EAST WHITELAND — They say the race is usually won by the team that gets out of the gate fast. That axiom could apply to Friday night’s opening round District 1 6A boys basketball contest between Upper Darby and host Great Valley. The 18th-seeded Royals scored the first 19 points of the game en route to a 58-48 win over the No. 15 Patriots.

The win puts Upper Darby (13-10) into the second round Tuesday against Methacton. The Patriots end their season at 17-7.

Upper Darby shot a torrid 62 percent (10-for-16) from the field in the first period and drained its first five three-pointers on the way to a commanding 26-6 advantage. The Royals forced eight

Great Valley turnovers in the period and 19 for the game.

“We have been working our press defense all week,” Royals guard Artemis Sirleaf said. “We turned them over a number of time in the first period. We wanted to start fast and we did that. Even when they made it close in the second half, we never felt we would lose the lead to them.”

Sirleaf led UD with 12 points, while Musa Kamara chipped in with 10 and Jude Ennis added nine points on three long three-pointers — two in the first-period onslaught.

Great Valley played even with the rampaging Royals over the last three periods, but could never climb out of the giant hole they dug for themselves. The Patriots shot just 39 percent (20-for-51) for the game and could not get a big shot to cut further into the Upper Darby.

“We just dug ourselves a deep hole and we could not fight out of it,” Great Valley coach CJ Savage said. “We just had too many turnovers to win a playoff game. We just did not come out ready to play in the first period for some reason. We showed how we can play in the second half, but it was too late.”

Upper Darby shot 21-for-45 for the game. That number even accounted for three missed slam dunks. The Royals were up 44-20 with 2:56 to go in the third, and it looked like the rout was on.

However, the Patriots, however roared back to close the period on a 10-0 run. John Jacobs scored two quick baskets off turnovers. Fouda Ismaila scored on a follow and Chris Woodard, who led Great Valley with 13 points, hit a long three-pointer. Jensen Ng added a free throw to trim the deficit to 44-30 heading into the fourth.

“Give Great Valley and their staff credit,” Upper Darby coach Bob Miller said. “A lot of teams would have wilted at halftime, being down so much, but they are very well coached and they are a very disciplined team.”

Great Valley continued to show more of the fight they had in the third. Ng scored in the lane to make it 46-38 lead with 6:21 to go. The Royals helped the Patriots by turning the ball over nine times in the second half, which led to 10 points to assist in the comeback effort.

The Royals hung tough when they had to and maintained their lead. Sirleaf went strong to the basket to make it 53-42 with 1:19 to play. After a miss, Kamara scored inside to make it 55-42 and that was it for the valiant comeback attempt.

“We played them early this season (a 56-48 Upper Darby win on Dec. 6), and that really helped us,” Kamara said. “We wanted to come out quick and take control of the game and we did. We have a lot of seniors who have played together since we were freshmen and we are starting to put things together at this time of the season.”

Miller, pleased with his team’s quick start, said that things went better than planned for the Royals early in the contest.

“We wanted to play up-and-down and fast,” Miller said. “We know they like to play half-court offense, so we wanted to make things as uncomfortable for them as we could. That worked out for us in the first period. You always want a fast start, but I never thought it was going to be 19-0. The guys did a really good job tonight.”

Upper Darby 58, Great Valley 48UPPER DARBY: Sirleaf 5 1-3 12, Lewis 0 1-2 1, Rothley 0 0-0 0, Cambell 0 0-0 0, Markel Boreland 2 3-5 7, Marlon Boreland 2 3-4 8, Kamara 4 1-3 10, Ennis 3 0-0 9, Riley 1 0-0 2, Murray 3 1-2 7, Precia 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 10-19 58.GREAT VALLEY: Oswald 1 0-0 3, Gal 0 0-0 0, Jacobs 4 0-0 8, Ng 4 1-2 9, Ismalia 4 3-6 11, Sharma 2 0-0 4, Woodard 5 0-0 13. Totals 20 4-8 48.Upper Darby 26 8 10 14 – 58Great Valley 6 8 16 18 – 483-point goals: Sirleaf, Ennis 3, Kamara, Marlon Boreland, Oswald, Woodard 3.