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Cerisier ignites Upper Dublin boys past Wissahickon; Ngo lights it up for UD girls

01/28/2023, 12:30am EST
By Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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AMBLER — DJ Cerisier’s forte is defense, but don’t overlook him as an offensive threat.

Whether it’s football, where he earned his spot as one of the best defensive backs in the state or basketball, where he routinely guards a top perimeter player on the other team, Cerisier is a lockdown defender. He’s far from a one-way threat though, a standout wide receiver and a good scorer with a basketball in his hands.

Friday, needing a rally to keep its win streak alive, Upper Dublin followed Cerisier’s lead late for a 43-39 comeback win over rival Wissahickon.

“In the beginning of the game, we weren’t really in our heads, we were out of it,” Cerisier, who scored 10 of his 12 in the fourth quarter, said. “I’m a leader, I’m a captain so I had to pick it up and lead us to win this game. I felt like I had to take it over for myself.”

At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Cerisier has been one of the very best defensive backs in the SOL for the past three seasons, most often lining up at corner across from the opposition’s best receiver. His exceptional play this fall as part of UD’s run to a District 1 5A title and the PIAA 5A semifinals earned him a selection as an All-State DB as well.


Upper Dublin senior DJ Cerisier scored 12 points in a win over Wissahickon. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

It was this past summer where Cerisier decided that while he liked basketball, his talents were best suited for football and that would be his future sport in college. His efforts this season finally earned him a coveted Division I opportunity when Duquesne offered on Dec. 6 with New Hampshire recently extending an offer as well and Cerisier hopes to announce his commitment this weekend.

Friday, his efforts were needed in the closing minutes of an extremely tight game and a 12th straight victory at stake.

“My mindset was that no one was going to stop me,” Cerisier said.

Friday was the annual Silent Night at Wissahickon where the home students cram into the sections of bleachers opposite the team benches in all manner of costumes and then stay totally quiet until the Trojans score their eighth point. They didn’t have to wait overly long, with Jaylon Williams’ three putting Wiss ahead 10-7 with 2:29 left in the first quarter and getting everyone loud.

Playing in front of a stanchion packed to the gills with kids that aren’t making any noise can be a weird experience and UD coach Derek Brooks felt his guys tried to compartmentalize it by actually being too calm. The Cardinals, who have been on an absolute roll since their 3-4 start - which no coincidence overlapped with the end of the football season - just didn’t have the necessary energy for two and a half quarters.

“The defensive activity wasn’t good enough, we were a little too tight on offense and took it us until, honestly, when we started pressing,” Brooks said. “That’s one of the reasons why I went to it, we said we’ve got to just go and speed this game up. Some of our guys got going and DJ was the hero at the end there.”

Williams scored on a gorgeous backdoor cut with 1:08 left to give Wissahickon, which led by as many as 12 in the quarter, a 32-24 lead. Cerisier scored on the next possession and after a stop, found Terrell Turner for a basket to beat the buzzer that sent UD into the fourth down just four.

Cerisier would go into takeover mode soon after, but there was a pivotal play just before that. After a Cardinals miss, guard Brady Fogle managed to steal the ball away from Wissahickon going to the floor, kept it alive then got up and hit a three to make it a one point game.

“Diving on the floor, you battle for it and hit an open guy, he doesn’t sit on the floor and wait,” Brooks said. “He hops up, gets to his spot and buries it. That’s a huge swing.”

Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said the loss felt like a few others this season, where a couple small things added up to just enough to keep the Trojans on the wrong end.

“Cerisier, he was a difference maker that fourth quarter, he goes and gets the tough buckets for them when they need it,” Wilson said. “A game like that, it’s a game of inches and that’s the difference.

“I told our kids, keep your heads up, it’s a tough loss. They really wanted to win on Silent Night, I think it’s a great atmosphere for both communities especially with two rival teams.”

After Fogle split free throws to tie it 32-32, Cerisier fired off and scored the next 10 points for his team with two driving layups, a short jumper and a pair of clutch foul shots before Dom Vacchiano hit a big three to pull Wiss within 40-39.

Cerisier then made two more clutch free throws after a lockdown UD defensive possession and following Brooks’ instructions, took a foul with 3.5 left to keep the Trojans from even getting a look at a potential tying three.

“I was pretty confident, every shot I took, I knew I was probably going to make it,” Cerisier said.

UD hasn’t lost since back-to-back games against Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh in early December. Fittingly, those are the next two games on the team’s schedule.

“I think we’ve seen how good we can be,” Cerisier said. “We’ve had the time together, we can all see the potential.”

By Quarter

UPPER DUBLIN 11 | 5 | 12 | 15 || 43

WISSAHICKON 10 | 12 | 10 | 7 || 39

Scoring

UD: Brady Fogle 13, DJ Cerisier 12, Seaton Kukla 7, Terrell Turner 4, Ryan Mulroy 3, Mason Pensabene 2, Griffin Pensabene 2

W: Dom Vacchiano 14, Jaylon Williams 11, Andrew Slackman 5, Earl Stout 5, Will Kirkpatrick 2

The Upper Dublin-Wissahickon boys game drew a sizable crowd from the Cardinals' student section for their 'Silent Night' game. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Upper Dublin 61, Wissahickon 32

There wasn’t much Amy Ngo could do basketball-wise the last 11 months, but she could always shoot.

So, Ngo shot and shot and shot and shot and shot and just kept shooting as soon as she was able after having her right knee put back together last spring. She hadn’t been bad in her first four games of the season since returning to the court with Upper Dublin last Tuesday, but she also hadn’t quite played like herself yet.

Friday, the outcome of all that shooting was on full display as the junior lit up Wissahickon for 31 points, hitting 11-of-11 overall from the floor, all six of her 3-points and slacked it up at the foul line, hitting just 3-of-4 attempts.

“Yesterday, I asked my mom to give me a pep talk because I still wasn’t feeling completely there yet and my shots in practice weren’t feeling great, so she hyped me up and I think it really helped today,” Ngo said. “In warm-ups, I was still like ‘oh no,’ it didn’t feel too good but once I made that first one, I just kept going.”

Funny enough, Ngo didn’t even feel all that great warming up for what would be the highest scoring game of her career. Once she got going, scoring on a driving layup off the right wing in the first quarter for her first basket and the team’s first points, that was a second thought.

Wiss did a nice job slowing the game early but trailed 9-8 after one. Ngo, who had just that lone layup in the first, broke out in the second quarter with 15 points and nearly outscored Wiss herself in the half as UD led 35-18 at the break.

Cards coach Morgan Funsten said Ngo is close to having her minutes restriction lifted but the coaches are still going to be mindful of when to get her off the floor. When she is out there, the coaches definitely want her to start looking for herself a little more.

“Her shot is a thing of beauty, there’s no fluke when she makes shots,” Funsten said. “She has balanced, she squares up. I’m always surprised when she misses.

“She did a lot of growing up, she was already a great kid and a mature athlete but when all you can do is watch, her whole life she just played and played and played. She’s been forced to watch a lot of basketball the last year and I think she learned what it means to just play simple.”

Ngo started the third with three straight 3-pointers for Upper Dublin and another hoop later in the quarter on a steal turned layup. Her only blemish on the night came with a missed foul shot 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, otherwise it was all cotton on everything.

“I couldn’t do a lot but one of the things I could do was shoot,” Ngo said. “My speed isn’t there but my shooting consistency was one thing I knew I could try and keep. I got a lot of shots up, I tried to keep that up because I needed something.”

UD has a huge week coming up with home games against Abington on Tuesday and Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday before traveling to Springfield-Delco on Saturday. Before they got there, the Cardinals had to get Ngo to 30 and let her younger sister Megan be the one to provide the assist on an inbound play with 5:55 left.

“I didn’t even know I was close,” Ngo said. “As soon as I came out, our assistant, Coach Steve (Gelone) said ‘we ran that one for you’ and that’s when I realized.”

By Quarter

UPPER DUBLIN 9 | 26 | 18 | 9 || 61

WISSAHICKON 8 | 10 | 9 | 5 || 32

Scoring

UD: Amy Ngo 31, Colleen Besachio 11, Megan Ngo 5, Nora Brady 5, Kaitlyn Zacharia 3, Alaina Sanders 2, Lili Kleiman 2, Kaylee Fitzkee 2

W: Kaitlyn McGeary 15, Maura Jacob 6, Skye Sydney 3, Eva Schools 2, Kylie Friedman 2, Julia Lettieri 2, Claira Baldasano 2


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