Lower Merion Aces battle Pencrest Lions for PIAA District I Class 4A



Lower Merion Aces show Pencrest Lions whos boss
                                                              Photo by Mark Souders

Lower Merion Aces and Pencrest Lions Game
                                                                  Video by youtube.com

      Nearly a thousand basketball fans packed Lower Merion High School’s Bryant gymnasium to see the Penncrest Lions (31) and Lower Merion Aces (2) boys’ teams play the PIAA District 1 Class 4A playoff game Friday night, Feb. 17, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. with a win for the Aces 57-32. This win enables Lower Merion to compete in the playoffs for State Division title.

     Lower Merion has a league record of 20-2-0 against Penncrest’s league record of 11-11-0.  Penncrest’s team, Eddie Baxter, No. 1, a 5-foot-11 forward with eleven points, Jim Allen, No. 4, a 6-foot-1 forward with 8 points, and Kalvin Simpson, No. 25, a 6-foot-6 guard with 5 points. Lower Merion’s team, Darryl Reynolds, No. 31, a 6-foot-7 forward with 12 points, and Raheem Hall, No. 34, a 6-foot-2 guard with 14 points.

     “It was a good game, and I think I have a lot of respect for Penncrest and their coach Mike Doyle,” said Gregg Downer, head coach for Lower Merion’s boys’ basketball team.

     “Sometimes this game goes long and deep, and sometimes you play a little tight, but at the end of the day we come back again tomorrow,” Downer said. “We play to win and that’s our philosophy!”

     “Such a big part of what we do, break inside, and break outside and just losing the ball to a rebounder,” said Mike Doyle, head coach for Penncrest’s boys’ basketball team.  “It was so crowded, they’re seniors and it’s part of a legacy to be playing for 60 years and going to the districts four years in a row! The players and I had tears in our eyes in the locker-room!”