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Upper Darby boys set new bar in big win over Harriton

01/07/2023, 5:15pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

UPPER DARBY — Bob Miller has been at Upper Darby High School for more than two decades. There isn’t much he hasn’t seen in his 28 years as a high school head coach.

And yet the longtime Royals head coach was almost at a loss for words when it came to describing what he’d just seen his team do over the course of 32 minutes — especially over the first 24 of them — against Harriton in a Central League matchup on Saturday afternoon.


Nadir Myers (above) and Upper Darby scored a season-high 86 points against Harriton on Saturday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“I’m going to tell you, I don’t know if it’s the most [points] in my tenure, but I’ve never seen a team shoot like that [like we did] today,” he said, adding later that he thinks it might be his high-water mark, though he had to check. “We don’t always shoot it like that. But that was unreal.

“I told them at the end, I said I can’t wait to watch this on Hudl. Because you don’t have nights like this, ever.”

Miller’s Royals were absolutely on fire from the first couple minutes, when Nadir Myers sank the first 3-pointer he took, all the way through the end of the third quarter, when Miller was able to pull his starters as the reserves played the entire fourth of an 86-62 victory.

The Royals were 32-of-56 (56%) from the floor, 12-of-21 (57%) from the 3-point line, hitting 10 of their 13 foul shots. Their top four were all outstanding: Myers, the table-settler had 16 points and five dimes; 6-3 wing Yassir Joyner led the way with 25 points, adding seven rebounds and three assists; 6-4 forward Niymire Brown had 19 points and nine rebounds; Khysir Slaughter added 15 points and four rebounds.

Brown, who has to play the ‘5’ for Upper Darby but is really more of a wing forward, was 4-of-5 from deep, missing his first and then making his next four. Joyner was 3-of-5 on his 3-pointers, Slaughter hit his only attempt. Myers, who hit three triples in the first quarter to initiate the onslaught, scored 12 points in the opening page and then deferred to his teammates, finishing 3-of-8 on his 3-pointers.

The third quarter, which they began with a 41-31 lead, became a deluge of Upper Darby buckets, five 3-pointers (and 10 baskets overall contributing to a 32-point outburst that made it 73-44 entering the fourth. One bucket later, the clock running for the remainder, Miller went to his bench.

“When we’re all on the same page, we’re scary,” Miller said. “It’s when we think about ourselves or whatever that we’re not. [...] Today, I don’t know what to say. Every shot went in.”

It’s not that Harriton wasn’t playing defense — the Rams (6-5, 2-4) were playing hard, contesting shots, making the Royals work for opportunities in the halfcourt offense, only turning it over seven times against the Royals’ press. Junior guard Marquis Kublish was strong with a 24-point, five-rebound effort, and sophomore wing Calvin Smith added 15 points, including four 3-pointers.

None of it really seemed to matter for Upper Darby, which moved to 8-3 on the season (4-3 Central League). The Royals hit shot after shot from all over the court — corner 3’s, driving layups, put-backs. After scoring 82 on Ridley on Tuesday and 78 against Conrad Science (Del.) at the end of last month, they’re now averaging 67 points per game.


Yassir Joyner (above) had 25 points on 9-14 FG (4-4 FT) to lead the Royals. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“That’s the best one so far, but we get better each and every day,” said Myers, a 6-1 senior guard, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark earlier this week. “So there’s more coming.”

Adding Joyner, an Upper Darby native who went to Beverly Hills Middle School but then left for the Public League, playing at South Philly as a junior before coming back to UD, has been a big boost for a squad that went 7-14 (5-11) a year ago, missing out on the league and district playoffs.

Now they’re riding a five-game winning streak, up to No. 10 in the unofficial District 1 6A rankings, which would be good enough to earn them a home game in the first round if they’re still in that spot four weeks from now. 

“I think we work harder in practice, we get up and down, we get in more shape, and everybody shares the ball,” Myers said. “And everybody trusts in each other to make shots, so everybody gets open.”

Upper Darby’s in the mix in the Central League to get into the six-team league playoffs, with Haverford, Springfield (Delco.), Strath Haven and Marple all entering Saturday with three league losses. Radnor (6-0), Garnet Valley (5-1) and Lower Merion (4-1) all seem highly likely to take the two byes and third seed, but any of the group behind them — including four-loss squads Conestoga and Harriton — could sneak into the mix. 

The Royals’ three losses have come to Garnet Valley, LM and Conestoga, and they’re now in the midst of an important stretch, playing at Strath Haven on Tuesday and against Marple at home next Friday, then have a six-day prep for Radnor on Jan. 19. 

Win four of their next five league games, including games against Penncrest (1-5) on Jan. 24 and Ridley (0-5) on Jan. 26, and they’ll be in good shape heading into a touch home stretch that includes games at Lower Merion (Jan. 28) and Garnet (Feb. 2) plus visits from Haverford (Jan. 31) and Conestoga (Feb. 7).

“Obviously Radnor’s the team to beat, Lower Merion’s ridiculously good, and Garnet Valley’s had our number — they change defenses, they run a lot of stuff,” Miller said. “It’s going to be a very, very interesting Central league down the stretch. I think it’s entertaining.”

By Quarter
Harriton:           15  |  16  |  13  |  18  ||  62
Upper Darby:   22  |  19  |  32  |  13  ||  86

Shooting
Harriton: 21-50 FG (7-22 3PT), 13-20 FT
Upper Darby: 32-57 FG (12-21 3PT), 10-13 FT

Scoring
Harriton: Kubish 24, Smith 15, Abrams 6, Seltzer 6, Cronan 5, Chodkowski 2, Goerlich 2, Johnson 2

Upper Darby: Joyner 25, Brown 19, Myers 16, Slaughter 15, Brown 8, Alston 3


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