City of Basketball Love

Tyler Sandora (@tyler_sandora)

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As Lower Merion was huddled during a timeout with about 13 seconds left in overtime in a tie game versus Manheim Township in a PIAA 6A first round game on Saturday afternoon, head coach Gregg Downer knew exactly what play he would draw up for his Aces.

It was the same play they ran against Penncrest in the Central League championship; when junior guard Steve Payne was given the ball and the directive to put it in the hoop.

In that game almost a month ago, Payne did just that, and put the Aces up by two points with three seconds left. Lower Merion ended up winning by two.

Payne’s hot hand on top of the fact that he has a history of hitting the big shot at the end of the game made it a no-brainer who Downer would elect to take the final shot.  

“We said, ‘look, we’ve been here before. We’re going to bleed the clock down and try to take the final shot,’” Downer said. “We wanted Steve going to the rim, and that was very similar to the one that won the league title.”

That’s exactly what Downer got.

Payne would dribble the ball for five seconds before attacking the paint, finishing with his right hand at the rim, giving the Aces a two-point lead with five seconds left. Manheim Township would not hit its shot at the buzzer, and Lower Merion held on to win 88-86, advancing to the second round of the state tournament for the first time since 2014.

“I’m the leader of the team, and I’m the point guard of the team,” said Payne, who dropped 24 points. “That’s my job. Get the ball and make plays.

“In the timeout we actually drew that same play up from the Penncrest game. It was to get it in, get me the ball, and score the ball.”

Payne had drawn some ‘ooh’s and aah’s” from the crowd with his speed and crafty moves around the rim in the second half. The 6-2 junior guard totaled 18 points in the final two quarters and overtime alone, and was 6-for-6 from the stripe.

“He’s just a dynamic player,” Downer said of Payne. “He’ll find a way to get to the rim. He’s a hard guy to keep out of the lane. He’s our quarterback. He’s got the ball 70 percent of the time. We count on him to make plays. He doesn’t shy away from that, he wants to make those plays.”

Manheim Township led the Aces by one at half, and were neck-and-neck for the whole second half. With Lower Merion big man Josh Martin sidelined due to foul trouble, Manheim was able to even out the rebounding battle and get an advantage in the paint.

6-foot-6 junior Tyler Vicidomini scored nine in the first quarter for the Blue Streaks, and totaled 15 for the game. Explosive 5-9 junior guard Tyler Crespo, who had his elbow at the rim on a putback dunk attempt, led Manheim with 17 points, and 6-4 junior Hilton Ridley had 15.

But every time Manheim made a run or a shot to take the lead, there was almost always an answer by Lower Merion. Payne hit a few runners following a Manheim bucket, but the big crowd silencers came from junior guard Julian Hairston.

“Last Saturday we played C.B. West and I went four for four [from three],” Hairston said. “I kept that same mindset and confidence and was ready to shoot today.”

Hairston ended with 12 points off the bench for the Aces. Junior Jack Forrest added 16 points, and senior Harrison Klevan netted 11.

The effort given by the Aces late -- including Hairston’s hot hand and Payne’s big shot -- made it evident that Lower Merion didn’t want to lose in the first round of states for the fourth straight year. 2014 was the last time the Aces played after the opening round, when they lost in the quarterfinals to LaSalle College High School.

“Well you know that if you lose you’re turning in your uniform so it can be stressful,” Downer said. “This team has had a great season, but this is icing on the cake to win a state game. We definitely focused on it. Losing four years in a row would not have been something we would have been particularly happy about.”

Lower Merion will take on Neshaminy on Wednesday in the next round of states at a site and time still to be determined. When the two teams met back on January 21, Lower Merion came out victorious, 73-64.

If there is a need for any late game heroics from here on out, it would be a safe bet to put your money on Payne being the guy to make the play.

“I think I’m the best player on the court every time I step on the court,” he said. “I’m taking that shot every time.”
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Lewis comes up big for Valley Forge Military

In the first half of its first PIAA 3A state playoff game, both of Valley Forge Military Academy’s starting big men picked up their third fouls.

Abraham Deng, a lanky 7-footer, and Marius Ntwari, a bulky 6-9 forward were both forced to the bench so they wouldn’t pick up foul number four. The Trojans’ strategy all game was to try and dump it down low to the big men, and let them do their thing around the rim. But with them out, that meant someone else needed to step up for the Trojans.

Enter Arion Lewis.

The 6-foot-1 senior put on a show in the absence of the twin-towers, scoring 30 points, including number 1,000 in his two years at the school to lead VFMA to an 80-60 win over Penn Treaty.

“When your bigs pick up three fouls in the first half, you lose that strategy,” head coach Francis Bowe said. “Thank goodness for Arion. He really put on a show. He was able to step up.”

I attacked and got people involved,” Lewis said. “Sometimes we rely on [big guys] to block shots, but with them out we needed to step up.”

While Lewis kept his scoring streak going into the fourth quarter, the big men came back in to finish out the game. Deng went for seven points, and Ntwari had 10 in the final period.  

“Now that [big men] are seniors, [Lewis] knows how to throw it to them,” Bowe said. “It’s an advantage. If we are able to punish the paint like we did in the fourth quarter, that’s the type of basketball we want to play.”

Penn Treaty was led by senior guard Nafeez Abdul-Malik, who scored 22 points for the Wolves. Junior Curtis Robinson added 21, and Jarren Welton had seven.

VFMA will take on Loyalsock Township in the next round of Wednesday. Loyalsock defeated Holy Redeemer in the first round.  
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