City of Basketball Love

Ari Glazier (@AriGlazier)
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The defending BAL tournament winners, Valley Forge Military Academy went into its  semi-final matchup against Lower Moreland on Thursday with one eye looking back at disappointments earlier in the season, and an eye looking at the near future and the potential to go back to back.

The last time the Trojans stepped into the Lower Moreland gym, they saw a big first-half lead slip away in an overtime loss. Later on in the season Valley Forge lost by double digits to the Lions at home. A victory in either of those games would have given Valley Forge sole ownership of the BAL Independence Division championship, which they ended up splitting with Lower Moreland.

Thursday was a different story, as the Trojans built up a 12-point lead going into the fourth and held on, winning 62-57 despite seeing the advantage shrink to as little as two points with under a minute to play.

“The last time we were here they did the same thing,” senior Valley Forge guard Arion Lewis said. “We were up big; they came back in the fourth and won. But we learned from our mistakes last time and capitalized this time. We knew what we had to do this time to close the game. I’m happy we got them when it really counts.”

Lewis led the Trojans with 28 points. While he had 11 points at the half, the 6-3 senior had some trouble shooting, going 2-6 from the field. He responded by dominating the second half, scoring 17 of Valley Forge’s 26 over the closing 16 minutes.

Valley Forge head coach Francis Bowe was as struck with Lewis’s leadership as he was with the senior’s scoring.

“It was funny,” Bowie said, “he said something. When we called a timeout and it was a four-point lead he goes ‘guys we just need to calm down, we’ve been here before’. And you could just see if went off everyone’s shoulders.

“It’s a lot easier when you have somebody like Arion to be the general on the floor, and I’m just blessed to be able to coach him.”

Valley Forge enjoyed a significant advantage in athleticism and size against Lower Moreland, but it looked like the Trojans were in for a long night chasing after open shooters, as the Lions went 5-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Trojans’ defense stepped up in the second half and rendered the ‘3’ ball a non factor, holding Lower Moreland to 1-of-12 from long range in the third and fourth quarters.

“We had to get out harder and retreat harder,” Bowie said. “One of the things we played all year was zone a lot, and it gave us breathers. When you go against a team like this there’s not time for breathers because all five of them can spread the floor and knock it down. So they played harder defensively. I still would want 32 minutes out of them, but when push came to shove their intensity came up, and that’s the reason we were able to close out on them.”

Valley Forge came into the postseason missing one of its leaders -- 6-9 senior Marius Ntwari,  who badly sprained his ankle a day before the BAL playoffs began.

“We know he’s big, so we can play a little faster on defense,” Lewis said. “We’re able to play man, but we miss his scoring inside. He’s a monster inside, easy bucket every time he touches the ball.”

Ntwari’s partner in the frontcourt -- 6-10 senior Abraham Deng -- helped ease the pain of that loss, putting up a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, as well as five blocks.

Valley Forge will meet up with Presidents Division champions Dock Mennonite in the BAL championship on Saturday at Morrisville High School. Dock defeated last year’s runner up Faith Christian to earn a shot at the reigning champions. When the two squads met up earlier in the year, Valley Forge came out on top 47-33.

A win for the Trojans would mean the fulfillment of the two goals that Bowie had set out for his team to accomplish back in the preseason.

“Our ultimate goal was to win the league, and we got co-champions,” Bowie said.  I know the boys aren’t happy about that, but we did get that. But our second goal was to win the BAL playoffs, go back to back. And it is sweeter, it’s sweeter that you actually have to go through Lower Moreland, maybe more perfect to play them in the finals but it doesn’t work that way sometimes. We got the win, we worked hard, we prepared, and we’re ready for Saturday.”