City of Basketball Love

Corky Blake (@CorkyBlake)
––

For the better part of two quarters Friday night, Spring-Ford boys basketball battled to regain the lead against host Parkland in the season opener between two of the top Class 6A teams in Pennsylvania.

The Rams, who last led 4-3 with three minutes to go in the first quarter, finally surged ahead 34-31 on senior point guard E.J. Campell’s 3-pointer with 3:28 left in the third quarter.

Then, the difference between a team with three returning starters (Spring-Ford) and a squad with 10 seniors and a returning first-team all-state pick in Nick Coval (Parkland) surfaced.

Senior forward Zaire Smaltz drilled a 3-pointer, Coval deposited four straight free throws and converted a three-point play and senior Michael Toth followed in a long Coval miss at the buzzer.

That 13-2 run to close the quarter led to a 58-48 Parkland victory that will serve both teams well later in the season when playoff time rolls around.

“That’s what my assistant coach just said. We ran into a team with 10 seniors that have been through the wars,” third-year Spring-Ford coach Joe Dempsey said. “It was a physical game, and they didn’t give us any easy buckets.

“The kids wanted a tough schedule this year, and we put one together for them starting with tonight’s game.”

Coval, a 6-foot-2 senior guard who’s committed to Davidson, not only led all scorers with 27 points, he also was assigned the task of being the primary defender on Spring-Ford’s returning second-team all-state guard Jacob Nguyen. The 6-4 junior finished with 12 points but on 4-for-15 shooting from the floor. He was 4-for-4 from the line.

“He’s a good player, a Division I player,” Coval said of Nguyen. “He’s a shot-maker and has added to his game. We tried to force him to his left, and I got a lot of help from my teammates.”

Indeed, whenever Nguyen or Campbell, another Division I recruit, forayed toward the basket, it seemed as if Parkland hands were coming at them from all angles.

“Coval did a great job on him defensively,” Dempsey said. “And Nick is a player who makes everybody on his team better. He makes the right pass, he makes his free throws.”

The Rams entered the fourth quarter trailing 43-36 but used a tenacious halfcourt trap to draw to 45-44 on a corner 3-pointer from junior forward Matt Zollers and a short jumper from Campbell (13 points). 

Parkland took a timeout, set up a play and Coval delivered with a long 3-pointer. 

Nguyen finally found a comfort zone near the basket, dropping in a layup and a pair of free throws to twice draw Spring-Ford to within two points.

But Nguyen’s free throws with 2:46 to go were the final points for Spring-Ford. Parkland put the ball in Coval’s hands, and on consecutive possessions he drove through the Rams’ defense and converted difficult layups. The Trojans went 4-for-6 from the foul line in the final 43 seconds to seal the victory.

Spring-Ford, which is coming off a historic season that included the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship, the program’s first appearance in the District 1 final and a run into the state semifinals, will be OK, Dempsey assured.

“Tonight, our guys five through nine were solid, especially for a first game,” he said. “I think we’ll probably be a little deeper (than last year).”

And with experienced gained during the season, which continues Tuesday against Unionville and then three days later at the State College Tip-Off Tournament, the Rams should be able to learn from a few opportunities they didn’t cash in on against Parkland.

“We were down two and we missed a guy that was open (on a back cut),” Dempsey said. “We were up three and Zaire makes a 3 against us. We just don’t have that experience yet.”

The Rams also turned the ball over without getting a shot off on two crucial possessions in the final minute.

Junior 6-4 forward Tommy Kelly, Spring-Ford’s third returning starter with Nguyen and Campbell, was unstoppable on the offensive glass through the first three quarters and finished with 17 points. He contributed four field goals in the first half and four more in the third quarter. Kelly, though, was held to just one shot in the fourth quarter.

“Tommy got a lot of points off the glass and had a good game for us,” Dempsey said.

Eddie Ohlson, a long-time assistant to Andy Stephens, earned his first win Friday at his alma mater while his former boss looked on as Parkland’s first-year athletic director. 

By Quarter

Spring-Ford:    8  | 11  | 17  |  12  ||  48

Parkland:        13 |  9  |  21  |  15  ||  58

Shooting

Spring-Ford: 19-45 FG (2-10 3PT), 8-14 FT

Parkland: 21-47 FG (7-20 3PT), 9-11 FT

Scoring

Spring-Ford: Tommy Kelly 17, E.J. Campbell 13, Jacob Nguyen 12, Matt Zollers 4, Luke Pufko 2.

Parkland: Nick Koval 27, Zaire Smaltz 9, Robbie Ruisch 7, Jayden Thomas 7, Michael Toth 6, Josh Pulver 2.