City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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FORT WASHINGTON — Megan Ngo’s had a lot to think about this week. 

It was it was one year ago — Feb. 9, 2024, the Friday of Suburban One League quarterfinals — that the Upper Dublin point guard went down awkwardly in the first quarter, her right knee buckling, putting a major damper on a win over Bensalem. The torn ACL she suffered kept her out the rest of her sophomore year, and all summer, though she was able to get back on the court in time for the beginning of her junior season. 

Without Ngo last year, Upper Dublin lost five of its final six games, older sister Amy Ngo doing her best to carry the Cardinals into the first round of the state playoffs. But Morgan Funsten’s group — Megan Ngo included — is back at full strength and looking plenty dangerous in the most important time of the year. 

Ngo continued to look like she’s getting back to her old self in the Suburban One League semifinals, scoring 16 points with six rebounds, four assists and three steals in Upper Dublin’s 75-45 win over Cheltenham on Saturday afternoon. 

“Definitely a lot, over the past couple of days, I was thinking about it,” she said. “This is what I love, I love competing, and I thought that’s the part of playoffs that I missed out on last year — every game it’s you win and move on, and I love that. It’s really great to be back. As hard as I am on myself, I’m always, at the end of the day, grateful that I can get on the court, because I know some people can’t.”

Upper Dublin (20-4) will play Central Bucks East (20-4) in the championship game on Monday evening at Bensalem (6 PM). The Patriots, who won the SOL Colonial title, beat the Liberty-champion Cardinals 47-43 at UD on Jan. 17. 

Despite Ngo’s injury, UD made it to last year’s Suburban One League championship, losing to Neshaminy 35-22 thanks to 16 points from current Bucknell freshman Reese Zemitis. With a lot more offensive pop this time around, Upper Dublin’s feeling good heading into Monday.

“We’re really excited,” Cardinals coach Morgan Funsten said. “Last year, we lost Meg in the first round of the Suburban Ones and the team somehow found a way to win two games and we were there, we were shorthanded. We’re excited to be at full strength for this one.”

Upper Dublin’s win over Cheltenham (20-3) was its second of the year; the Cardinals beat the Panthers 62-48 at Cheltenham way back on Dec. 10. Cheltenham hung with Upper Dublin for a good portion of Saturday’s game, the Cardinals leading by 12 at halftime, then expanding that to 17 (54-37) by the end of the third and putting it away in the fourth. 

While Ngo was solid all the way through, sophomore Tamia Clark was a force to be reckoned with. The athletic 5-8 wing was an early spark, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds as Upper Dublin led 18-11 after one quarter, starting her on a course to a 27-point, 12-rebound, two-assist outing that saw her get to the hoop time and again while also going 8-of-9 from the foul line, with seven of her rebounds on the offensive end. 

“She’s so electric in everything she does,” Funsten said. “She just has such a great nose for the ball and she can finish around the basket as good as anybody. Her energy level was great tonight and I felt we took a lead, especially towards the end of the first quarter, took a lead off of her energy.”

La Salle commit Emilia Coleman knocked down three 3-pointers as part of a 12-point showing for the Upper Dublin junior; freshman Ella Morris added 10 and sophomore wing Bridget DiMartile six points, seven rebounds and four assists. 

Three different Cheltenham players got in double figures, with junior Paige Powell (12 points) just out-pacing classmate Zoe Thompson (11 points) and senior Jiah Price (11 points, 7 rebounds); junior wing Maya Simmons (9 points, 5 rebounds) hit a few shots as well.

Cheltenham coach Monique Boykins was proud of her team afterwards, the Panthers going to places they haven’t been in quite a few years this season. It’s been eight years since the Panthers played a postseason game, so Friday night’s win over Pennsbury was a big one for the first-year coach and her program. 

As the No. 6 seed in the unofficial District 1 6A rankings, Cheltenham is in line for a first-round bye in the district tournament. That puts the Panthers one win from a state playoff berth, and gives them 11 days until they play next; that puts them in line to play either Neshaminy or Abington, barring any further changes to the rankings. 

“Games like this, you let them know, you can hang,” Boykins said. “But it’s all in the details. We’ve got to be better on the details. [...] Keep their heads up, stay positive and understand the season’s not done. That’s what I want them to know.”

As the unofficial No. 3 seed, Upper Dublin is in line to play either Pennsbury or William Tennent in the second round of districts. They should play several doubleheaders with the boys’ team, the No. 1 seed in the 5A tournament, with the different classifications allowing the school to do exactly what it did on Saturday, when the boys’ team beat Plymouth Whitemarsh 57-43 in its own quarterfinal. 

“It’s so much fun,” Ngo said. “I have a couple classes with some of them and it’s all we talk about. The atmosphere and the energy, it’s great. They’re such a great team; we always see them practicing after us, and we see how much work both teams put in. It’s really fun to see both teams succeeding.”

By Quarter
UD:   18  |  21  |  15  |  21  ||  75
CHS: 11  |  16  |  10  |   8   ||  45

Shooting
UD: 25-54 FG (8-22 3PT), 17-21 FT
CHS: 17-52 FG (2-15 3PT), 9-12 FT

Scoring
UD: Tamia Clark 27, Megan Ngo 16, Emilia Coleman 12, Ella Morris 10, Bridget DiMartile 6, Lexi Ngo 2, Shannon Connaughton 2

CHS: Paige Powell 12, Jiah Price 11, Zoe Thompson 11, Maya Simmons 9, Cassie Bugg 2