City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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ABINGTON — Tamia Clark isn’t slowing down, but from her perspective the game is starting to.

Upper Dublin knew the freshman was bringing a burst of athleticism the girls basketball program hadn’t seen in a long time, but also the inexperience to go with it. The Cardinals have plenty of experience elsewhere on the roster, so they wanted Clark to be herself.

Clark’s growth was evident Tuesday as the freshman went for 28 points, leading Upper Dublin to a 63-47 win over Abington and a step closer to a Suburban One League Liberty Division title.

“Every time I put the ball on the floor, I look at the basket and try to see if there’s an open lane,” Clark said. “If there is, I just go and take it and maybe try to get fouled.”

Clark did most of her damage around the rim, shooting 12-of-17 from the floor, but she also ended her night by hitting a midrange shot after patiently waiting out the defense to get it. The freshman also had six rebounds, a pair of steals and two assists, including a kick out to Amy Ngo on the game’s first basket.

She scored 10 points in the first quarter, helping Upper Dublin jump out to a 19-5 lead on the hosts, then had 11 in the third quarter. Clark drew three and-one opportunities in the game, Upper Dublin answering each Abington run with a flurry of points.

“She is a special talent, I feel like a broken record when I say that, but she really is,” UD coach Morgan Funsten. “Not only have we not really had a player like that at Upper Dublin, I haven’t seen a lot of players like her period. Her ability to finish around the basket is second to none, and her body control is crazy.

“When she starts figuring things out — and I think she is on her way — she’s going to be even scarier.”

It wasn’t as though Upper Dublin had no idea what Clark was bringing in this year; she’d been a standout on the eighth-grade team at Sandy Run Middle School. However, the Cardinals’ point guard was able to get a preview of playing with Clark this summer, and it’s apparent they fit well together.

Clark, who plays for the Comets, spent the summer a year up with the team’s U15 GUAA team which happened to include Megan Ngo, who had her own introduction to high school by starting every game of her freshman year. Megan Ngo handed four of her six assists to Clark on Tuesday.

“T’s obviously a big weapon for us,” Megan Ngo said. “She’s so athletic, and she was showing them she wasn’t scared of them. I thought she played really well, finished through contact — she did it all for us tonight.”

Nobody’s going to replace her sister as her favorite person to pass to, but Ngo laughed when asked if Clark was at least moving to 1A territory. The two have a strong connection on some of Funsten’s out of bounds plays while Clark is starting to develop that same feel with the team’s other players.

“I knew how good she was,” Ngo said. “It was just a matter of getting her in and playing with everyone else, and I think we’ve done a really good job so far and we just have to keep it up.”

Clark said she feels more “in” the game now compared to the first few weeks of her career. There have been times where her mind seemed to be moving as fast as her feet, sometimes leading to a turnover or a less-than-ideal shot, things that improve with experience.

The forward said she’s starting to gain a better feel for when to pass or when to shoot, and if her teammates give her the ball they trust her with it. Case in point: early in the fourth quarter, Clark caught a pass out on the wing and instead of looking to go at her defender, she spotted Amy Ngo cutting to the rim for an easy pass and layup.

“If somebody’s open, I want to pass,” Clark said. “I’m learning not to let (the defense) speed you up.”

Clark’s presence has also upped the tempo for the Cardinals this season. Known as more of a slow-paced group offensively in years past, UD was willing to push the ball up the floor Tuesday. A two-on-one break where Megan Ngo found Clark for a layup in the third quarter was an example of the freshman’s growing feel for the game.

Funsten said the speed of the game at the next level is always the biggest adjustment for a freshman, and he’s seen Clark slow her play down as the season has progressed. 

“I think just, when I’m driving, knowing when to kick out or pump fake then go up, I’ve worked on that,” Clark said.

Amy and Megan Ngo combined for 17 points Tuesday, which is a low number for the two of them together, and the Cardinals still won by double-digits. That was thanks to the rest of the team — Clark certainly doing plenty of damage on her own, with the other three players in the main rotation putting together 18 points.

Nora Brady had nine points and played stout defense, Brighid Brady had three and Bridget DiMartile, the team’s other athletic freshman, had six off the bench.

“We have a lot of weapons,” Funsten said. “You’re nervous about there being a lot of pressure on this game, us having no losses in the league and them having one. You expect a nervous first quarter, and I thought it was the opposite for us.”

The win puts the Cardinals two games up in the SOL Liberty standings as they seek their first division title since splitting with Abington in 2018-19. Abington had been their main threat to an outright title, the Cardinals only downing the Ghosts by nine in their first meeting a month ago, but Tuesday’s win didn’t lock anything up mathematically.

Upper Dublin still has three SOL games left, while Abington has two, so one win clinches a share and two an outright title and the spot in the SOL tournament that goes with it.

“It’s really exciting, but we have three more games left,” Ngo said. “We have to come prepared for all of them, no matter who we’re playing.”

By Quarter
Upper Dublin: 19 | 16 | 18 | 10 || 63
Abington: 5 | 12 | 17 | 13 || 47

Scoring
Upper Dublin: Tamia Clark 28, Amy Ngo 12, Nora Brady 9, Bridget DiMartile 6, Megan Ngo 5, Brighid Brady 3

Abington: Piper McGinley 14, Harper McGinley 9, Maya Johnson 8, Mikiaya Durham 8, Jordyn Reynolds 2, Sarah Oleary 2, Zyn McClain 2, Kaylia Rice 2