City of Basketball Love

Danny Holdsman (@DHoldsman)
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The fate of Lower Merion and Penn Wood’s seasons hung in the balance as Terrell Jones launched a 3-pointer from straightaway with two seconds left in overtime.

Jones’ Aces were down one and he found himself with the ball between half-court and the top of the key.

“The play was designed for K.J. [Helton] to inbound it to me on the wing.” Jones said. “They were supposed to be in man, and I was supposed to just right hand dribble and go to the hole. But they were in a 1-3-1, so I popped out, they gave it to Steve [Payne], he bounce-passed it to me, one dribble and I pulled.” 

Jones had not even attempted a perimeter shot the entire game, let alone made one. Now it was up to him to send his team into the next round of District 1’s AAAA Playoffs.

“It was really a ‘hail mary’,” he said, “but the basketball gods let it drop in.”

That shot lifted No. 11 Lower Merion to a 68-66 overtime win over No. 22 Penn Wood, a fitting end for a back-and-forth game that could have gone either way.

Lower Merion head coach Gregg Downer echoed many of the same ideas that Jones did about the buzzer-beating shot.

“I wasn’t really hoping for a three there. The initial plan was to get something going to the basket, maybe get some free throws, make the refs make a call,” he said. “But [Penn Wood head coach] Clyde [Jones] came out in a 1-3-1, which was a tricky maneuver by him, a good coaching move by him. We didn’t really have a lot of space, so Terrell let it go from about 28 feet and luckily it went in.’

The Aces’ victory advances them to the next round of the district playoffs, where they will square off against Upper Dublin on Tuesday night at the Bryant Gymnasium. With a win on Tuesday, they will secure a bid for the AAAA state playoffs.

“We’re playing on house money now,” Downer commented. “Evidently Upper Dublin made a three at the buzzer, so they’re on house money also. It’s not going to be a problem getting our guys ready to play. We’ll be ready to go. We’re very excited. If that shot doesn’t go in, we’re collecting uniforms.”

Had it not been for Payne stepping up in a major way for the Aces, they may not have had a shot to play for a state bid. The freshman contributed eight points, five boards, and three assists--all of which, with the exception of an assist, came in the second half.

Lower Merion was trailing 35-30 at the half and looked sluggish. Payne gave the Aces the energy they needed out of the locker room to completely flip the momentum.

“He’s a talented freshman. He has not gotten a lot a playing time this year, and that was a really big moment we put him into,” Downer remarked. “He did a great job in there and was a key force getting that game turned around.”

Payne admitted that he felt the pressure of the playoffs in the first half, and he credited his coaches encouragement for allowing him to come alive out of halftime.

“They told me ‘don’t worry about your age. You’re not a freshman, you’re not a freshman,'" he said. "Just play the game. We know what you can do, just play the game.’”

The Aces likely would have pulled away at some point in the late goings of the game, but Penn Wood’s junior guard Kairi Jones refused to give in. The Patriots’ point guard dropped 17 points, in addition to nine rebounds and four assists in the losing effort. He also orchestrated the drive and dish with 17 seconds left to give his team the lead before Terrell Jones took it back at the buzzer.

“It hurts. It all hurts,” a heartbroken Jones said. “I always want to win, and I feel bad for our seniors, Jordan [Johnson], Calvin [Melton], Ryan [Kelly], because they played as hard as they could too. We just couldn’t get in done for them.”

The contest was back and forth throughout and featured numerous ties and lead changes. It only seemed fitting for it to end on a long-range prayer from a player who only scored two points entering the extra period.

Forward Dion Harris led the Aces with 17 points and seven boards, while Helton contributed 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

Aside from Jones, the Patriots (12-11) were bolstered by Javon Lindsey-Terrell, who had a game-high 19 points. Forward Vincent Smalls added 16 points and six boards.

“This game was a microcosm of our season in that we had moments where we played really great basketball," Clyde Jones said. “We consistently followed the game plan tonight, and we fought back from a deficit.

“Tonight showed so much growth in us in that we continued to play and follow the game plan and get into the lane. We shared the basketball and hit the open guy… It’s a shame we had to lose when we fought back and took the lead. It was a really good high school basketball game by two really good teams.”

The Aces now shift their focus to Tuesday night, knowing that their season can end at any moment.

“We’re just in survival mode when you win a ball game like that,” Downer said. “We won a ball game like that last year by one point. You’re just living to see tomorrow. I will say that the district is more wide open than it’s been in the past. I think there’s probably six or ten teams that could win it. We’re in one day at a time mode.”

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More CoBL District 1 AAAA First-Round Coverage
-- Spring-Ford 69, Penncrest 60
-- Perkiomen Valley 49, Cheltenham 45
-- Academy Park 53, Upper Merion 51

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