City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Lower Merion’s season has been about more than wins and losses, more than points and rebounds. That’s clear from the shirts the Aces wear before each game, the name Hughes on the back, a big number 14 below it. It’s emphasized when they break every huddle with the word ‘Hughes,’ a constant reminder of the extra motivation they’ve had, the emotions lying just beneath the surface. 

It’s why, when the Lower Merion boys defended their District 1 6A basketball title on Saturday, 68-57 over Norristown, they all lined up to hug a woman and her three children, then invited Kristi Hughes and her children — Nolan, Jack and Kate — to join them for photos with the trophy. 

“It was all for him, the season, everything we did, it was just for him,” LM senior Demetrius Lilley said. “We thought about him every step of the way.”

Sean Hughes, Lower Merion’s principal, Kristi’s husband, Nolan, Jack and Katie’s father, was killed in November in a car accident. It was a death that rocked the Main Line community, who had embraced Hughes in the course of his 14 years as the school’s principal, where he was immensely popular amongst not only the thousands of students he oversaw in his time on Montgomery Avenue but their friends and family as well.

Lower Merion celebrates the 2022 District 1 Class 6A boys championship. Kristi Hughes is holding the trophy. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The Aces dedicated their entire 2021-22 season to Hughes, who was often seen at games, and kept his memory close to their hearts the whole way through, whether through their shirts, their huddle breaks, their thoughts, or their attitudes.

“We were grieving all season, no doubt,” Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer said.

Not always an easy burden to carry for a group of high schoolers, but it’s one Lower Merion wore with pride and honor.

“I think it brought us a fire, it brought our student section an extra edge,” junior guard Sam Wright said. “I think it really gave us a way to play for Sean and I think it brought a lot of happy and mad emotions that we could bring to the court and kind of use against our opponents.”

Hughes meant enough to Lilley, the program’s star center, that the Penn State signee changed his number to 14 this season, his own personal tribute.

“Two days before he passed away, he came to my signing day,” Lilley said, mentioning a day he shared with hoops teammate and Duke lacrosse signee Henry Bard. “(Hughes) gave us a big hug and said ‘I’m so proud of you,’ he said ‘I’m so proud of you and what you’re accomplishing.’

“Just knowing that he had passed away two days later [...] it hurt me so bad. Everything I do is for Hughes, everything I do is for him. We miss him a lot, so I had to wear No. 14 for the 14 years that he’d been our principal, I had to.”

“We just had a singular focus to make him proud,” said Downer, in his 32nd year on the Aces’ sideline. “He was such a big part of Aces Nation and our existence, and we just didn’t want to let him down. Not to say a second-place finish wouldn’t have been okay, but [there was] maybe a little bit of destiny there.

“It feels good to put a smile on his childrens’ face,” Downer added. “That’s the first time we’ve seen the family, and I was really happy that they could be here tonight.”

The Aces’ back-to-back titles are the first time the program’s accomplished that since winning five straight from 1939-43; they also won it in 1976 and 1978, and in 1996, Kobe Bryant’s senior year. 

“I thought two or three weeks ago that we really had a shot to be the best team in the district,” said Downer, whose Aces came in seeded No. 2, “but you’ve got to complete that final 32 minutes to stake that claim, and that game was pretty tight. We cracked it open at the end, but to get back-to-back district titles, in an amazing district like District 1, it feels great.”

Lilley led the way with 24 points and 18 rebounds in the win, yet another monster double-double from the best big man in District 1. Wright (14 points), senior guard Jaylen Shippen (13 points) and junior guard Justin Poles (10 points) joined the future Nittany Lion in double figures.

Lower Merion (24-3) jumped out to a 17-2 lead and had that same 15-point edge after one quarter, with Lilley scoring nine points in the first quarter; he had 15 by halftime. Norristown found itself at that point, however, closing to within 32-25 at the break when senior guard Righteous Mitchell got fouled taking a half-court shot and knocked down all three, part of his team-high 14 points.

The Eagles (21-8), seeded No. 12 in the district but in the final courtesy of upset wins over No. 5 Haverford, No. 4 Bensalem and No. 1 Methacton, got all the way even with LM at 39-39 late in the third quarter, but never got in front. 

“[There were] two possessions where once we tied it up, and we didn’t score off of those, they got the rebound, then they scored, and [...] that was a big hump,” Norristown coach Dana ‘Binky’ Johnson said. “if we would have scored off of those two possessions, I felt that could have been a different [game] coming down the stretch.”

Lower Merion, leading by four entering the fourth (45-41), went to its four corners offense, though the Aces didn’t use that as an excuse to stop attacking the bucket. Shippen continually split the Norristown defenders and got into the lane, including a driving bucket that made it 50-41 with 6:10 left.

A quiet few minutes were punctuated by a Lilley 3-pointer which put the Aces up 62-54 with 1:40 left. He put the final wrappings on the victory in the final 15 seconds, taking a feed from Wright and slamming home the last points of the day’s District 1 championship quadrupleheader as the crowd roared.

“When Sam got the rebound, I knew he was going to outlet it to me, so I was like, I’ve got to dunk it this time,” Lilley said. “He didn’t have to pass it…I appreciate Sam Wright for that.”

Lower Merion will play host to Chambersburg, the No. 6 seed out of District 3, in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament on Wednesday; higher seeds are hosting the first round of the tournament, as long as their gyms are big enough; the Bryant Gymnasium certainly passes that test. As the No. 2 seed out of District 1, Norristown gets Hempfield, the No. 5 seed out of District 3, in the western half of the bracket.

“We’re still going to celebrate tonight,” Wright said, “but probably Monday, we’ll start focusing on the state tournament.”

By Quarter
Lower Merion:   21  |  11  |  13  |  23  ||  68
Norristown:        6   |  19  |  16  |  16  ||  57

Shooting
Lower Merion: 25-45 FG (6-15 3PT), 12-16 FT
Norristown: 18-44 FG (7-21 3PT), 14-16 FT

Scoring
Lower Merion: Demetrius Lilley 24, Sam Wright 14, Jaylen Shippen 13, Justin Poles 10, Sam Brown 7

Norristown: Righteous Mitchell 14, DJ Johnson 13, Myon Kirlew 9, Nassir Williams 7, John Dinolfi 7, Zaki Gomez 5