BOYS BASKETBALL: Cheltenham beats Upper Moreland for early lead in SOL Freedom

UPPER MORELAND — The calendar may have read December 16, but Tuesday night’s game between Cheltenham and Upper Moreland felt like one taking place in late January or early February.

The two teams shared the Suburban One League Freedom Division title last season after splitting their two regular season meetings. Cheltenham took the first meeting by two points and Upper Moreland won the rematch in double overtime. If the first meeting this year is any indication, it’s going to be another tight race for the league championship.

Cheltenham earned the early lead in the SOL Freedom race with a 58-50 overtime win over Upper Moreland in front of a packed gym at Upper Moreland Senior High School.

“Upper Moreland and Cheltenham, that’s a big game,” Cheltenham guard Mark Hill said. “Coming into this game, we just had to be extra prepared and we took it real, real personal. That’s it.”

The Panthers (4-1, 3-0 SOL Freedom) got a defensive stop on the first possession of the overtime period before taking the lead for good. Chris Harmon split a pair of free throws, missing the second. Isa Vargas grabbed on offensive rebound on the miss and worked the ball to Hill along the right wing, where he knocked down a three-pointer to give Cheltenham a 51-47 lead with less than three minutes to play.

“I just saw the open shot and the opportunity so I took it,” Hill said, crediting his teammates for finding him.

“Isa Vargas, Isaiah Dill, they make plays that might not show up on the stat sheet, but they were major,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “That offensive rebound, without that Mark doesn’t get that three. It’s never one person for us. It was amazing for Vargas, who’s a junior, to have such an impact and not really care about scoring. He’s been a double-digit scorer already this year. He’s just showing the versatility he has as a basketball player and as a teammate.”

Hill converted a pair of free throws before Upper Moreland’s Jose Hernandez made a basket to get his side within 53-49 with 1:40 to go. After the Golden Bears (5-2, 2-1 SOL Freedom) forced a turnover, they thought they were getting two more points for a goaltend, but the block off the backboard by Cheltenham’s Tyree Martin was ruled legal. Hill hit two more free throws at the other end to get the lead up to six, 55-49, with under a minute to play.

“Tyree was major,” Fleury said. “I believe he’s a college athlete. I believe all our seniors are college athletes. The fact that he didn’t let the offensive end or anything bother him and just continued to go possession by possession. When he gets to college, that will be one of the major things for him that makes him a viable player and his versatility. He’s athletic and that block was a big block.”

Cheltenham continued to make its free throws down the stretch to close out the 58-50 win.

The Panthers jumped out to an early lead in the first half. After falling behind 5-0, they rattled off an 18-2 run deep into the second quarter to build an 18-7 advantage. They maintained the 11-point lead until halftime and went to the locker room ahead, 24-13.

“We played at our own speed,” Hill, who scored six of his 17 points in the first quarter, said. “Not letting the crowd speed us up, not letting their defenders speed us up. We just played at our own pace. We practice this.”

Upper Moreland had an answer to start the third quarter. The Golden Bears started the second half on a 16-5 run to tie the game at 29 and won the quarter, 22-13, behind 11 points from Hernandez, who finished with a game-high 21 points. They trailed 37-35 to start the fourth.

“We didn’t do a great job in the first half,” Upper Moreland coach Dan Heiland said. “It took us a lot more to fight back in the second half to get it back to the point where we could tie, take the lead and eventually go to overtime.

“Unfortunately it just took a half to compose ourselves and understand what they’re trying to do. When we were able to get movement into the right spot, we created driving lanes and opportunities for Jose, especially, to attack the basket and then finish. In the first half we just weren’t getting that proper spacing and (Cheltenham) did a good job trapping us and getting the ball out of Nate (Best) and (Jose’s) hands.”

The teams played a back-and-forth fourth quarter. Cannon Campbell gave Upper Moreland a 38-37 lead with a three-pointer and Jaeden Mosley answered with a triple of his own to put Cheltenham in front, 40-38. Mosley and Hernandez traded threes to even the score at 43 and Cheltenham’s Harmon followed with a trey of his own to make it 46-43 Panthers halfway through the frame.

Larry Hughes got UM within one, 46-45, with a basket and then grabbed an offensive rebound to assist Kyle Moore on giving the Golden Bears a 47-46 lead with two minutes to go. That score held until the final four seconds, when Cheltenham’s Mosley was fouled and split a pair of free throws to tie the game. Upper Moreland’s shot at the buzzer was off to send the game to overtime, 47-47.

Hughes, who finished with 10 points, fouled out late in the fourth quarter while Campbell, who had 13 points, missed the final 2:39 of regulation and first 1:56 of overtime after being helped off the floor in the fourth quarter.

Harmon led Cheltenham with 19 points and Mosley had 14.

These teams will meet again on Jan. 27 at Cheltenham.

Cheltenham 58, Upper Moreland 50 (OT)

Cheltenham 12 12 13 10 11 – 58

Upper Moreland 7 6 22 12 3 – 50

C: Chris Harmon 8 1-2 19, Isaiah Dill 1 0-0 2, Jaeden Mosley 4 3-4 14, Tyree Martin 1 0-0 2, Peyton McClendan 0 0-0 0, Mark Hill 4 8-10 17, Isa Vargas 2 0-0 4. Total 20 13-18 58.

UM: Nate Best 1 0-0 3, Kyle Moore 1 1-2 3, Larry Hughes 4 2-3 10, Cannon Campbell 6 0-1 13, Jose Hernandez 8 3-4 21, Brody Hughes 0 0-0 0, Andrew Hamill 0 0-0 0, Darius Whetstone 0 0-0 0. Total 20 6-10 50.

3-point goals: Chris Harmon 2, Jaeden Mosley 2, Mark Hill. UM: Nate Best, Jose Hernandez 2, Cannon Campbell.