City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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As a sophomore, Adam Herrenkohl didn’t make the Lower Merion varsity basketball team. He was devastated.

“When I found out, I was just in shock,” he said. 

“[He] was really upset about that,” Aces coach Gregg Downer recalled.

A Wynnewood resident, Herrenkohl had grown up going to Lower Merion camps since his elementary school days, becoming good friends with current classmate and teammate Owen McCabe before they turned 10. Coming back to Montgomery Avenue every summer, he spent days being coached by the likes of Justin McFadden, Jack Forrest, Steve Pendleton and others who led the Aces to Central League and District 1 championships, dreaming of the day he’d be able to follow in their footsteps.

To find out he wasn’t yet good enough to even sit on the end of the varsity bench was a wake-up call.

“I always say this, I think it was the greatest thing to ever happen to me,” Herrenkohl said. “It humbled me, it taught me to work harder, and it taught me that nothing — especially in this program — is going to be handed to me.”

Two years later, the Aces’ senior is finally getting his chance to shine, and he’s not letting it pass him by. He’s a major reason Lower Merion is unbeaten through its first five games, with some notable wins already under its belt. 

Herrenkohl was part of a clinical offensive performance Tuesday night, contributing 17 points, four rebounds and five assists in an 85-69 win over Garnet Valley. That followed a 21-point outing in the season-opening win over West Chester Henderson, and his season high so far was a 25-point outing against Methacton.

“He’s playing great right now, as a senior, really playing tremendous basketball,” said Downer, whose next words were especially meaningful, given the three-plus decades he’s been coaching the Aces: “Almost historically good — 6-for-6 from 3 against Upper Darby, 10 assists vs. Downingtown West. I mean he’s putting some numbers out there that are just, the word is historical. He’s just really playing at a very high level.”

Herrenkohl said it’s been an increased focus in the weight room that’s helped him out as he went from “not ready for varsity” to “too good to sit” in the last 18 months, along with regular 6 a.m. workouts. He made the varsity squad as a junior but mostly sat on the bench as the Aces made it to the Central League championship game yet again, losing to the best Radnor squad in 60 years. 

It was in the Plymouth Whitemarsh spring league that Herrenkohl finally got his first significant varsity minutes. The 6-foot-3 guard almost instantly started turning in quality performances, proving himself to be a quality outside shooter and playmaker with good size and athleticism.

“I entered PW looking to be a facilitator, kind of like a do-it-all type guy, and I just, I didn’t force it, I just let the game come to me and I think that’s what worked then and it’s what’s working now,” he said. “I’ve never gone into a game like I need to get 20 points, I’m just playing.”

Herrenkohl hit five 3-pointers in the win over the Jaguars, none bigger than the one he swished with less than four minutes to play.

Lower Merion, which entered the fourth quarter with a 63-57 lead after an entertaining, back-and-forth first three quarters that saw both teams make shots at a high clip, immediately slowed the game down. Garnet Valley forced a couple turnovers to keep it close, but the Aces got out on the run off a missed shot when senior wing Jayden Robinson took a pass in the post, turned and found Herrenkohl open on the left wing. 

Herrenkohl hesitated if only for the briefest of moments, then pulled up and knocked down the shot for a 74-66 lead with 3:40 remaining. Even though Downer had been trying to run the clock, he wasn’t going to argue about a wide-open shot from a kid who was already 4-of-8 from deep on the night. 

“You have to analyze your risk-reward,” Downer said. “We feel sometimes that the 3, if it goes, is the dagger — and maybe that one was.”

Herrenkohl’s quality night from the floor was part of the theme of the evening for the Aces’ seniors. John Mobley had 22 points (two 3s), six rebounds, six assists and three steals; McCabe had 17 points (four 3s), three steals and two assists; Robinson had 15 points, five rebounds and two blocks.

Through five games, Lower Merion’s averaging 79.6 points per game, playing as fast as Downer’s ever had a team get up and down the floor.

“I have a good amount of length on this team, and we’re trying to unleash our athleticism,” he said. “We decided that that’s the way we want to play, we think it’s our best chance to win.”

With junior guard Jake Sniras (24 points Tuesday) and two other starters back in the fold from a team that made it to the second round of the state tournament last year, Garnet Valley was a popular preseason pick for league favorites. Lower Merion, which has spent plenty of time atop the Central over the last 30 years, made it clear the status quo hasn’t changed one bit, despite the graduation of program stalwarts Sam Brown (Penn) and Sam Wright (Hun School) in the spring.

“First game of the season, Henderson, I thought that was a big statement win,” Herrenkohl said, “and in the Central League, I think this was a big statement win just because reading a lot of stuff preseason, almost every type of media had Garnet above us in the Central League. 

“A 16-point win against a team that’s supposed to be the (best) of the Central League, I think it’s a statement to the whole, entire Central League.”

Herrenkohl already has his college plans decided for next year; he’ll be going to Baylor, drawn to the Waco, Texas, institution’s size and academic reputation, plus the appeal of Big 12 athletics and the school’s Christian background aligning with his own faith. 

That means this is his one and only season to put himself in the Lower Merion record books, to get his name etched on a trophy like his camp counselors from years past. And if he learned anything from two years ago, it’s how hard he has to work to make it happen.

“I’ve decided I want to just give basketball my all for this last year,” he said. 

By Quarter
LM:  19  |  26  |  22  |  18  ||  85
GV:  17  |  20  |  26  |   6   ||  69

Shooting
LM: 32-57 FG (12-26 3PT), 9-13 FT
GV: 24-49 FG (8-20 3PT), 13-18 FT

Scoring
LM: John Mobley 22, Adam Herrenkohl 17, Owen McCabe 17, Jayden Robinson 15, Justin Mebane 6, Gus Wright 5, Carson Kasmer 3

GV: Jake Sniras 24, Nick Bosch 13, Grayson Golek 12, Quinn O’Hara 7, Brady Krautzel 7, Jack Krautzel 4, DJ Berry 2