City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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ARDMORE, PA — Adam Herrenkohl can point to the exact spot he stood two years ago when legendary Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer cut him from the varsity as a sophomore.

On Tuesday night, the Lower Merion senior guard was taking pictures with kids on that same spot, after saving the Aces with a huge steal in the last minute to preserve Lower Merion’s 54-48 victory over Chester in the PIAA District 1 Class 6A semifinals.

The No. 1-seed Aces (26-1) will take on surprising No. 14-seed Garnet Valley, a 50-46 upset winner over No. 2 seed West Chester Henderson, in the District 1 Class 6A championship on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Temple’s Liacouras Center.

Who knows what would have happened if Herrenkohl did not sneak up from behind to poke the ball away from Chester’s Dominic “Big Dom” Toy with 45 seconds to play and the Aces’ clinging to a 49-47 lead that Herrenkohl provided.

Lower Merion’s Carson Kasmer put the finishing touches on an amazing game with three free throws to seal it in the final 33 seconds.

This was another notch in an adventurous season for Herrenkohl, who finished with 12 points in support of teammate John Mobley’s game-high 17 and will be attending Baylor. This is Herrenkohl’s last season of organized basketball and with each postseason level the Aces reach, he realizes the end is coming closer.

When Downer cut Herrenkohl, right in front of the coach’s office, Herrenkohl stepped outside the Aces’ locker room and burst into tears. He made sure no one saw him. He made sure no one heard him. He then walked to junior varsity practice—and into what is becoming a mythical senior year.

“Right there,” said Herrenkohl, pointing to the place in the Aces’ locker room where Downer told him he would be starting jayvee as a sophomore. “Right where I just took the picture. The last two years I worked for this moment right here.”

The moment came right after Herrenkohl nailed a pair of free throws that gave the Aces a 49-47 lead with 1:13 to play. Lower Merion had led throughout much of the game, but the Chester pressure was squeezing the Aces while generating new life for the Clippers.

Chester’s Daron Harris had tied the score at 47-47 with 1:56 left. That’s when Herrenkohl was fouled on the ensuing possession.

As the Clippers looked to tie with under a minute to play, Herrenkohl came from behind Toy, Chester’s UConn-bound football star who led the Clippers with 12 points, and stole the ball.

Chester (20-3) and Lower Merion are two of the most renowned programs in District 1. Ironically, the Aces are the last District 1 team to win a boys’ PIAA state championship in basketball (Class 4A), beating Chester in 2013, after the Clippers had beaten Lower Merion for the state title the year before.

Lower Merion senior John Mobley drives to the hoop. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

“We said all roads to greatness go through Chester, and in order to go from good to great, you have to beat the orange and black,” Downer said. “We and Chester have had a lot of wars over the years and we have a lot of respect for one another. That’s why this means more to us. That was a 15-round fight and we got the better of them at the end.

“This has been a special group. We needed to keep our composure. Our three-ball was a little uncharacteristically cold in the first half. This team never played before like a crowd like this. Adam came up with the big steal in the end. Two years ago, Adam could have gone one of two ways after he was cut, and now he is a borderline MVP of the Central League.”

And in clutch moments, it was Herrenkohl making clutch plays.

“This is something I always dreamed about,” Herrenkohl said. “I remember sitting in the stands when I was 10, 11 years old watching Jack Forrest and Steve Payne playing for Lower Merion against Chester in the District 1 Elite Eight.

“I was never going to give that dream up of playing in games like this. I’m dealing with the end. I’ve come to terms with it. It’s why I’m giving every ounce of effort into the last three weeks of this season. I don’t have to look far where I cut. It was right there (pointing to the spot).”

And two years later, he was taking pictures in the very spot as the hero of the moment.

By Quarter
Chester:          15  |   8   |  13  |  12  ||  48
Lower Merion: 12  |  20  |  12  |  10  ||  54

Scoring
Chester: Dominic Toy 12, Dante Atkinson 9, Daron Harris 9, Jalen Harris 7, Dallas Thompson 5, Jasier Thompson 4, Calvin Williams 2.

Lower Merion: John Mobley 17, Adam Herrenkohl 12, Owen McCabe 8, Carson Kasmer 8, Jayden Robinson 5, Gus Wright 3, Justin Mebane 1.

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.