City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Jon Clark experienced firsthand what made last year’s Upper Moreland boys basketball group special last season.

A group of kids who grew up playing together broke through into the District 1-5A semifinals and state playoffs after a long string of early postseason exits.

This year’s team can’t replicate the relationships formed through years and years playing together. However, Clark hopes they can find a way to mirror that bond and improve on that run.

“Without bashing on my old teammates, I feel like this year we definitely have more talent than last year,” Clark said after his team improved to 4-0 on Friday with a 61-50  Suburban One Freedom win over Lower Moreland.

“But I feel like what made our team last year so good was they came up together from third grade all the way up. They were playing together so long. WIth our talent now, if we can get to that family level they were at last year, we’re going to go deeper into the playoffs.”

Those who followed the Bears last season won’t find too many familiar faces on the floor or names in the box score.

Clark, a senior 6-foot-3 guard, led the way with 22 points on Friday. Junior guard Alex Best added 12, and sophomore guard Colson Campbell chipped in nine.

Campbell was the first or second guy off the Bears’ bench last season and Clark was typically the second or third to check into the game, also playing on the junior varsity team. The rest of Upper Moreland’s rotation is pretty much brand new as the Bears replace five starters.

Many of those stepping into the starting lineup and other important roles played together on the JV team last season and went up last year’s state playoff squad in practice.

“A lot of us played JV last year, so we were still working hard in practice, competing with the varsity, getting ready for this year, honestly,” Clark said. “We have a lot of talent. Obviously, we have more size than last year but I think it’s just working on geling together. If we gel together, we’re going to be good.”

Clark’s words about talent and size have merit.

Just take a look at the front court where 6-6 sophomore Nigel Adamson steps into the starting five alongside 6-9 junior Sean Murphy, who comes to the Bears from Archbishop Wood. Adamson pulled down 12 boards on Friday and the towering duo create all kinds of problems for opponents in the lane, combining for several blocked shots against Lower Moreland.

On the offensive end, Clark and Campbell have been the ones leading the way thus far. Clark had seven early points Friday to jumpstart his team to an 11-2 advantage and had 15 by the end of the first half to put Upper Moreland ahead, 29-18. 

Clark’s 22 points matched a season-high, while Friday was the first time Campbell didn’t reach double figures, going for 26 in one game. Murphy, Best and senior guard Ralph Tyler have all reached double digits and can go off when needed to as well.

“I have high expectations for these guys,” Upper Moreland coach Dan Heiland said. “I see the work they’ve been putting in all offseason and leading up to this point. The fact that Jon scored 20 points it’s not surprising at all. The nice part about this is we have guys who can score. Tonight was Jon’s night, the next night could be somebody else’s. That’s a great thing as a coach to have on your team to know that any night someone can step up and take on that scoring role.” 

Signs of the chemistry the Bears are looking for also appeared on Friday night.

As Lower Moreland, which was led by 13 points from junior Carl Barnette and 12 points off the bench from junior John Kroll, made a fourth-quarter push Upper Moreland answered with teamwork.

With their double-digit lead down to six and about four minutes left, Tyler tossed to Campbell for a three. Soon after Campbell returned the favor in transition for a deep Tyler two that put the Bears ahead, 54-43, with 3:20 to play. The run forced a Lower Moreland timeout and led to a lot of high-fives for Tyler and his Upper Moreland teammates on the way to the bench.

Those are the moments Clark and Heiland hope build the camaraderie they are looking for to help the Bears take another step this season.

“Coming into the season, I didn’t really know,” Heiland said. “It’s five new guys, five guys trying to learn how each other play the game and the benefits of playing that way. Finding that glue that sticks us together. My biggest thing I preach to these guys is trusting your teammates and playing together and knowing, ‘When I kick the ball out to an open guy he’s gonna make the shot. When I make a pass to the big he’s gonna finish, and if I beat my guy I gotta do my job and finish at the rack.’”

“I continue to preach trusting each other, building that team chemistry,” he added. “If we continue to get better and keep competing everyday, we’re gonna do some nice things.”

Upper Moreland 61, Lower Moreland 50

By Quarter

Lower Moreland: 2 | 16 | 12 | 20 || 50

Upper Moreland: 11 | 18 | 13 | 19 || 61

Scoring

Lower Moreland: Carl Barnette 13, John Kroll 12, Thomas Przybylinski 7, Gabe Krutzinger 6, Ian Alecia 6, Kevin Hegedus 6.

Upper Moreland: Jon Clark 22, Alex Best 12, Colson Campbell 9, Sean Murphy 6, Nigel Adamson 6, Ralph Tyler 4, Jimmy Perce 2.