City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Gregg Downer had been waiting for a Jayden Robinson game. 

The longtime Lower Merion coach had gotten stretches, moments and spurts this season from the 6-foot-5 senior. He knew Robinson could give him more. A big-time Central League matchup against a Garnet Valley squad that always gives the Aces problems was the next potential breakout.

“It’s always a rally cry to ask your big players to get double-doubles,” Downer said. “You think that a guy like Jayden could possibly be capable of that. I reminded him before the game that he hasn’t had 10 rebounds in a game all season.”

He got it Saturday night, Robinson going for his first double-double of the season, his efforts a major reason the Aces were able to overcome a rough shooting night to emerge with a 62-58 win over the Jaguars.

Robinson scored 19 points and grabbed five of his 10 rebounds on the offensive end as Lower Merion improved to 18-1 overall, 13-0 in the Central League, with three games left in the regular season.

“Truthfully, that’s the night that we thought we would be getting from him maybe a handful of times this season,” Downer said, “and we got it tonight, at the perfect time.”

A lanky, bouncy wing/forward, Robinson came to Lower Merion last offseason, having spent his first two high school seasons at West Catholic and his junior year at Overbrook. He moved into the suburban district over the summer, with his aunt, and enrolled at Lower Merion in August. 

That didn’t give him a ton of time to get acclimated to not just a new school and environment but new teammates, new coaches and a new play style in the run-up to his senior year. 

“It’s been kind of a difficult transition but I always adapt fast,” he said. “Any team I play on, I adapt fast, it’s what I need to do.”

Despite losing last year's stars Sam Brown and Sam Wright amongst a deep senior class, Lower Merion is going to wrap up the regular season as one of the top seeds in District 1 6A, the overwhelming favorite in the Central League and a far better team than most expected after the departure of the 2023 class.

"I saw they lost a lot and they were being doubted," Robinson said. "I was like, I could come in and be a factor that nobody’s expecting. And it worked just like that, started clicking, and that’s what happened.”

Robinson’s been in and out of the starting lineup during the course of the year, though he’s moved back into it over the last couple weeks. On a team full of shooters and ball-handlers, he gives them something a little different, a high-energy wing who can play above the rim on both ends, with the most emphatic blocks and dunks any Aces player has pulled off this season. 

“With all the perimeter talent that we have with this team, if we could just focus on making the layups on the inside and being a rim protector and getting as many rebounds as he can, that’s just such a crucial role for us,” Downer said. “I think he’s getting more comfortable.”

On a night where the two normally strong-shooting teams combined to shoot 8-of-50 from 3-point range, Robinson’s ability to gobble up offensive rebounds was critical to keep Lower Merion unbeaten in the Central League. His biggest one came with 2:25 remaining, a put-back that kept the Aces up five in a game they trailed out of the gate but led most of the second half.

Adam Herrenkohl added 17 points and six rebounds while Owen McCabe added nine points, four assists and three rebounds. Lower Merion only has games left against Conestoga, Ridley and Haverford High — all at home — to close out the season unbeaten in league play, claiming the top seed in the Central’s six-team playoff. A win over just one of the three guarantees a first-round bye, with ‘Stoga and Radnor both at 10-3 vying for the other spot.

Garnet Valley, now 10-7 (6-6), is still in the mix along with Marple Newtown (7-5), Harriton (7-6), Penncrest (7-6), and Springfield (Delco.) (6-6). The Jaguars still have to play at Strath Haven and Upper Darby, with Haverford and Conestoga visiting to close out the year.

“It was never a goal of ours to run the table; it still really isn’t," Downer said. "But our thing is get to the Central League semis in the best condition we can be, the best version of our selves."

By Quarter
Lower Merion:   10  |  15  |  22  |  15  ||  62
Garnet Valley:   15  |  11  |  21  |  11  ||  58

Shooting
Lower Merion: 18-47 FG (4-20 3PT), 22-35 FT
Garnet Valley: 20-61 FG (4-30 3PT), 14-16 FT

Scoring
Lower Merion: Jayden Robinson 19, Adam Herrenkohl 17, Owen McCabe 9, Carson Kasmer 7, John Mobley 6, Justin Mebane 4

Garnet Valley: Jack Krautzel 16, Jake Sniras 14, Grayson Golek 11, Quinn O’Hara 9, Brady Krautzel 8