City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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FORT WASHINGTON — Jayden Ware was on the floor, but he wouldn’t be staying there.

The Exeter Township boys basketball sophomore is an aggressive defender, although he admits his ambition sometimes gets the better of him. That’s how he wound up on the floor after a steal led to a missed layup and Upper Dublin pushing the ball down the floor in a tight fourth quarter. Ware got up, ran down the play and got a piece of a Cardinals’ 3-point attempt, encapsulating his impact down the stretch Friday.

Ware had a few more big plays on defense as the Eagles endured Upper Dublin’s frantic rally to emerge with a 67-60 win in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament.

“We played Muhlenberg in a district consolation game, I missed a layup trying to be fancy going up for a dunk or something and didn’t get up there, so I put my head down,” Ware said. “I got yelled at for that, I got chewed out because I didn’t get back. This time, I had to get back because it was a crucial point in the game, it was a close game, so I had to shut them down.”

Ware didn’t play much last year during the Eagles’ run to the PIAA 5A title game, but he’s been a catalyst off the bench this year. Reece Garvin led Exeter Township with 26 points and Alex Kelsey had 19, but it seemed to be Ware who had hands all over every key defensive play in the fourth quarter.

The guard did get his late layup after he picked off another pass a few plays after his botch turned block, finishing with four points.

“Usually they tell me don’t be too aggressive, because I like to be aggressive,” Ware said. “I just read the defense, read the kid’s eyes and I just took it.

“Our coaches did a good job scouting, we ran through a lot of their plays in practice so I’d be able to recognize it. I come off the bench; I don’t start, so I get another three, four minutes to see what’s going on.”

Upper Dublin’s first state playoff appearance in 22 years did not get off to a strong start. The Cardinals trailed 11-0 before Ryan Mulroy finally got them on the board, but the visitors from District 3 were clearly the more energetic and aggressive team early.

It certainly helped District 3 five-seed Exeter Township got hot from 3 during a 23-point first quarter, but the Eagles were also more physical early on, pushed the ball at every chance and punished UD on the glass. The deficit grew to as many as 17 when Garvin scored inside with 40 seconds left in the first half.

While the Cardinals had proven they could stage a comeback from a large deficit and would do so later on, they could not finish one off.

“This is the third game we’ve come back from a 17-plus down deficit and tied it, and we’ve lost all three,” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “I think a little bit is that mindset of transitioning from a comeback game, full-court game to now it's a half-court game. We have to settle down and execute in the halfcourt and we as a whole, we need to improve our halfcourt game.

“There’s a reason we pressed all year, because it worked for us most of the time.”

UD’s chaos-causing press helped turn the tide after halftime. The Cardinals, who wrap up a 24-5 season that included a Suburban One League Liberty Division title, an SOL Tournament title and their first District 1 championship game appearance since 1985, did come all the way back.

Mulroy, who led the Cardinals with 22 points, gave the hosts a 55-54 lead on a put-back with 3:30 left at the end of a 7-0 run. He’d give them another lead off a Chris Kohlbrenner steal and dish with 2:51 to go, but Exeter responded with the next eight points to regain the lead for good.

Ware’s chase-down block off the miss came in the middle of that spurt, the sophomore explaining the Cardinals’ prior runs had ignited his team.

“Basketball is all about ups and downs,” Ware said. “We had to weather the storm, because it was going to happen. We like excitement, as a team, we like excitement and once we’re up, we’re up.”

UD loses three seniors from this year’s group in starters Brady Fogle and Kohlbrenner, along with reserve Anthony Oliviera-Schulze. Fogle, who had eight points in his last game, spoke with pride about the growth the Cardinals made over the last two years.

“We felt a sense of urgency. We were pressing the entire game, but when we got more aggressive in the press, that’s when we got turnovers and started putting the ball in the basket,” Fogle said. “Our backs were against the wall, we felt like we just had to give it everything we’ve got and that’s what we did.

“We had no expectations going into the season as a team that had lost in the first round of the district playoffs, so we worked hard straight from the spring. We were doubted all year, but we just kept winning games.”

Upper Dublin’s last state playoff game before Friday had come back in 2002. Seeing the way his team responded to last year’s shortcomings, Brooks didn’t think it would be anywhere close to that long of a wait before the Cardinals were back.

“Any time we’ve dangled a carrot in front of this group, they’ve gone after it,” Brooks said. “We have a couple motivation points, can we repeat in the SOL, can we win the district next year, can we make a deep run in states? We’ve got our bulletin board material, they made that part of the job for the offseason a little easier.”

By Quarter

Exeter Township: 23 | 17 | 9 | 18 || 67

Upper Dublin: 14 | 9 | 20 | 17 || 60

Scoring

Exeter Township: Reece Garvin 26, Alex Kelsey 19, Kevin Saenz 9, Aidan Dauble 9, Jayden Ware 4

Upper Dublin: Ryan Mulroy 22, Idris Rines 11, Brady Fogle 8, Reilly McLaughlin 6, Chris Kohlbrenner 5, Noah Cohen 4, James Castronouvo 2

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PIAA 5A Boys (local games)

First Round (Fri., March 8)
12-1 Imhotep Charter 64, 1-6 Pottstown 46
12-2 Archbishop Ryan 67, 1-4 Sun Valley 43
1-1 Unionville 56, 3-8 Manheim Central 31
2-2 Dallas 71, 12-3 West Philadelphia 61
2-1 Abington Heights 91, 12-4 Bonner-Prendergast 64
11-2 Whitehall 62, 1-3 Phoenixville 46
3-5 Exeter Township 67, 1-2 Upper Dublin 60
1-5 Radnor 63, 11-1 Pocono Mt. West 44

Second Round (Tue., March 12)
1-1 Unionville vs. 2-2 Dallas
12-2 Archbishop Ryan vs. 1-5 Radnor
3-5 Exeter Township vs. 12-1 Imhotep Charter