City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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With the lessons of last season ringing through his mind, Kobe Bazemore never got flustered. 

The Upper Dublin senior was a starter on the Cardinals squad that won 28 straight games and a District 1 5A title a year ago, getting plenty of experience playing under bright lights and in front of big crowds. 

So when it came to crunch time, on the road at St. Joseph’s Prep’s Kelly Fieldhouse, after the host Hawks took a fourth-quarter lead, Bazemore — along with the rest of the Cardinals — wasn’t rattled. 

“It was incredible, all the environments we went to last year,” he told CoBL. “We learned how to be real calm.”

Playing just like the battle-tested group they are, the Upper Dublin boys responded down the stretch, getting a clutch 3-pointer and foul shots from Bazemore in the closing minutes to top the Prep, 44-39, in the season opener for both teams. 

“We weren’t perfect today — it was actually pretty ugly — but my message in the locker room was, ‘I don’t care if it’s ugly, just win today, ugly,’” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “That’s all we need to do. And that’s what we did.”

Bazemore’s stat line wasn’t the most impressive of his career: seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, with buckets hard to come by in a slow-paced, defensive battle. But the 5-foot-10 guard came up big when it counted, certainly the mark of a veteran guard. 

He’s one of three senior guards on the UD roster along with Noah Cohen, who contributed seven points and two steals to Saturday’s win, and Brandon Altman, who hit a big pair of late foul shots for his only points. That experience was big against a St. Joe’s Prep squad playing its first game under new head coach Chris Clark, with three sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup. 

“(Kobe), Noah and Brandon have played in a thousand games now,” Brooks said. “We have guys who the lights aren’t going to scare as much, and it’s nice to have senior guards, they’ve seen it all.”

It was all tied up at 29 points heading into the fourth quarter, and a one-point Prep lead with five minutes to play after a couple free throws from Hawks sophomore Julian McKie. Upper Dublin responded with a driving bucket from junior Horace Jackson IV, who paced the Cardinals with 14 points, before Bazemore found a plunging Justin Ragsdale the next time down the court. 

Bazemore followed that up with the game’s biggest shot, a 3-pointer from straightaway thanks to an offensive rebound and kickout by junior guard Jake Scherzer, which made it a 39-33 Upper Dublin lead with 3:12 to play. 

The Hawks, who struggled from 3-point territory all game long (4-of-23), couldn’t come up with a triple down the stretch. The Cardinals hit their foul shots; Bazemore hit a pair with 1:11 remaining to keep the edge at six and Altman added two of his own to do the same with 48.2 seconds to play. 

“We just know to stay calm, we’ve been through this multiple times,” Bazemore said. “When they take the lead, we don’t get rattled anymore. When they started off [hot in the] first half, we were like ‘we’re good, we’re going to come back.’ When they were up four going into the half, we were like we’re not going to worry about nothing, just play our game.”

Helping Bazemore stay calm is the fact that he also has his college commitment off his mind. 

Just near the end of October, Bazemore announced on Instagram his commitment to Delaware Valley University, to play for Muhamadou Kaba and the Aggies next year. 

A terrific ball-handler and defender with a steady mid-range pull-up and floater, Bazemore will be joining an Aggies program that’s coming off a MAC Freedom championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. 

Bazemore said he was attracted to Kaba’s style and the Doylestown school’s proximity to home, but it was the academic program the former agricultural school offered that really pushed them over the top. 

Bazemore said it’s been his dream since he was young to go on to veterinary school, wanting to spend his career working with animals. He said he’s already taking a course at Eastern University in veterinary science, and wanted to do more than just study biology at the next level, a common pitch from other D-IIIs. 

“I’m actually majoring in wildlife rehabilitation,” Bazmore said, referring to DelVal’s B.S. in Conservation and Wildlife Management, “so I’m going to be (working) with wildlife, taking stuff that’s hurt and helping it get back and releasing it to the wild.”

First, he’s got plans to lead the Cardinals back to Suburban One and District 1 championships and to get further into the state playoffs this time around, after last year’s run ended in the PIAA 5A second round.

Julian McKie, who started most of last season, finished with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Prep (0-1). Twin brother Justin McKie, a first-year starter, finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists. The two were both key during a late second-quarter stretch which helped the Hawks take a 24-20 lead at halftime. 

Jackson, a reserve wing as a sophomore for Upper Dublin, powered the Cardinals early, helping them go on an 11-0 run across the first and second quarters that had UD up 16-8 midway through the second period. The 6-4 wing came out of the gates aggressive, attacking the rim often, including an early 3-point play; he had 11 of his 14 by halftime. 

“In that first couple minutes, I said he’s the best athlete on the floor, and we’re playing in a Catholic League gym,” Brooks said. “When he really hones in on when to kick, when to finish, and really tightens his ballhandling up a little bit, he’s going to be scary good.”

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By Quarter
UD:  12  |  8   |   9   |  15  ||  44
SJP:  8   |  16  |   5   |  10  ||  39

Shooting
UD: 15-36 FG (3-12 3PT), 11-19 FT
SJP: 13-41 FG (4-23 3PT), 9-11 FT

Scoring
UD: Horace Jackson 14, Justin Ragsdale 9, Kobe Bazemore 7, Noah Cohen 7, Jake Scherzer 4, Brandon Altman 2, Luke Caron 1

SJP: Julian McKie 13, Justin McKie 10, Myles Peterson 7, Luke Maransky 3, Will Lesovitz 3, Jayden Howlett 3

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