City of Basketball Love

By Noah Stomsky (@NStomsky)
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Ryan Mulroy was forced to step up and take on a bigger role this offseason.

With nine seniors graduating, the Upper Dublin junior prepped to take the leap from role player to star — and the early returns are promising. 

After Mulroy led the Cardinals to a win over Dock on Friday night, he scored 14 against Souderton on Saturday to deliver his team a 52-48 win and the Jim Church Classic Championship.

“This offseason I would say it was a good offseason that I felt like it was tough for me just because I had to adjust to a whole different type of way I had to play,” said Mulroy, who was named the tournament MVP. “Last year, I was more of a role player like cutting to the basket, that’s how I got all my points. And then this year I have to step up and be a leader and … I have to score different ways.”

The Upper Dublin boys basketball team won the Jim Church Classic championship over Souderton on Saturday. (Photo: Courtesy Upper Dublin Boys Basketball)

Upper Dublin trailed Dock Mennonite at halftime on Friday before Mulroy got cooking in the second half and pulled his team away for a 46-29 win. He scored all 12 of his team-high 12 points in the second half of the victory.

The first half of Saturday’s game against Souderton was fairly back and forth before Upper Dublin went on a 10-3 run to close out the half and take a 28-25 lead into the locker room.

Early in the third quarter UD center Idris Rines went out and remained out for the rest of the third and most of the fourth quarter. Mulroy and junior guard Brady Fogle were forced to step up and take charge of the center position. While Mulroy isn’t the tallest player in the SOL or even on his team, he sure plays a whole lot bigger.

Even though he only pulled down five rebounds, he created many opportunities for others to snag the ball up and came down with the biggest rebound of the game, the final one. 

“At first, I think it was like a pretty easy to adjust to just because I feel like I can play a lot of places, and just for me like I’m always just trying to look, turn, and face, and look for our shooters because we have a lot of guys that can shoot but like if I’m open I can shoot it to so I felt like I was comfortable playing that position but definitely something I got to work on if he [Rines] stays down” Said Mulroy.

While he adjusts to becoming one of the main players on the court, Mulroy still gets help from some of the other returning players. Fogle led Upper Dublin with 17 points in Saturday’s win, also earning all-tournament honors.

“He’s probably one of the best shooters in the league in my opinion,” Mulroy said of Fogle. “He’s been helping me out a lot, just really good to have him with me because he was on that team last year, and I feel like we can just step up and lead with the team.”

Even with Rines out, Souderton didn’t have success attacking the paint, instead relying on the long ball. Chanse Salone had himself a day for Souderton with 16 points and four threes. Nolan Watkins also shot the ball well as he finished with 14 points and four threes. Salone and Watkins were the focus points for UD when things started heating up. 

An early fourth-quarter three put Souderton ahead 44-43 for the first time since the second quarter. The Cardinals responded to the bucket with a quick trip to the free throw line to retake the lead. The rest of the fourth quarter was an offensive grind, but UD held Souderton to just four more points on one made field goal to pull out the win.

“I mean all summer in open gyms and everything you know we work hard and we may not look like the tallest team or the strongest but we’re going to keep fighting and just keep playing hard to do whatever we can to win,” Mulrory said.

Souderton played through foul trouble with three players picking up four fouls midway through the fourth quarter but still stuck with its starting group for most of the game.

While Souderton's Bill Sackor and Danny Dyches didn’t stand out in the scoring aspect of the game, combining for nine points, they stood out in other ways. Sackor finished with six assists and seven rebounds, and Dyches grabbed 10 rebounds.

Uppophomore guard Kobe Bazemore joined Mulroy and Fogle in double figures with 10 points. That trio got more help with 10 points off the bench, including six from Noah Cohen and big buckets from James Castronuovo and Chris Kohlbrenner.

“My freshman and sophomore year I had a lot of times where I wasn’t at my best game and those seniors just did their best to pick me up and try to keep me in the game,” Mulroy said. “I take a lot from the seniors in the past and just use what they did to me to help these guys pick it up, like ‘Hey next play’ you know ‘We’re good’ like just stay in the game.””

Upper Dublin left Souderton with the Jim Church Classic Championship and Mulroy left as the MVP of the tournament.

“It feels pretty good, the win I like more but I’m excited to just get this season going.”

By Quarter

UPPER DUBLIN 12 | 15 | 15 | 9 - 52 

SOUDERTON 11 | 14 | 16 | 7 - 48 

Scoring

Upper Dublin: Brady Fogle 17, Ryan Mulroy 14, Kobe Bazemore 10, Noah Cohen 6, James Castronuovo 2, Chris Kohlbrenner 2, Idris Rines 1.

Souderton: Chanse Salone 16, Nolan Watkins 14, Clinton Kilonjo 7, Bill Sackor 5, Danny Dyches 4, Trey Bui 2.