The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Stover’s career night powers UD past Jones, NP
Desperate Cards still hopeful of district berth
FORT WASHINGTON » Drew Stover was a man on a mission Monday night.
The Upper Dublin senior center hasn’t seen much playoff action in his career and with his team entering the week a spot out of the District 1-6A playoff, there was no room for error. With a North Penn team that sat several spots above the Cardinals coming in, it was either win or see those playoff hopes slip away.
Stover answered the challenge with a career night, pouring in 43 points as he out-dueled a 27-point game from Josh Jones and Upper Dublin topped North Penn 73-67.
“We needed to win, so that was a huge drive,” Stover said. “We were upstairs getting ready, blasting some loud music, so we had good energy for this game.”
The Cardinals entered the day sitting No. 21 in the District 1-6A rankings with the top 20 teams qualifying for this season’s playoffs.
North Penn scored the first seven points of the night before Stover hit a 3-pointer to put UD on the board. That alone should have been a sign of things to come as the 6-foot-7 Millersville recruit isn’t quite known for his outside shooting.
If that didn’t get the point across, Stover’s 16-point opening quarter did as he contributed all but two points, including another 3-pointer, as UD took a 18-16 lead into the first quarter break of the game. By halftime, Stover was 3-of-4 from downtown and had 27 markers in the book with his team clinging to a 37-35 lead.
“That’s not always my game, but I had a good night,” Stover said. “I’ve been putting time into it but I can’t say I’ve ever had a game like that. It just seemed like I couldn’t miss, it was a pretty good feeling.”
Stover and Jones, a Louisville