City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
—

FORT WASHINGTON — Seaton Kukla needed a game like the one he had Friday night.

It had been a rough few months for the Upper Dublin senior, a shoulder issue that led to surgery in the fall throwing off his rhythm in the early part of the season. Coupled with a new coaching staff stepping in, a host of football-playing teammates out to start the season and his own slump, Kukla wanted to get himself going in a big way.

There aren’t many bigger ways to get going than a career night, which the 6-foot-5 senior did to the tune of 30 points and nine rebounds to power the Cardinals past William Tennent 73-49 on Friday night.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit, I haven’t hit more than one three in a game the entire season so when I hit the second one, I thought, ‘alright, now I’m feeling it,’” Kukla said. “I lost my feel for the game being out for three months, having surgery, I couldn’t play and I needed to hit a couple shots to get my confidence back and going again.”

Kukla is the veteran presence for the Cardinals, who won their fifth straight game on Friday, a varsity contributor since he came into the program who has grown into a leader this winter. The Cards have other seniors and leaders like guard DJ Cerisier, wing Griffin Pensabene and Colin O’Sullivan - currently out injured - but they’re all football players first while Kukla is strictly hoops.

Coming off a surgery and right into a slump to start senior year might not seem like the best way to earn a green light from a new coach, but first-year UD head coach Derek Brooks had no qualms about getting Kukla to pull. When he looked back at last year’s numbers, he saw Kukla was a 50 percent shooter from three, albeit on just one attempt per game, so Brooks wanted to get that number up.

“We were like, ‘listen, you have got to let it rip,’ and he had a very good summer,” Brooks said. “Unfortunately, he had the surgery that took him out for a couple months but he’s a worker, he’s super-skilled and we knew one of these games, he was going to blow up. 

“Thank God he did it in a big moment, he pulled us out of a rut offensively in that first quarter. If we get even 75 percent of that guy tonight moving forward, we’re going to be in good shape.”

Tennent came out hot, leading 11-6 with 3:32 left in the opening quarter, then Kukla got going and it all turned around. The stretch big hit back-to-back threes, the first off a nice feed by Ryan Mulroy, then hit a third consecutive trey to answer one by the Panthers to kick off a 10-3 quarter-ending run that put UD ahead 22-17.

“Once he hit his first three threes, I knew he was going for at least 30 tonight,” Mulroy said. “He did it in a scrimmage against Neshaminy, I think he had like 40 in that scrimmage. When he gets hot, he won’t miss. He’s big for us, he’s our team captain so we need him to keep stepping up like that and it’s our job to give him confidence.”

Kukla stayed rolling into the second quarter, adding eight more points to his 11 first quarter markers as the Cardinals carried a 38-30 lead to the half. Mulroy, who had a quiet first half, got going in the third quarter as he and Kukla combined for all 15 UD points in the frame, including a 13-0 run that stretched the lead to as much as 20.

The last basket of the run was Kukla’s 29th and 30th points, the senior picking up his fourth foul in the final minute of the quarter and sitting a lot of the fourth with the score tilted in UD’s favor.

“Off ball movement I think is really important to staying hot, you’re getting your body moving and getting open shots,” Kukla said. “When you’re feeling confident about what you did in the first half, it’s really easy to knock it down again.”

Brooks said Kukla’s been around eight to 12 points per game, doing a lot of work inside so seeing a 6-of-9 showing from long range was really encouraging.

“We knew the shooting was going to come and boy did it come,” Brooks said.

Kukla has drawn Division III interest and holds a roster spot offer from Juniata, placing the Landmark Conference program as his clear No. 1 and likely destination for the next level.

“I really like everything about them and their program,” Kukla said.

UPPER DUBLIN 73, WILLIAM TENNENT 49

Kukla’s prolific offense stole the show on Friday, but the bill going in was the featured matchup between UD sophomore Ryan Mulory and Tennent’s standout junior guard Kirby Mooney.

Mulroy drew the task of guarding Mooney and won the night both on a team and individual level, scoring 11 points with six rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block on Mooney while the Panthers’ lead scorer was limited to six points, four boards and four assists. With DJ Cerisier, an all-state caliber defensive back in football, taking on Tennent point guard George Marion, the Cardinals were determined to slow down a high-octane Panthers offense.

“Ryan’s like our mini-Mooney,” Brooks said. “He’s a year younger than Mooney, having a great sophomore season and we challenged him tonight. He stepped up, he’s a gamer, that kid and DJ did a great job on Marion tonight.”

Mulroy, who is enjoying a breakout season of his own, was eager to take the challenge against a player he respects, regards as a friend and hopes to possibly join forces with this summer.

“Kirby’s a really good player, he’s a good friend of mine actually and I work out with him in the fall and summer, hopefully I’ll be playing AAU with him this year but I knew I had to step up,” Mulroy said. “That wasn’t just me, it was everyone. It was fun tonight, that was a big win for us. We struggled a bit in the beginning of the year but this was a good win for us.”

Brooks didn’t need any extra prep on Mooney or Marion, having come over from New Hope-Solebury and lauded the two Tennent guards as first team All-SOL level players this season and not just as scorers, but their playmaking and shot creation skills. 

“We saw all their scores going into tonight, we knew we would have to bring our ‘A’ game and they came out swinging. I was a little nervous but we re-gained ourselves and we knew they were going to make runs,” Brooks said. “They’re probably averaging somewhere in the 70s, they can really fill it up, so our second half defense is what won this game and I’m pretty happy with that.”

By Quarter

Upper Dublin:     22  |  16  |  15  |  20  ||  73

William Tennent:  17  |  13  |   7   |  12  ||  49

Scoring

UD: Seaton Kukla 30, Ryan Mulroy 11, DJ Cerisier 9, Brady Fogle 9, Chris Kohlbrenner 5, Kobe Bazemore 3, Anthony Oliviera-Schultz 3, Idris Rines 2, Griffin Pensabene 1

WT: Chris D’Ambra 9, Sean Devine 9, Imad Abunima 9, George Marion 7, Kirby Mooney 6, Evan Devor 6, Vincent Sulpizio 3