City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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NEWTOWN SQUARE — With five minutes left in the Central League championship Thursday night, Lower Merion’s John Mobley flashed seemingly out of nowhere to swat a shot and then pronounced to the jam-packed crowd at Marple Newtown High School, “I’m here!”

Mobley amended that later to say, “We’re here!”

Lower Merion is here.

It is February, and it may be a good idea other teams begin to take notice. The Aces survived some choppy moments in the first half en route to a 68-54 victory over Radnor for the league title.

John Mobley was one of five Lower Merion players in double figures Thursday night in the Central League championship win over Radnor. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

The Aces (23-1) remain the No. 1 seed in PIAA District 1 Class 6A, and it is because of what they have continued to do all season: share the ball and defend. All five Lower Merion starters reached double figures, led by championship game MVP Adam Herrenkohl’s game-high 16; followed by Owen McCabe and Carson Kasmer, who scored 14 each; with Jayden Robinson adding 12 and Mobley 10.

Coaching legend Gregg Downer is in his 34th season as the Aces’ head coach. He has had many great players and many great teams. But it did not take Downer long to proclaim something very special about this team, a squad not many expected to go anywhere in the Central League, let alone go undefeated and win the league tournament championship.

When asked if this is most unselfish he has ever had at Lower Merion, Downer had no problems saying, “I think it is, I think it is. There have been historic performances from a bunch of gritty guys who are a lot of fun to be around. They were so loose before this game. It is almost as if no moment is too big for them.

“We have very good synergy; the ball moves and this team is a lot of fun to watch. Many years in coaching, I like getting four guys in double figures, and when stakes at their highest, we got five guys in double figures. We have a lot of different weapons, and it makes it hard to key on any one player.”

Radnor jumped out to a 9-3 lead with 3:47 to play in the first quarter and trailed by 27-26 at halftime when the roof fell in on the Raptors. Downer put Robinson on the ball and the Aces’ press caused problems for Radnor.

Lower Merion started the third quarter on a 17-0 run before Radnor stopped the bleeding with a bucket by Owen Smith with 1:26 left in the quarter. By then, Lower Merion had opened a 44-28 lead and Radnor was never able to get within 10 points again.

By the indication of Radnor’s first-year coach Tim Smallwood’s bloodshot eyes, the loss was not easy. The Raptors (19-4) were the defending Central League champions and are still the PIAA District 1 Class 5A champions. This was not easy to take.

“Absolutely not. I have to give all the credit to Lower Merion, they’re a tough team, but I also have to give all the credit to my guys, since I’m so proud of them fighting until the end,” Smallwood said. “The third quarter was the game. The ball would not go in the basket on our side of the floor.

Smallwood said Lower Merion is difficult to play against because there is not one player to focus on stopping.

Lower Merion, meanwhile, keeps chugging along. Mobley made the point the nucleus of this team goes back to grade school, when they played together as 5- and 6-year-olds. They know each other’s moves on and off the court. There is a camaraderie there that is unbreakable.

“For 365 days, we waited for this here,” said Mobley, the Aces’ only returning starter who battled food poisoning and lost 17 pounds early this week. “I was playing in this game. I had to get an IV. I could not even watch the Super Bowl. I was that sick. There was no way I was missing this game.

“Before this season, we were all friends, close friends. Now that we are all seniors, we are showing how well we can play basketball together. We have a lot more basketball ahead of us.”

Herrenkohl watched from the bench as the final seconds spilled off the clock in last year’s Central League championship. It stung him watching the seniors leave the court, heads down, tears in their eyes. Last week, the Lower Merion team went to the Radnor-Conestoga Central League semifinal game pulling strongly for Radnor.

“We wanted that revenge from last year,” said Herrenkohl, who will be attending Baylor for academics and will be giving up organized basketball after his senior year. “I wanted to do it for the last year’s seniors. No one thinks we are any good. We are 23-1, and I know there are teams out there that think that way about us.

“What makes us special is that there are no stars. We love playing with each other, like playing pick-up basketball in the park. We are here. We pick each other up. We were not supposed to be here and that has stuck with us. I have loved every second of this. This is it for me. It’s my last month playing basketball. We all want to go out swinging. That’s one (championship), we have two more to go.”

By Quarter

Radnor: 17 | 9 | 4 | 24 || 54

Lower Merion: 12 | 15 | 20 | 21 || 68

Scoring

Radnor: Kessy Cox 16, Michael Savadove 10, Sawyer Smith 8, Elijah Sellers 7, Henry Pierce 6, Alex McFadden 5, Owen Smith 2.

Lower Merion: Adam Herrenkohl 16, Owen McCabe 14, Carson Kasmer 14, Jayden Robinson 12, John Mobley 10, Gus Wright 2.

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.