City of Basketball Love

By Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)

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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2023-24 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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Lower Merion boys basketball graduates a Division I recruit for the second consecutive season, but it’s never smart to doubt Gregg Downer’s Aces and their ability to reload.

“We don’t have a ton of game experience coming back, but our guys are playing with a lot of confidence,” Downer said. “We had a very good offseason in terms of wins and losses. And you know, our motto is ‘Tradition never graduates.’’’

Demetrius Lilly is now a sophomore at Penn State. Sam Brown is now a freshman at Penn. Six seniors from last year’s team are gone, including the backcourt of Brown and Sam Wright, who combined for more than 2,000 points.

Next man up.

“We have some guys ready to carry on the tradition,” Downer said. “Owen McCabe is in line to be one of the best point guards in the Central League, if not the district. He had a very good year in limited minutes as a junior. He’s probably going to be the leader. That’s a role he’s ready to tackle.”

McCabe, a 5-foot-8 guard, averaged around four points per game last season off the bench and will need to boost that average to replace Brown (16.0 ppg) and Wright’s (12.0 ppg) offensive output. 

John Mobley, a 6-2 swing man and returning starter, was a second-team All-Central League selection last season and averaged around six points per game. He’ll be asked to boost his scoring, as well.

McCabe, Mobley, 6-foot wing Adam Herrenkohl and 6-4 forward Justin Mebane are the next crop of seniors tasked with carrying on Lower Merion’s winning ways.

Downer is comfortable with rebuilding, and it’s part of the reason the Aces have won three state titles in his tenure, which spans more than 30 years. The most recent title came in 2013 as a B.J. Johnson-led Aces beat Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s Chester. Garrett Williamson and Ryan Brooks led the Aces to the title in 2006, defeating the Dajuan Blair- and D.J. Kennedy-led Schenly. The late, great Kobe Bryant headed the 1996 state champions.

In addition, Downer’s Aces have won three district titles, with Lilly leading them to back-to-back trophies in 2021 and 2022. The Central League is typically the Aces' to lose.

“We have a three-pronged approach,” Downer said. “We try to win the Central League and districts and then qualify for states. Often 20 wins comes with that.”

An upstart Radnor squad topped the Aces in the Central League championship last season before a six-point loss to Plymouth-Whitemarsh in the District 1 Class 6A semifinals and a four-point overtime loss to Roman Catholic in the PIAA Class 6A second round ended the Aces’ season.

“We lost to Roman back-to-back years in states,” McCabe said. “It was the seniors’ last game, so it was hard for them. We definitely still have that in our minds and are pushing for better.”

Spring-Ford has reloaded after falling in the district championship to P-W and making a run to the state semifinals. Downingtown West, Central Bucks East, North Penn, Coatesville, West Chester Henderson and Perkiomen Valley also qualified for the PIAA 6A tournament out of District 1 and figure to be challengers.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of parity in the league,” Downer said. “I think there’s a lot of parity in the district. I personally think Spring-Ford is the best team. They bring back a lot.”

Lower Merion’s Central League foes Upper Darby, Garnet Valley and Haverford qualified for states in 6A, and Radnor did in 5A. Everyone will be aiming to get back.

“It’s a one-game-at-a-time mentality,” Downer said. “We did not win the Central League last year against a fabulous Radnor team. We’d like to be in the thick of things within the league and hopefully within the district [this year].”

The Aces won’t have time to ease into things — they begin the season Dec. 2 at home against Henderson, followed by Upper Darby, Downingtown West and Garnet Valley. A juicy rematch against Radnor looms Jan. 18.

By that point, it should be clear where Lower Merion’s sits in the Central League, District 1 and state hierarchies. 

“Everyone came here for a reason,” McCabe said of Lower Merion’s storied program. “We want to win the Central League, districts, states. We know that when you go to LM, you’re going to be competing at the highest level. It’s tradition.”