City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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ROYERSFORD — Josh Zimmerman dusted himself off from the bench ready to make a play.

He wasn't sure exactly how it would materialize, but after 23 minutes and 58 minutes minutes of watching he was finally getting his chance He wasn't going to waste it.

When Nick Smiley’s potential go-ahead free throw bounced off the  the rim, Zimmerman literally jumped at the opportunity. He grabbed the offensive board and tossed it awkwardly toward the rim, beating the buzzer to deliver Upper Merion a 64-62 double overtime victory in Friday’s Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinal at Spring-Ford and sending UM to its first-ever PAC title game.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit hard. I’m itching to get in,” Zimmerman said. “I want to get out on the court and play some ball, but I was kind of waiting for my moment and even if it was a short split second  I made the most of it. That’s what I was waiting for.”

For the first two and a half quarters, the teams went back and forth, PV leading 21-19 at halftime, Perk Valley started to distance itself late in the third. Sophomore Mason Thear (18 points) beat the buzzer to give PV a 34-27 leading entering the fourth.

Junior Julian Sadler, who finished with a game-high 23 points, added a quick three to start the fourth to push the lead to 10 and PV held a double-digit advantage as late as the 4:27 mark in the fourth when it led 41-31. 

UM chipped and chipped away until senior Yusuf Riley stole the ball and came down and drilled a three to cut the lead to one, 48-47, with a minute left. Thirty seconds later sophomore Devon Nelson tied the game 49-49, helping send it to the first overtime.

The first overtime played out similarly with PV going up by four, 53-49, with 1:14 left in the extra period. This time junior Allen Cole drilled the triple to cut the deficit to one. After PV missed a pair at the line, UM senior Zayd Etheridge came down and got fouled with 0.9 seconds left. He missed the first attempt but after a timeout hit a clutch shot to send the game into another extra period.

“We never lose hope,” Smiley said. “That’s all we gotta do is stick together and never lose hope.”

Smiley led UM with 21 points, saving his heroics for the final frame. After Sadler put PV up 62-58 with 44.4 seconds left, Smiley came down and converted a layup plus the foul. Two more missed PV free throws allowed him to come down and tie the game and earn a trip to the line for a potential winner.

“It was fun. It was probably the best game I’ve played in in my life,” Smiley said. “Not the best game performance wise but it’s the funnest game I’ve played in. Being able to make history for Upper Merion is an amazing feeling.”

Smiley, who made his first seven free throws of the game, couldn’t finish of f the winning play. Luckily, Zimmerman was up for the task.

Upper Merion coach Jason Quenzer had confidence Smiley was going to knock down the shot, so Zimmerman was put in to guard the inbounder. Instead he secured the miss and beat the buzzer, becoming an unlikely hero for UM.

“We were confident in Smiley knocking down that shot, and then he was gonna go guard the inbounder just to give some length, but he took an opportunity and flipped it on its head,” said Quenzer, who picked up the 100th win of his career with the victory. “It’s great stuff.”

By Quarter

Perkiomen Valley:      13   |  8  |  13  |  15 |  4 | 9  ||  62
Upper Merion: 11  |  8  |   8   |  22 |  4  |  11  ||  64

Scoring

Perkiomen Valley: Julian Sadler 23, Mason Their 18, Morgan McKinney 9, Kyle Shawaluk 6, Luke Hansen 2, Ryan Murphy 1. 

Upper Merion: Nick Smiley 22, Devin Swayze 9, Devon Nelson 8, Allen Cole 6, Yusuf Riley 6, Zayd Etheridge 5, Colin HIlshorn 2, Josh Zimmerman, Elijah Davis 2

Spring-Ford outlasts Pottstown in 2OT

Spring-Ford senior Caleb Little had a chance to put Friday night’s PAC semifinal against Pottstown away in the first overtime before clanking both attempts from the stripe. When he got another chance in the second overtime, Little was ready to get the job done and put the contest on ice. 

Along with his several big defensive plays and clutch rebounds, his three clutch free throws finally helped Spring-Ford pull away for a 71-66 double overtime win over the Trojans to secure a spot in its first PAC championship since 2018.

“They felt really good,” Little said. “I don’t know how I would have gone to school Monday if I didn’t make those free throws.”

Sophomore Jacob Nguyen finished with 26 and junior EJ Campbell added 21 for Spring-Ford in the win. Pottstown countered with a more balanced attack as juniors Ty Elliot-Moore (16), Jurrell Young (14), Abdul Jackson (12), Sadeeq Jackson (11) and senior Terryce Phillips (10) all scored in double figures.

There was no double-digit lead in this one, but both teams had moments where it looked like they had taken control of the game. Sadeeq Jackson stole the ball and went coast-to-coast to put Pottstown up 49-45 with 1:38 left in regulation. Nguyen scored four straight, including an impressive up-and-under, to tie the game and force the first OT.

“It was a great team win, great team defense, everyone contributed,” Nguyen said.

“This is all for the seniors,” he added. “The seniors are the best seniors I’ve ever had, and I want to win it for them.”

The Rams jumped out front 58-53 with 1:21 left in the first overtime and led 60-56 with 29.4 seconds to play. Young hit a big three then Little missed his foul shots with 10.3 seconds left. Elliot-Moore and Phillips both hit free throws for Pottstown to cut the lead down to one. Campbell pushed it back to two, 63-61, with 6.8 seconds to go. Then Abdul Jackson sprinted down the court and tied the game at the buzzer to force a second extra period.

Pottstown was without most of its top scorers by the end of the second extra period after they fouled out. Spring-Ford was shorthanded as well, but the Rams eventually won the war of attrition. Little knocked down a pair of free throws with 68-64 with 44.7 seconds to go. A 1-for-2 trip for him at the line after a defensive rebound pushed the advantage to 69-64 with 19.3 seconds to play and the game was pretty much over after that with most of Pottstown’s shotmaker sitting on the bench.  

The Rams were forced to walk out of practice past the rest of the league playing in the postseason this time last year. Now, they will be playing for a league title against Upper Merion next week.

“We made it freshman year and we got blown out by PJP, so this was definitely a new experience and it was definitely great,” Little said. 

By Quarter

Pottstown:      13   |  8  |  13  |  15 |  14 | 3  ||  66
Spring-Ford: 12  |  11  |   13   |  11 |  14  |  8  ||  71

Scoring

Perkiomen Valley: Ty Elliot-Moore 16, Jurrell Young 14, Abdul Jackson 12, Sadeeq Jackson 11, Terryce Phillips 10, DiMark Lyons 3

Spring-Ford: Jacob Nguyen 26, EJ Campbell 21, Tommy Kelly 8, Caleb Little 7, Zach Zollers 5, Tyree Banks 5, Alex Lewis 1.