Southeastern Pennsylvania Top 10Records as of Jan. 24, 20111.
Chester (13-1)
2.
Friends' Central (Wynnewoode) (13-2)
3.
Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia) (15-3)
4.
Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athyn) (13-4)
5.
Council Rock North (Newtown) (14-1)
6.
Neshaminy (Langhorne) (12-2)
7.
Archbishop Carroll (Radnor) (12-3)
8.
Neumann Regional Academy (Williamsport)(10-3)
9.
Penn Wood (Lansdowne) (7-5)
10.
La Salle College (Wyndmoor) (12-2)
Bob Miller has built some nice boys basketball teams at
Upper Darby (Drexel Hill). The previous two years the Royals coach saw a bit of a lull, but before that, Upper Darby had a 22-2 regular-season record in 2006-07 and a No. 1 seed in the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA — the toughest district in Pennsylvania.
Upper Darby's Terrance Bridgers.
Photo by Ron Siliani.
The year before that, the Royals were 20-4.
So Miller has had some good teams. But nothing quite like this season, nothing quite like starting the year 15-0 overall and 10-0 in the Central League.
Entering this week, Upper Darby is the only undefeated Class AAAA team in District 1, which includes perennial powerhouses Chester, Penn Wood, defending state champion Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Neshaminy and Council Rock North.
The 15-0 start is the best beginning in school history for Upper Darby, which last won a league title in the 2006-07 season and before that, you'd have to go way back to 1979 to find the last time Upper Darby last won a league crown.
Miller expected this team to be good, but not undefeated. And not undefeated this late into the year.
"We knew we would be good, it was a matter of how good, and I don't think anyone would have foreseen this, even me," Miller said. "I was honestly thinking winning 17, 18 games would be a good season. We have so many good coaches in the Central League, it's so difficult to run the table.
"We don't even talk about it. We focus on the team at hand. Our kids aren't putting a whole lot of thought into things."
The Royals have six league games left, including Springfield, Harriton, Ridley and Strath Haven — all good teams.
Upper Darby has done it with drama. The Royals won four games in the final seconds — including three buzzer-beaters that include a tremendous back-and-forth 52-51 triple-overtime victory over Penncrest, the defending league champion, on Jan. 18.
"We've done this with a little flare, it's not something I like. It's tough, but we keep on winning," said Miller, laughing. "Even one of the mothers came up to me recently and jokingly said she couldn't handle any more of these last-second games. We'll take seven more of them, but it's hard on the heart going through this."
The Royals made this run with a lineup that's been in constant flux. Miller has been without 6-1 junior
Brandon Hashim, Upper Darby's leading scorer with 14 points a game, the last three weeks as he recovers from some academic difficulties. But Miller's received great performances from seniors
D J Johnson and
Kevin Everitt. Sophomore
Ishmael Walls has replaced Hashim and is scoring 10 points a game.
Senior
Terrance Bridgers has played different roles. He's been asked to play inside and a little outside, scoring 10.5 points and pulling in eight rebounds a game. It was Bridgers who nailed a 3-point shot with 7 seconds left in the third overtime that beat Penncrest.
Opposing teams have had their hands full with 6-4, 240-pound senior
Daron Harris, who is averaging 9.7 rebounds and 10.8 points a game. Harris is also a formidable pick, extremely tough to get around his wide frame.
Upper Darby is going to be a tough out for anyone in the district and state playoffs.
"There is pressure being undefeated, and if we finish undefeated, there is no playoff in the Central League," said Miller, whose team is shooting 73 percent from the free-throw line, up from 49 percent last year. "These kids always have an answer. Last year, we expected to lose close games. This year, they don't. It's not about winning this year, it's about not losing.
"These kids hate to lose. These kids don't want to lose. We had a lot of little things add up last year, and you start to look around and wonder what else can go wrong. You start to think that maybe we're meant for something this year. We've gotten a few breaks and we've also created a lot of our own breaks, too."
Joseph Santoliquito can be reached at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
