UPPER DUBLIN — Two dramatically different worlds collided.
It has been a tough slog early in the season for the Springfield Township Spartans.
Against Upper Dublin, one of the top teams in the area, Springfield had trouble getting out of the gate.
Forcing turnovers and knocking down shot after shot, the high-flying Upper Dublin Cardinals blitzed Springfield (Montco) 79-39 in an SOL crossover meeting at home Friday night.
Ryan Mulroy scored 18 points for the Cardinals (7-2, 5-1 SOL Liberty), who are in first place in their division, and Brady Fogle had 15.
Because of a 30-point mercy rule, the second half had a running clock as Upper Dublin — which led by 15 after the first quarter and 54-24 at halftime — bounced back from a tough, six-point road loss to West Chester Henderson the previous night.
“We just wanted to come out hard and put the game away quickly, because we didn’t come out with as much effort the game before,” Fogle said. “We wanted to press and pick up the pace.”
All of Fogle’s scoring came on 3-pointers, including three in the opening period.
“My teammates were giving me open looks, so I just shot it,” he said.
Upper Dublin was 7-for-15 (46.6 percent) from beyond the arc and 20-for-38 (52.6 percent) from 2-point range.
James Castronuovo and Anthony Oliveira-Schultze added seven points apiece for UD.
“We wanted to have a good closing before the break here,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks said. “Top to bottom, every guy had great energy, focus, effort, execution. So, I’m very happy with tonight.”
Before losing to Henderson, the Cardinals beat Hatboro-Horsham by 20, but Brooks didn’t feel it was a crisp win.
“There are so many ups and downs, not just with teenagers, it’s coaches too,” Brooks said. “There’s a lot of mental coaching. The season’s long, there’s fatigue. You’ve got to do the best you can, you have to come up with different techniques to keep them focused. It was good to see the guys do that tonight.
“Tonight, we talked about habits,” he said. “Habits aren’t something you build by taking a day off, or two days. It’s every day you have to put in the effort.”
A bright spot for Springfield (1-7, 1-5 SOL Freedom) was junior Bob Hartman, who scored a game-high 19 points.
“He’s been really solid,” Springfield coach Rob Fusaro said. “He comes every day and brings the scoring for us. His consistency has been really good. His mid-range is good, as well as at the rim, threes. He’s a tough kid.”
Brandon Thompson added six points and Chase Murphy finished with five for the Spartans, who don’t have a senior on the team. Springfield’s roster is made up of seven juniors, three sophomores and a freshman.
“We wanted to come out and just try to control what we could control,” Fusaro said. “We wanted to do the little things, finish layups, just be consistent. We have a young group, so we’re just trying to move forward and get them prepared.”
“We basically just said in the locker room, this is a whole journey,” he said. “It’s not just one game. You learn different things, we try different things. Our bench was really good, and we had to remind them of that. Whether you’re down 30, down 40, or down five, we have to have the same consistency of energy and respect for your teammates and coming at the other team.
The Cardinals used their height advantage to dominate the glass, outrebounding Springfield 34-13. They also forced 15 Spartans turnovers.
“We’ve done a lot of good things so far, but it’s just the start,” Fogle said. “We have bigger goals. We want to get to the district playoffs and try to win the district championship. So we have to get better each day.
“I think the district is wide open,” he said. “I think we can beat any team in our district.”
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Upper Dublin 79, Springfield (Montco) 39
Springfield 15 9 5 10 — 39
Upper Dublin 30 24 13 12 — 79
Springfield: Bob Hartman 5 2 3-5 19, Brandon Thompson 0 2 0-0 6, Chase Murphy 1 1 0-0 5, Aiden Hood 1 0 2-2 4, Harry Bates 1 0 1-1 3, Will McLaughlin 1 0 0-0 2, Julian Ciasullo 0 0 0-2 0. Totals: 9-28 5-10 6-10 39.
Upper Dublin: Ryan Mulroy 8 0 2-2 18, Brady Fogle 0 5 0-0 15, James Castronuovo 1 1 2-2 7, Anthony Oliveira-Schultze 2 1 0-0 7, Kobe Bazemore 2 0 2-2 6, Noah Cohen 2 0 0-0 4,Justin Ragsdale 2 0 0-0 4, Chris Kohlbrenner 1 0 0-0 2, Max Grunfeld 1 0 0-0 2, Nate Rigberg 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 20-38 7-15 6-6 67.
Rebounds: Springfield 13, Upper Dublin 34.
Turnovers: Springfield 15, Upper Dublin 7.
Records: Springfield (1-7, 1-5 SOL Freedom), Upper Dublin (6-2, 5-1 SOL Liberty).
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Email Christiaan DeFranco at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc.
