BENSALEM – Kobe Bazemore tracked down the ball along the sideline for a steal then found Horace Jackson IV in transition for a slam as the Upper Dublin boys basketball team raced out to a 9-0 lead over Cheltenham in the Suburban One League championship game.
“Just the way we came out, so intense,” Bazemore said. “Our defense was just on ‘em from the jump, I got a steal, Horace got a dunk. It was just eruption.”
The eruption turned into an avalanche as the margin quickly expanded to 18-2 in the Cardinals’ favor after a five-point burst from Jackson IV capped another 9-0 run.
Fifth-seeded UD’s lead was 26-8 at the end of the opening quarter and the No. 3 Panthers could only get as close as 16 before Upper Dublin went into halftime up 41-13 and proceeded to cruise to its third straight SOL Tournament title with 68-41 victory Tuesday night at Bensalem High School.
“We talked a lot on Monday about reading our own press clippings and how we’re going to respond to success, job’s not finished, all that stuff,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks said. “And our boys couldn’t have responded better. That was the best first half we’ve played all year but a mile.”
The Cardinals needed a last-second go-ahead 3-pointer from Noah Cohen last Saturday to knock off No. 1 Plymouth Whitemarsh in the semifinals. But Upper Dublin took the drama out of the title game early with a dominant start powered by Bazemore, Jackson IV and Justin Ragsdale, who combined to score 24 of UD’s 26 points in the first quarter.
“We had all the confidence in the world,” said Bazemore of the win over PW, the Cardinals’ first over the Colonials in three tries this season. “After the game, we immediately when to (Cheltenham’s) game (against Abington) to scout, you know, see what they’re working with this time around. We played ‘em earlier in the season, we had a good game. We just knew we had to come in here with the same energy and can’t underestimate anybody.
Jackson IV scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the first half as Upper Dublin (21-4) became the first team to win the SOL tournament three consecutive seasons and tied Abington for most playoff titles with three. UD was also the first team to win back-to-back titles since the tournament began in 2014-2015.
“Each year has been special in their own way,” Brooks said. “The first one, we were a young group, in our rotation we had six underclassmen in that rotation and the school had never won one. And to win that was just like wow. And then last year we bring the whole group back and we have a really good season and man, we should have lost that game (to Upper Moreland in the final) last year, fortunately we fought to pull it out. So that one, I still talk about, that one was one of my least favorite games even though we won, is one of my least favorite games of the entire season cause of how we played and how we handled it.
“This year was the hardest one I would say because the other two years didn’t have a team like PW that we had to go through. And just being able to beat those guys on the road really fighting it, adversity ‘til the end.”
Ragsdale finished with 15 points, 13 of those coming before the break while Bazemore scored eight of his 14 points in the first quarter.
“It’s amazing,” Bazemore said. “Ever since I’ve been starting at Upper Dublin, been winning SOL championships. So when we beat PW on Saturday, we already knew we was coming in here to win it. Not to play around, we going straight for business.”
Chris Harmon and Jaden Mosely both scored 11 points to pace SOL Freedom Division champ Cheltenham (17-8), which came into Tuesday having won six straight and 11 of their last 12 since sitting at 6-6 after an overtime loss to Abington Jan. 10. The Panthers were looking for their first SOL Tournament title since 2022.
“We talked about they have good length, we got to be able to make the right pass when they step to us,” Brooks said. “And I thought we did that a lot tonight. Cheltenham’s a good team, Pat (Fleury is) a good coach, today was more about just how hard and intense we played and played the right way.”
Cheltenham’s District 1 postseason begins Friday when as the No. 13 seed it hosts No. 20 Central Bucks West in the Class 6A first round at 7 p.m.
Upper Dublin waits until Wednesday, Feb. 18 to start the District 1-5A tournament, the No. 4 Cardinals having a bye to the quarterfinals, where they host either No. 5 Upper Moreland or No. 12 Sun Valley. UD is the defending district 5A champ.
“That right there is the ceiling of us, that’s who we can be,” said Brooks of the Cards’ Tuesday performance. “So hopefully we can manifest that a few more times cause if we do we’re going to go far in districts and states.”
A Bazemore basket then a Ragsdale 3-pointer made it 5-0 before Bazemore hit a jumper then assisted on Jackson IV’s dunk for the rapid 9-0 advantage.
“After the first one fell, I was like, all right, I got something cooking now,” Bazemore said. “And then I got a steal, it was like oh yeah, I’m good.”
Harmon’s bucket got Cheltenham on the scoreboard but the Cardinals collected the next nine. Two Jackson IV free throws at 4:30 then a Bazemore two extended the lead to 13-2. Jackson IV then had a 5-0 personal run – a 3-point play off a putback at 3:38 then scored after a steal – to put UD up 18-2.
It’s like the best feeling in the world actually,” Bazemore said. “Instead of going shot for shot you’re dominating. Adrenaline rush, really.”
The Panthers pulled within 14 three times, the last at 22-8 before baskets from Ragsdale then Benji Ravitz gave the Cardinals an 18-point lead after eight minutes.
Cheltenham only got as close as 16 in the second quarter. A Harmon 3-pointer cut the margin to 29-13 but Upper Dublin scored the last 12 points of the half. Ragsdale scored six during the run – including a 3-pointer that made it 36-13 – as UD went into the break ahead by 28.
“Basketball can so often be a game of runs and you got to put teams away when you can,” Brooks said. “We got off to such a good start, you know you’re not going to stay that way forever. Hit a little bit of an offensive lull, fortunately defensively at least we at least held on so they didn’t come back. And then got going again.”
The Panthers trimmed their deficit to 23 in the third at 47-24 after a Peyton McClendon basket only for Upper Dublin to rip off eight straight points – 3-pointers from Jackson IV and Cohen bookending a bucket by Ragsdale – to go up 55-24.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to as large as 32 twice in the fourth, the last time at 62-30 on a Luke Caron basket.
“I hadn’t thought about winning three in a row that much cause I knew the task was going to be so difficult,” Brooks said. “I want to just take it game by game but it is exciting and I’m so proud. I mean, for Kobe, Noah and Brandon (Altman) to have played in all these or be a part of all these teams, that’s really cool.”
Upper Dublin 68, Cheltenham 41
Upper Dublin 26 15 17 10 – 68
Cheltenham 8 5 15 13 – 41
Upper Dublin: Horace Jackson IV 8 3-3 21; Justin Ragsdale 6 1-2 15; Kobe Bazemore 7 0-0 14; Luke Caron 1 3-4 5; Noah Cohen 2 0-0 5; Lawson Tyler 2 0-0 4; Benji Ravitz 1 0-0 2; AJ Weston 1 0-0 2; Totals 28 7-9 68.
Cheltenham: Jaden Mosely 3 3-3 11; Chris Harmon 5 0-2 11; Isaiah Dill 3 1-1 8; Mark Hill 2 3-6 7; Peyton McClendon 1 0-0 2; Isa Vargas 1 0-0 2; Tyree Martin 0 0-2 0; Totals 15 7-14 41.
3-pointers: UD- Jackson IV 2, Ragsdale 2, Cohen; C-Mosely 2, Dill, Harmon.