City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
__

ROYERSFORD — Caleb Little, Alex Lewis, Zach Zollers, Mike McKenna and Tyree Banks grew up playing hoops together.

Back when they won multiple ICBA championships with Spring-Ford Travel Basketball, the goal was always to suit up for the Rams’ high school team together one day and add a banner to the gym. They were in attendance seven years ago when Spring-Ford claimed the 2016 Pioneer Athletic Conference title, which was the most recent in program history entering Tuesday night.

Though they are all part of the Rams’ rotation, the quintet have rarely all been on the same floor together at the same time this season except for a brief moment on Senior Day. 

But There they were in their home gym in the closing minutes of Tuesday’s 74-55 Pioneer Athletic Conference championship win over Upper Merion, together just like they envisioned seven years ago

“We’ve been talking about it since we were little kids,” Little said. “It’s been the No. 1 goal since at least fifth grade when we saw the 2016 team win in it here. It’s amazing for us.”

Spring-Ford seniors, from left, Zach Zollers, Tyree Banks, Alex Lewis, Caleb Little and Mike McKenna pose with the PAC championship plaque. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Spring-Ford’s seniors aren’t the team’s stars. Zollers, McKenna and Banks all come off the bench. Lewis is a three-year starter and Little would make an all-defensive team if such an honor were afforded, but they are fine filling in the scoring gaps around sophomore Jacob Nguyen and junior E.J. Campbell most of the time

Nguyen rarely missed in a 25-point outing Tuesday and Campbell had 11 of his 17 in the fourth to help Spring-Ford sprint away from the Vikings, the Frontier Division champions. Still it was hard to ignore the impact of those five seniors.

Little was aggressive early finishing with 12 points to go along with six assists, four boards and two steals. Zollers added eight points and was dominant on the glass, collecting eight boards (four offensive) off the bench. Lewis scored four and did his usual dirty work around the floor; Banks had a bucket in the first quarter with the game still tight; and McKenna played in all four quarters as well.

“Nobody cares about who scores. Nobody cares who gets the credit,” Rams’ second-year coach Joe Dempsey said. “It all starts with those five seniors. They’re terrific kids. Three of them come off the bench, could probably play a lot more for the other teams in the league. They let me coach them hard and their record speaks for itself. … You don’t do what we’ve done thus far without special kids.”

The Rams nearly ran the table in the regular season, winning 20 straight games before Perk Valley knocked them off in their regular-season finale. Spring-Ford had to survive Norristown in double overtime last Friday in the semifinals, but the league’s best team throughout the season looked like it through all four quarters of Tuesday’s title game, which was the first in Upper Merion’s history.

Spring-Ford took control of the contest early, closing the first quarter with six straight points to grab a 15-7 lead. Upper Merion senior Zayd Etheridge, who finished with 21 points, did his best to help the Vikings hang in the game, but the Rams headed into half with a 36-25 advantage. The Vikings never found their way back, struggling to piece together successful possessions on both ends. 

UM junior Elijah Davis hit a pair of threes in the third quarter to trim that down as low as eight, but Nguyen heated up for 10 points in third, capping the quarter with a triple put Spring-Ford ahead 52-39. It didn’t take long into the fourth, following a string of Campbell buckets, to realize there was no comeback coming.

“I feel like we all just play unselfish,” Lewis said. “Younger guys like Jacob and EJ, they’re ready to hit big-time shots. They’re gonna hit those shots and we’re gonna put our trust in them. None of the seniors, all five of us. No one cares. We just want to win at the end of the day. Whatever gets the job done is what works for us.” 

“Our end goal is to just win games and we do that any way we can,” Little said. “Jacob and EJ are our great scorers, so we just try to fit in every way we can.”

The Spring-Ford boys basketball team poses together following Tuesday's PAC championship win. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

The blue collar work down low of Zollers, a 6-2 forward, felt like it gave the Rams an edge Tuesday. Upper Merion was already having a hard time slowing Spring-Ford’s offense, the extra possessions he provided proved demoralizing. He also added a charge taken in the second half.

The standout football player missed out on PAC titles on the gridiron in his junior and senior seasons, but bringing that physicality to the court for a league championship with kids he grew up playing basketball with was a nice consolation.

“It’s awesome. All of us just want to win,” Zollers said. “It doesn’t matter who gets the credit. We just want to win. It’s just amazing how unselfish we are. No one really wants to, ‘Get theirs.’ We’re just so unselfish.”

Lewis was part of a team his sophomore year that missed the district playoffs on the last day of the regular season. He was joined by the rest of the group at the varsity level last season as the Rams missed out on the PAC Final Six  and had to practice in the auxiliary gym while the other top programs of the league competed for a championship.

There was no way they were letting that happen this season. 

Dempsey checked his seniors into the game together in the final minutes with the score out of reach. He made a mass substitution letting them walk off the court together as well and begin the championship celebration a little early. Little was handed the PAC championship plaque after the game and Lewis was the final Rams player to cut down a piece of the net.

It was just like they envisioned from the crowd seven years ago. 

“It couldn’t be any better,” Lewis said. “This is what you dream of your whole life. This is the moment you want, to capture this. Your sophomore, you’re playing in front of just your parents. You’re on the court in facemasks. Now, you have the crowds here, cheering you on. It’s a dream come true really.”

~~~

By Quarter

Upper Merion:   7  |   18   |  14  |  16  ||  55
Spring-Ford:   15   |   21   |   16   |  22  ||  74

Scoring

Upper Merion: Zayd Etheridge 21, Elijah Davis 9, Nick Smiley 7, Devon Nelson 6, Colin Hirshorn 4, Devin Swayze 4, Richie Wynne 2, Cole Gemmill 2

Spring-Ford: Jacob Nguyen 25, EJ Campbel 17, Caleb Little 12, Zach Zollers 8, Tommy Kelly 6, Alex Lewis 4, Tyree Banks 2.