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Long spreads the wealth as Springfield (Delco.) tops Radnor

01/19/2017, 12:15am EST
By Josh Verlin

Kyle Long (above) dished out 10 assists in Springfield's win. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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It makes sense that Kyle Long is a terrific passer.

After all, it’s what the Springfield (Delco.) junior spends all year doing -- no matter what sport he’s playing.

As a lacrosse midfielder, he’s a wizard with the stick, committing to one of the nation’s top programs (Maryland) before his sophomore year in high school. And on the hardcourt, he’s just as capable dishing the rock.

“Lacrosse and basketball are very similar, it’s all about spacing,” he said. “Draw one guy, another guy cuts backdoor and you get him the ball, it’s very similar.”

In a Central League matchup at Radnor on Wednesday night, the Cougars’ floor general carved the Raiders’ defense up to the tune of 10 assists during a 59-47 win.

The 5-foot-10 guard put on a passing clinic, making everything from routine plays to some flashy looks, including a few no-look feeds on backcourt cuts that he somehow got past Radnor defenders.

Despite only scoring two points, there’s no doubt Long was the most important player on the court for his team.

“I only get mad when he throws one-handed cross-court passes,” Springfield coach Kevin McCormick said. “He’s a lacrosse player, and he’s an exceptional one, so he’s got that edginess to him that I don’t want to stifle, I just have to contain it. And tonight’s as good as he’s played.”

Long missed a few minutes of the first quarter getting attended to after an inadvertent arm to the face resulted in a bloody nose, but he didn’t seem to be bothered much by the gauze occupying one nostril the rest of the way.

Call it a lucky charm, of sorts.

“I guess,” he said. “Because from then on we dominated.”

Trailing 13-11 after one quarter and 18-17 midway through the second, Springfield (8-6, 5-4) closed out the first half on an 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead at halftime. That momentum carried right through the break, as the Cougars scored the first seven of the third quarter to open up a 32-18 advantage.

Neither team was able to make much of a run beyond that point; Springfield never got the lead past 16, and Radnor never got closer than nine.

With senior forward and leading rebounder Great Orjih sitting this one out after picking up two technicals in his team’s last game, Springfield junior Ja’Den McKenzie stepped up with 10 rebounds to go along with his 14 points, adding in three assists, a steal and a block for good measure.

McKenzie’s three-point play in the fourth quarter, on a perfect lob outlet pass by Long -- the point guard cited it as his favorite assist of the night -- was a key play to help his team keep up with a Radnor offense that put 20 points on the board over the closing eight minutes.

“Ja’Den was great tonight, great tonight,” McCormick said. “That’s a stat-sheet filler, that’s a great night for him. And he may have had his worst day of practice yesterday, he had a stomach virus.”


Senior Kyle Sullivan (above) had 19 points to lead all scorers in the win. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The third member of the Cougars in double figures was junior guard Mike Webb, who had 11 points, nine of which came in the second half. The 5-10 guard, who’s only in his ninth game of high school basketball -- he became eligible midway through the season after moving into the district, and take classes online -- adds some athleticism to the Springfield perimeter, and some scoring punch as well alongside senior Kyle Sullivan (19 points), McKenzie and senior forward Justin Collins (9 points).

“He’s doing his best, he’s getting extra time in, trying to figure out what we do with our system,” Long said. “By the end of the year, hopefully he picks up everything and we can get him going full-tilt.”

Radnor (5-9, 1-8) was led by senior wing forward Tommy Webb, who knocked down five 3-pointers for his 17 points. The Raiders, who have played a lot of the league’s best competitively despite the uneven record, will go for their second league win of Jamie Chadwin’s first season against Haverford HS (0-8 Central League) on Friday.

Springfield is hoping that the win will serve as a springboard towards a strong second half of league play after inconsistent performances over the first nine games. The Cougars also play on Friday, traveling to Ridley (6-8, 3-5) to take on another Raiders squad that has lost five of six.

Wins are of utmost importance if they hope to chase down Strath Haven and Lower Merion for the fourth spot in the league playoffs and improve seeding for the District 1 5A tournament.

“It just gets us going, we lost three of our last four and I think we’re not happy about that,” Long said. “We know we can get on a run here and create some havoc in the Central League.”


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