City of Basketball Love

Ray Dunne (@RayDunneBTB)
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With the Pioneer Athletic Conference regular season winding down in late January, Spring-Ford dropped a double overtime thriller at home to Norristown.

The more important loss, however, came after the game, when senior guard and third-year starter Nestor Diaz was diagnosed with a sprained right ankle.

Even after his ankle slipped into a 90-degree angle, Diaz played till the end of that game, trying to avoid a second loss to Norristown on the year.

Once the adrenaline of the big game wore off, the pain set in.

“[The injury happened] in the third quarter and I came out, got it taped,” Diaz said. “They just put a little bit on it and I played, I don’t know how -- and then the next day, I’m coming to school and I couldn’t walk. It was terrible.”

Since then, it has been a guessing game as to whether or not he takes the court for the Rams.

Diaz sat for Spring-Ford’s loss to Boyertown the day after he sprained it, then toughed it out and scored 13 points against Owen J. Roberts three days later to help the Rams lock up a spot in the PAC Final Six.

In Tuesday’s play-in game against Phoenixville, Diaz was dressed but did not see the floor as the Rams beat the Phantoms to move onto the semifinals.

On Friday night, the 6-foot-tall guard sat on the bench in the first quarter and watched as the Rams had as many turnovers as points.

That’s when Spring-Ford head coach Chris Talley sent Diaz to check in.

“You could even tell in warm-ups that he was favoring it and it’s obvious he’s not at full strength, but he’s a three-year starter,” Talley said. “Whether he’s 50 percent, 60 percent, or whatever, we’re going to take a three-year starter all the time.”

If there was a player Talley wanted in the game with everything on the line, that would be Diaz. With the most varsity experience and having already been a part of two intense PAC playoff runs, Diaz is Talley’s go-to guy.

Luckily for Talley, when the game hung in the balance with less than a second left in overtime, Diaz stepped to the free throw line with a chance to win the game for the Rams.

The senior knocked down the first free throw without a doubt, giving Spring-Ford a 44-43 lead over the PAC’s top seed, Norristown. His second shot was off the mark, but by the time the Eagles gained possession, the clock had nothing left to give.

For the third straight season, Diaz will be a part of a Rams team with a chance to take home the PAC title. Talley is well aware just how important Diaz has been to Spring-Ford’s current run of success.

“He’s played in the biggest games we’ve ever played in,” Talley said. “This is a perfect atmosphere for him. This game came down to the little things and that’s what he does for us, he has a nose for the ball and he’s hit some of the biggest free throws in program history.”

Over the entire week, Diaz had done nothing in practice but put up threes and free throws. He was not permitted to do anything at gamespeed and according to Talley, the decision to play him would come in warm-ups of Friday night’s game.

As for Diaz, he had a different mentality regarding his availability for the game.

“Coach Talley told me that in warm ups I’d tell him whether I’d play or not, but I knew I was going to play this whole time,” Diaz said. “I wanted to play this whole time at least.”

Beyond Diaz’s injury, some doubts were casted about Spring-Ford’s ability to beat Norristown after the Eagles won handily early in the season and were able to hang on to the double overtime road win just a week and a half prior.

Despite the outcome of the bitter loss the last time these two teams faced off, Talley saw the competitive nature of the game as a way for the players to see their ability to hang with the team a top of the PAC’s Liberty division.

“That last game, the kids knew we felt as if we let one slip away in double overtime, we had chances to win,” Talley said. “That gave us the confidence coming into this game, knowing that we felt we let one slip away last time.”

The key difference is Spring-Ford’s win was their ability to limit Mikeel Allen’s impact, holding hm to five points after he scored 31 in the two teams’ previous meeting. Additionally, the Rams’ well-spread offense didn’t allow the Eagles to key in on any given player.

Junior forward Noah Baker was the Rams’ leading scorer despite fouling out in the fourth quarter, putting up 11 points while Diaz and senior forward Austin Hokanson scored 10 points apiece. Juniors Robert Bobeck and Ryan Hagan showcased their ability in the paint, pulling down five rebounds apiece.

Now standing in the Rams’ way of a second title in three years is another team who beat them twice in conference play, the Methacton Warriors. Diaz will be the only player on the floor on in next Tuesday night’s PAC championship game that was a part of the league playoffs when Spring-Ford won its most recent title.

Coming up on his last chance to deliver a title back to Spring-Ford, he’s trying to do something he set out for long before his high school days.

“If we win the PAC Championship, it’s like everything to us, it’s something that you dream for when you’re coming up playing basketball, to win the PACs,” Diaz said. “I’ve always wanted to win three, last year was a rough one, but even two would be amazing for us.”

Given the opportunity to end his career on top of the PAC, Diaz is done talking about availability or how his ankle feels.

“I’ll be ready for Tuesday.”