By Matthew DeGeorge
When Upper Darby’s defense put the clamps on Saturday, Conestoga’s offense went dormant.
The Royals allowed just seven points and one made field goal in the middle two quarters to run away from the Pioneers in a 51-33 win.
Conestoga’s only points of the second quarter came on a Jack Liedtka 3-pointer with 4:31 left. Upper Darby scored the final 11 points of the frame to take a 28-14 lead into the break. The run extended to 25-1 across the intermission as the Pioneers didn’t hit a basket in the third.
“I think defense is a strong part of our team,” point guard CJ Dabbs said. “We strive on defense, we work on it a lot in practice. Our offense in the half-court is not that good, so when we get steals and deflections on defense, we get to push and go up-tempo. We’re an up-tempo team.”
Upper Darby’s defense caused 16 turnovers. It only allowed the Pioneers 13 attempts from the field in the middle two quarters.
That permitted Upper Darby’s hot shooting to take over. Shareef Jones hit four 3-pointers and scored 19 points, hitting six straight shots at one point across the halftime interval. Dabbs added 10 points, four assists and seven rebounds. Iyan Joshuasville hit all three of his looks from the field for nine points, including a 3-pointer off a Dabbs feed as the horn sounded on the second quarter. Mo Konte supplied seven points, and Onyekachi Nzeh only scored five points but grabbed 10 rebounds and his lane presence shut down the Pioneers’ bigs.
The Conestoga starting five scored only 14 points, led by Liedtka’s nine.
Also in the Central League:
LOWER MERION 82, RIDLEY 81 >> Kahil Henson’s jumper with four seconds left in the second overtime tied the game, but James Simples hit one of three free throws after a controversial foul call at the buzzer to give the Aces the road win.
Henson was one of six Green Raiders in double figures with 12 points. Josh Hagan led the way with 17 points, and Cam Faro added 16. Josh Howard (12 points) and Jack Grace (11 points) hit two 3-pointers apiece.
STRATH HAVEN 45, RADNOR 42 >> Luke Edwards scored 19 points, Matt Shuler added 12 and Ibo Pio (nine points) made his free throws down the stretch as the Panthers handed Radnor its first league loss.
Jack D’Entremont led Radnor with 22 points.
GARNET VALLEY 49, HAVERFORD 45>>Chris Coyne had a career
day of 12 points and 15 rebounds as the Jaguars (8-1, 5-1) won even without second-leading scorer Neel Beniwal.
Carl Schaller added 17 points, 11 in the fourth quarter as the Jags rallied. Six Garnet Valley players hit 3-pointers.
John Seidman led the Fords (6-4, 2-3) with 22 points. Hunter Krazia chipped in 11 points.
MARPLE NEWTOWN 49, HARRITON 48 >> Owen Mathes and Joey Pettinelli scored 10 points apiece as the Tigers (6-4, 3-2) hung on down the stretch.
PENNCREST54,SPRINGFIELD
27 >> Marquis Tomlin paired 19 points with eight boards as the Lions (10-1, 5-1) took control with a 17-4 margin in the second quarter on the way to a seventh straight victory.
Aidan Carroll added nine points, six assists and five steals. Cole Rhodes paced Springfield with seven points.
In nonleague action:
PENNWOOD 74,PHILIPSBURG 61 >>Shamir Baynes tossed in 22 points, and Jeremiah Flynn added 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Patriots (4-2) weathered an early 16-point deficit to win in what was its first game in 14 days. Gabriel Harvey added 16 points.
CHESTER 87, BARTRAM 55 >>
Karell Watkins posted another double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, providing eight points in the second quarter as the Clippers opened up a cushion. He also made six steals.
Akeem Taylor added 17 points, Zahmir Carroll (six rebounds, three blocks) and Fareed Burton (four assists) contributed 12 points each and Faheem Berry (eight points, six steals) sparked the Clippers (6-2) on both ends.
SUN VALLEY 60,OWEN J. ROBERTS 49>>Billy Fisher scored 21 points, and Dom Valente nailed four 3-pointers to tally 17 points for the Vanguards.
PERKIOMEN SCHOOL 67,EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 37 >> Alex Capitano scored 11 points and Will Delaney added 10, but the Churchmen fell.
LIFE CENTER 61, CHICHESTER 51 >>Josh Hankins scored 20 points and Jasir Shaw added 10, but the Eagles (56) couldn’t hold a 10-point edge after one quarter, getting outscored 26-12 in themiddle two frames.