NEWTOWN SQUARE – There was a balance to be found Tuesday night for Tahli Murray.
The Upper Darby point guard picked up his third foul midway through a stop-start second quarter against Marple Newtown, which tamped down his aggressiveness off the bounce. But when the Royals had a chance to take control of a tight game in the fourth quarter, Murray knew when to flip the switch.
Murray scored eight of his 13 points in the second half, getting to his spots off the dribble at will in the fourth quarter to lead Upper Darby to a 48-44 Central League win.
For much of the way, Murray deferred. But in the fourth, he took it upon himself to juke, slither and sneak to wherever he wanted to go, driving to the rim or pulling up for jumpers in the lane. Murray shot 6-for-11 – including 6-for-8 on 2-point attempts – which counted as steady production in a traditional Central slugfest where no one lit it up.
Upper Darby’s Marlon Boreland puts up a shot against Marple Newtown in the first half Tuesday. (PETE BANNAN/MediaNews Group)
“I think I’ve learned to get my teammates involved first, and then I look for myself,” Murray said. “Because once they get into rhythm, it clicks. So it helps me.”
As Murray took over in the fourth, the game presented a classic Central League dilemma. The win would either go to a team that shot 0-for-9 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, or a team that scored two points over the first 12 and a half minutes of the second half.
Upper Darby (7-4, 4-2) did itself no favors with its futility at the charity stripe. But the Royals had turned up the defense sufficiently to start the second half. Marple (7-5, 2-5) scored just two points in the third quarter, then was blanked for the first 4:27 of the fourth, a stretch of 1-for-12 from the field.
“They just got up and got guarded us harder, and I don’t think we were ready for it in the third,” Marple guard Jack Dean said. “I think we got better at it during the fourth, but it just wasn’t enough.”
Marple’s offense remains a work in progress. The Tigers lack a post presence, which means their motion offense is predicated on 3-point shooting.
On nights where Mike Rush, who has three 30-point games this season, is hitting from deep, it’s a conquerable problem. Or over stretches like the second quarter Tuesday in which Jackson Burger canned four triples, it’s survivable.
But they didn’t hit enough shots Tuesday. Marple shot 29 of its 49 field goals from behind the arc, making just eight (27.6 percent). Rush was 4-for-13, three of his makes in the fourth quarter, to finish with 12 points. Burger was 4-for-12, all 16 of his points in the first half. Marple got to the line four times, compared to Upper Darby’s 20.
“We’re trying to get better at getting more to their basket, finding better 2-point looks, because we know teams are starting to fly out more on our 3s,” Dean said. “So that’s what we’re working on.”
Upper Darby’s offense is both less dependent on the 3-pointer and more diverse in general. Eight players scored. Murray led the way with 13 points and five rebounds. Artemus Sirleaf had eight points in addition to being Rush’s primary shadow, and sophomore Brent Lewis added eight points.
“I think it opens things up for everybody,” Murray said. “Because you see how we were focused on one player (Rush). Basically they have to focus on eight different people. So it makes it harder for other team to guard us and opens up stuff for other people.”
The game featured five ties in the first half, Marple taking a 28-26 lead into the break thanks to 20 points in the second quarter. A Jackson Park bucket represented Marple’s only points of the third quarter, though Upper Darby’s lead was just 33-29 after three.
Murray orchestrated a 7-0 burst to start the fourth, assisting on a Jude Ennis 3, then pulling up for a jumper at the elbow and driving to the net for a 40-30 lead.
Marple’s offense awakened with a Rush 3-pointer at 3:33. It kicked off an 11-2 run, bookended by Rush triples with two baskets from Dean (10 points, seven rebounds) in between.
A Murray pullup stopped the bleeding. Sileeh Armstrong missed the free throw on his and-1, but Sirleaf stripped Marple after its rebound and fed Musa Kamara for a lay-in and a 48-41 edge.
The game was played largely at Marple’s pace. A three-quarters-court, 1-2-2 press slowed Upper Darby down, even if it didn’t lead to many turnovers (seven in the first three quarters, before six in a fourth quarter that turned occasionally frantic.) Upper Darby entered averaging 65.1 points in their six wins, preferring to play a more open game.
That they could beat the Tigers away from home and away from their comfort zone is a big statement for the Royals’ aspirations in the Central League and District 1 Class 6A.
“It’s a big thing because we’re sticking together and not fighting with each other,” Murray said. “We’re a family now. That helps us.”