City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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POTTSTOWN — The Pottstown boys basketball team did not seem like itself Saturday afternoon in the District 1 Class 5A playback contest against Upper Moreland.

Whether it was the gravity of the moment with a state berth on the line or the lack of energy in the building on a weekend without students, the Trojans were going through the motions in the first half.

“Flat,” Pottstown senior Sadeeq Jackson said. “We came out flat. We never want to come out flat. We know if we come out flat, we are going to be fighting in the third and fourth quarter.”

The Trojans were down at the half, made just half their shots from the free-throw line and put up little resistance defensively. 

Pottstown woke up with eight steals in the third quarter and ended up keeping pace with the Golden Bears’ hot offense. That all led to some heroics for Abdul Jackson, who got in the lane and beat the buzzer for a 70-68 thriller.

The win clinches a berth in the PIAA tournament for the first time since 2008.

“Once they called a timeout it was going to me or Sadeeq,” Abdul Jackson said. “They trust me a lot, so it’s something I’ve done before. I did it again.”

“We might not be the prettiest girl in the dance, but we are in the dance,” Pottstown third-year head coach Ken Irving said.

The journey there was not pretty either. While Pottstown was off its game in the first half, the Golden Bears were running their offense perfectly in taking a 36-26 lead into the break. Pottstown shot just 6 of 12 at the foul line.

The Trojans immediately showed things would be different in the third quarter when Sadeeq Jackson began the frame with a steal and layup. That would be a theme as Pottstown had eight steals in the quarter as its 94-feet of defense simply wore Upper Moreland down.

“I think ultimately the third quarter was the difference,” Upper Moreland head coach Dan Heiland said. “Up 10 points at the half, it was a nice lead to have, but they are a very good team, talented group. They can score the ball quickly. When you don’t take care of the ball against good teams, they make you pay for it. That’s what happened today.”

Seniors Sadeeq Jackson, Abdul Jackson and Jurrell Young quite simply decided to take the game over with their defense and athleticism. The trio combined for 59 points on the day, and scored all the Trojans’ points in a quarter which saw them go on a 20-10 spurt.

“It’s a moment of someone get it going, dive, make a big play,” Sadeeq Jackson said. “That’s what I tried to do. I am talking all the time to my teammates, ‘Come on, come on.’ We still got this.” 

The game was tied entering the fourth quarter, but Pottstown still hadn’t led since the first bucket of the contest. Upper Moreland held a 60-55 advantage with 3:55 to go after a putback from Colson Campbell.

The fortunes of the game changed when Sadeeq Jackson took a pass at the top of the key and delivered a four-point play, cutting the deficit to 60-59 with 2:43 to play.

“Staying locked in, I knew we were down like four, five,” he said. “I just had to stay locked in for my team. That’s what I do, I am a leader. I made the shot, stayed in rhythm. I made a good play for my team.”

“I just feel like the fact Jurrell was able to finish … Sadeeq Jackson, you know him,” Abdul Jackson said. “He’s going to score. And me, I just wait until it’s time for me to go.”

Pottstown took the lead when Syncere Whitehurt scored his only basket with 1:27 left for a 65-63 advantage. Two more free throws from Abdul Jackson stretched the lead to 67-63 with 1:07 to play.

“These kids fight, we have been down before,” Irving said. “Just trust yourself, trust my staff. We played some JV kids today, I put them in, and look what happened: big rebounds, a couple of big layups. We love each other.” 

Upper Moreland, though, still had some fight left with senior Sean Murphy scoring on a 3-point bucket, and the lead was down to 67-66 with 47 seconds left. Abdul Jackson made 1 of 2 free throws before Upper Moreland’s Nate Best tied the game at 68-68 with 5.6 seconds left.

That left the heroics up to Abdul Jackson with a shot at the PIAA Class 5A Tournament. He delivered off a beautiful screen from another senior, Nahzier Booker (seven points, seven rebounds).

“Stuff like this is expected,” Abdul Jackson said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, they are here.’ Our high was to make it to the PAC, districts, states. We made history. We have to get ready for the seeding spot and then we are off to states.” 

“This was a two-for-one,” Irving said. “Get one win, you get two more. I don’t care who we play. We could play Imhotep, Archbishop Wood, Allentown Central Catholic, we are just happy to have a chance.”

Sadeeq Jackson led the way for the Trojans with 21 points and four steals, while Abdul Jackson added 20 points, four steals and three blocks. Young added 18 points and seven rebounds. Campbell paced Upper Moreland with 18 points.

“You go into a game like today, season is on the line quite literally,” Heiland said. “We showed we can beat a team like this, but we only showed it for 27 minutes, not 32. It’s tough, I feel for my seniors who have been working really hard. It just stinks to say goodbye to those guys as they leave the program. It’s been a long season, a lot of tough games. Good group of kids, it’s not the way we wanted to end it. Hats off to Pottstown.” 

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By Quarter

Upper Moreland: 18 | 18 | 10 | 22 || 68

Pottstown: 11 | 17 | 20 | 24 || 70

Scoring

Upper Moreland: Alex Best 9; Campbell 18; Peree 10; Carson 12; Murphy 10; Nate Best 5; Martin 2; Hughes 2.

Pottstown: Abdul Jackson 20; Young 18; Booker 7; Sadeeq Jackson 21; Whitehurst 2; Wood 2.