
Upper Merion   8 14 16 12 — 50
Springfield: Rileigh Serroni 6 1-4 14, Maddie Yoder 2 6-14 10, Emily Smith 1 2-4 4, Emily Guicheteau 1 1-4 3, Raya Davis 1 0-0 3, Emma Cawley 1 0-0 2, Annie Coll 1 0-0 2, Totals 13 10-26 38.
Upper Merion: Izzy LeGendre 5 7-12 17, Katie Frey 2 5-9 9, Hannah Foster 1 4-4 6, Jenna Foster 1 3-6 5, Skye Omoqui 2 1-4 5, Leila Borghaei 1 0-0 3, Riley Anderson 1 0-0 2, Morgan Donovan 1 0-0 2, Emma Wellington 0 1-2 1, Totals 14 21-37 50.
3-pointers: S-Davis, Serroni; UM-Borghaei.