City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)

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Experience is not necessarily on the side of the La Salle College high school boys basketball team this year.

In fact, junior guard Max Okebata was the only Explorers starter who saw varsity time last season.

That was most likely the reason for a slow start against a seasoned Abington Friends squad, which had three players transfer from PCL squads a season ago.

La Salle found themselves down 29-21 midway through the third quarter before rallying for a tense 51-46 victory on Tuesday night in its season-opener at AFS.

“I felt for a young group we faced some adversity on the road,” said Explorers head coach Ryan Ansel. “There were a little bit of the jitters. I thought we came together as a team. It was nice enough to have a successful start to the season.”

The Explorers turned to their principles in rallying from that eight-point deficit. Their defense, rebounding and foul shooting sparked a 12-2 run which had La Salle up 33-32 after three quarters.

“To come in and battle and pull out a good first win, it was only possible because guys supported each other,” Ansel said. “That allowed us to fight through adversity against a really good team who had guys who played PCL basketball. The speed of the varsity game is different. I am proud of the guys for stepping in.”

The Explorers had the momentum to start the fourth quarter, but the Kangaroos never backed down behind an 18-point performance from Robert Spruill. La Salle countered with their junior point guard Tyler Branson, who scored 10 of his game-high 18 points in the decisive frame.  

The junior point guard was everywhere, but usually finished at the free throw line where he went 11-of-16 on the night, including 4-of-6 in the fourth quarter.

“Tyler was able to get to the free throw line,” Ansel said. “Our guys were more aggressive. Other guys attacked the rim. He was being strong with the ball, getting rebounds.”

It was not just the Branson show either as Pryce Alston added 11 points and Jaxson Carroll eight more.

In the end the game came down to small margins with La Salle holding a 49-46 lead with 20 seconds to play. AFS went for the quick two, but couldn’t find the net and the Explorers finished it out at the free-throw line with Jayden Carr sealing the five-point win.

“We told them after the game if we had that intensity at the beginning it may not have been such a tight game,” Ansel said. “It was pivotal for us to come back. When there was adversity they stayed together. It’s a credit to the culture and it’s exciting.”

A few other results from games CoBL wasn't able to get to around the Delaware Valley on Tuesday night:

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Boys: Haverford School 67, Friends Central 46

The Fords took down Friends Central 67-46 in their season opener. Junior Silas Graham scored an incredible 42 points to lead the way including 29 in the first half. Graham, who has already fielded offers from Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, Drexel and Belmont, hit 19 field goals in all, while also going 2-for-3 from the free throw line. Patrice Feamster scored 14 points for Friends Central, while Oben Mokonchu added 12. 

“He was all over the place,” said Haverford coach Bernie Rogers of Graham. “He did a little bit of everything. He does a great job of finding the ball, getting loose balls, rebounding. He was able to make some shots and found points on offensive rebounds, he had some steals too.”

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Boys: Upper Dublin 54, Methacton 39

Upper Dublin finished the game on an 18-8 run and coasted to the win on Tuesday in a nonconference tilt. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Horace Jackson IV with 22 points, while Justin Ragsdale added 16.

Wes Robinson and John Leet each scored 10 points for Methacton.

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Boys: Penn Wood 60, Garnet Valley 58 

Penn Wood won on a buzzer beater layup after a steal with three seconds remaining on Tuesday night. Grayson Golek led the Jags with 24 points, while Braden Quinn added 11. Bell Smith led Penn Wood with 20 points, 17 of which came in the second half. 

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Girls: Penn Charter 56, Lawrenceville School 33

Penn Charter picked up the nonconference win behind a career-high 27 points from Johns Hopkins commit Marleigh Jackson, who is averaging 18 points per game on the season. Jackson started hot from the start, scoring 10 in the first quarter during a 19-5 spurt. The win pushed PC to 2-1 on the season.

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Girls: Garnet Valley 49, Bonner-Prendie 38

Nine players scored in all as GV took home its season-opener. Senior point guard Regan Leydig led the scoring with 11 points, while Cassidy Zipperlen added nine. Kyle Adamski added nine rebounds for Garnet. Kayla Epps scored 12 points to lead Bonner.