City of Basketball Love

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson)
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BENSALEM — For the past two years, Colin Treude and Springfield (Delco.) have knocked on the District 1 6A tournament door.

The Cougars fell short of a top-24 finish in 2022 and 2023, with a final District ranking of 28 and 27, respectively. 

Treude and his squad snuck into the tournament this year despite missing the Central League tournament. They finished the regular season ranked No. 24 in the district, claiming the District tournament's last spot. 

Now, Springfield is taking advantage of their opportunity. The Cougars upset No. 9 Abington last Friday with nothing to lose and continued their Cinderella run on Tuesday night, pulling together for a gritty, closely-contested, 46-42 win over No. 8 Bensalem in the District 1 6A second round. 

With the win, Springfield (Delco.) qualified for its first PIAA state tournament since 2017, when they made the 5A field; members of the 2017 team were at the game Tuesday night.

The Cougars also became the second 24-seed in three seasons to advance to the District Quarterfinals. Fellow Central League opponent Garnet Valley was the last team to do it in 2022. 

"We knew we were going to take advantage of it," Treude, a 6-foot-5 York College commit, said. "Just because we're a 24-seed, that doesn't mean that we are [one] as a team. We're a bunch of dogs at practice, we love competing, and we're not afraid of anything."

"It was a great team win," point guard Patrick Flaherty added. "There (were) moments of adversity, but we just stuck through it." 

Treude scored a team-high 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. The muscular forward added six rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. 

Flaherty, who's committed to play lacrosse at the University of Maryland, finished with an efficient eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. He did the most damage distributing the rock, however; the 5-foot-10 junior dished out four assists, three of which went to Treude. 

Head coach Kevin McCormick knew this team could be special back in the summer because of how hard everyone practiced, not just the starters. Still, football season got in the way of immediate results.

Two starters and their sixth man missed out on fall and preseason practice. It took time for this group to gel and get into basketball shape. 

"This is the team that we were expecting early in the year," the 30-year head coach said. "We had a very good offseason. Chris Dolan, Ryan Johnston, and TJ Valletti all played football so they went deep in the season. It took some time to get our legs under us."

Sitting with a 3-6 record after New Year's Day, the Cougars won 10 of their last 15 games and finished with a 13-11 (8-8 Central League) mark. 

McCormick credits his four seniors — Treude, Johnston, Jake Adams, and Dennis Norman —  for the turnaround. 

"We handled the adversity very well," McCormick added. "Those three seniors that we have are terrific. They've been playing together since they were in third grade, for God's sake. They kept the team together." 

"Norman, who had transferred to Springfield in October from Bonner, is not eligible for the postseason. He's been a terrific asset. In practice, he's by far the most positive kid that we have in the program." 

Treude and the other seniors kept Springfield breaking in their upset win, but he credited the whole squad for the win tonight.

"I'm going to give credit to the kids on the bench," Treude said. "They push us every practice. They're just doing our best to push us to make sure that we're ready for these moments. I give credit to those scout team kids." 

The Cougars trailed 37-35 entering the fourth quarter. Springfield could've easily folded in a hostile atmosphere against the SOL Patriot Division champions. However, the Cougars stuck together and focused on what had gotten them this far – the little things: moving your feet on defense, active hands in the passing lane, and boxing out. 

Springfield forced three turnovers on Bensalem’s first three offensive possessions in the fourth quarter. They got points off all three turnovers and took a 41-37 lead; in all, the Cougars forced Bensalem into five fourth-quarter turnovers and never gave up the lead again. 

"We just dug in on defense," Flaherty said. 

Jaidyn Moffit (13 points) and Amir Drummond (15 points) made plays down the stretch to keep Bensalem in it, but each time Springfield answered.  

Moffit made it 41-40, but Springfield's Adams finished through contact off a backdoor pass from Dolan to make it 43-40 with under two minutes to go. Then Drummond made it a one-point game with 1:03 left.

Soon after, Valletti slipped by his defender on an inbounds pass with 16 seconds left, extending Springfield's lead to 45-42. Adams then would go on to ice the game from the charity stripe after a Bensalem three-hit iron.  

McCormick couldn't be prouder of this group for their District Tournament run and qualifying for states. 

"It's truly a great team to coach," he said. "They're just the greatest group of kids that I've had in a while."

Springfield will face Central League champion and No.1 seeded Lower Merion in the quarterfinal round. The Cougars lost to the Aces the only time they played one another this season, 59-43 on January 4. 

The Cougars know their formula for success and are up for another challenge.  

"We do all the little things and they all add up," Treude said. "That's what we've been doing the past couple games."

"We have nothing to lose," Flaherty added. "So, just go in and swing."

By Quarter:
Springfield: 12 | 14 | 9 | 11 || 46
Bensalem: 13 | 12 | 12 | 5 || 42

Scoring:
Springfield: Colin Treude 15, TJ Valletti 9, Patrick Flaherty 8, Jake Adams 7, Chris Dolan 6, Ryan Johnston 2

Bensalem: Amir Drummond 15, Jaidyn Moffit 13, Noah Morris 6, Nate Cooper 5, Micah White 4, Antonio Morris 1

Story story story story story story story story

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District 1 6A Boys

Second Round (Tue., Feb. 20)
1) Lower Merion 55, 16) Conestoga 49
24) Springfield (Delco.) 46, 8) Bensalem 42
4) Chester 59, 13) Plymouth Whitemarsh 54
5) Coatesville 77, 12) Cheltenham 60
2) West Chester Henderson 67, 15) Downingtown West 66
7) CB East 49, 10) Perkiomen Valley 44
14) Garnet Valley 63, 3) Spring-Ford 49
6) Methacton 54, 11) Central Bucks West 51

Quarterfinals (Fri., Feb. 23)
1) Lower Merion vs. 24) Springfield (Delco.)
4) Chester vs. 5) Coatesville
2) West Chester Henderson vs. 7) CB East
6) Methacton vs. 14) Garnet Valley