McCaughan, Ridley show fast progress in OT win over UD

all have their hype and their seniors, but we’re young and we’re hungry.”

The teams authored 36 minutes of engaging basketball. The first of McCaughan’s three second-quarter 3-pointers put Ridley up 16-13, and they led 39-23 at the break. The edge stretched to 40-32 when Sizemore dumped off a pass to Cauthorn to score with two minutes left in the third.

But Upper Darby had the game even by the end of the frame, Gunther getting the roll on a runner.

“We’re always going to fight,” Brown said. “No matter if we’re down, we’re up, we all make the decision to play hard and make the right shots at the right time.”

The teams traded made 3-pointers on each of the first four possessions of the fourth. Gunther put Upper Darby up 54-52, but Showalter answered in the lane, then Jake Shaak canned a corner 3. Brown answered right back with a topof-the-arc, step-back triple. When Showalter put Jackson on his hip and backed him down to make it 59-all with 57 seconds left, Jackson brandished a post move of his own to even it at 59 with 24 ticks left. A missed left-wing triple by Shaak at the horn sent the game to OT.

Gunther led Upper Darby with 17 points. Jackson fouled out in overtime, but not before 12 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks and three assists. Justin Butler supplied 10 points off the bench. Jude Ennis was the third-quarter spark with a pair of 3-pointers. He was 5-for-5 from the field for 14 points.

The Royals led on two free throws from Brown to open OT. But Showalter was hacked on the way to the glass to tie it up. Though he missed the free throw, Shaak kept the rebound alive for Cauthorn to hit a turnaround jumper and put Ridley up for good.

Though a 1-for-5 performance at the line in OT (and 7-for-15 on the game) was less than resolute, it was enough to reinforce that things are changing at Ridley.

“We had a lot to build off of from last year,” Showalter said. “We came together and said, listen, we’re going to fight through this. And we did in the offseason, and it turned out to be great.”

Also in the Central League:

Mikey Mita’s 3-pointer with two seconds left helped the Lions finish rallying from a 13-point deficit and force overtime.

Mita finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Lions. Patrick Garrison had five of his eight points in overtime, and Kevin Gamlin was 4-for-4 at the line in the extra session.

Tommy Gardler led Marple Newtown with 24 points. Ryan Keating added nine points.

Elijah Smith scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including the last six of the game, as the Raptors overcame a seven-point deficit late in the third.

Harrison Ceppa tallied eight points. Michael Savadove had seven points and five assists.

Patrick Flaherty led Springfield with 11 points. Jake Adams and Colin Truede supplied 10 apiece.

In the Ches-Mont League:

Kaiden Robinson scored 15 points, and Blaise Eldridge added 14 as the Vanguards have won four of their last five games.

In nonleague action:

Chris Taylor hit four 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 21 points as the Patriots picked up a win late Wednesday.

Kivaleon Clarke added 13 points.