Resilient Rams recover from Monday heartbreaker, quash Upper Perk rally

As his Rams squad stepped onto the gym floor Tuesday afternoon, Spring-Ford varsity basketball coach Mike Young wasn’t quite certain how they would react following a heart wrenching last second loss to Pottsgrove the night before.  Facing a very talented Upper Perkiomen team, however, the Rams quickly silenced any questions about their character.

After allowing the Indians to build an early 9-4 lead, the Rams (5-1 league, 8-5 overall) tightened the defensive screws and went on a 19-4 run en route to a 42-30 win.

“We started a little slow, but I think we did a much better job defensively," said Young. “We were much better from the line but still missed chances to put the game away. Overall, I’m happy with the effort today.”

The Rams held the Indians scoreless over a nine minute stretch encompassing most of the second quarter, again allowing them to carry a nine point lead into the intermission.

“I think a game like last night will actually help us in the long run,” said Young. “Of course you want to win every game, but that situation, the crowd and the pressure can only help us down the line.”

Josh Dishman got Spring Ford headed in the right direction, banging two early three pointers on his way to a team high 13 points, while Steve Joyce continued his hot hand in posting nine points while shooting 60 percent from the field and 3-for-4 from the line in the fourth quarter.

“I knew I had to make those free throws,” said Joyce. “We have been struggling from the line as a team, we practice our fouls shooting all the time, but for whatever reason, we just haven’t been able to make them during the game lately.”

Spring Ford was 11-of-19 from the line, but after four consecutive misses in the fourth, the Indians had possession of the ball and had cut the lead to six.

Young, perhaps seeing uncomfortable similarities to the Rams collapse against Pottsgrove, called a timeout to discuss the final four minutes.

“When we called that timeout,” added Young. “I just wanted to be sure we were all on the same page. We didn’t need points. We needed to eat up the clock.”

When play resumed, Dishman dropped a pair of free throws after Joyce converted his, again giving the Rams a double-digit cushion.

“That timeout was big,” said Joyce. “We kind of let them hang around and we were throwing it around a bit. Coach just wanted to make sure we focused on taking care of the ball, and kept our composure, to avoid what happened last night.”

In traditional Rams fashion, the defense shut down Upper Perk the rest of the way, sealing the victory, much to the delight of the “Bleacher Creatures” that again added ambience to the stands with their gaudy yellow shirts and screams.

The resurgent fan club represents the rebirth of another Spring Ford tradition that was first spawned in the 1990s. In 1990, when current coaches John Brennan and Mike Siuchta played for Spring Ford, the student body would dress in hideous yellow shirts and follow the team to all of their games, a tradition that continued until about 2002.

“It started when Siuchta and I played,” said John Brennan. “It was crazy back then. They were at all of our games and these kids this year...after every game come and tell us how many were at the game. It’s become like a badge of honor.”

In the beginning of this season, some of the Spring Ford students approached the coaches and asked how they could revive the old tradition they had heard so much about.  The coaches organized with the booster club, who got the shirts made and made them available to the students.

Now there are anywhere from 100 to 250 “Bleacher Creatures” in the stands at every Rams game on the road and one can only venture a guess as to how many will show up once Spring Ford’s home games appear on the schedule later this month.

Thursday night, Spring Ford again will hit the road, as the Rams battle with archrival Phoenixville, currently 4- 1 in league play.

Upper Perkiomen   10    5  8  7  -  30

Spring Ford            12  12  9  9  -  42   

Upper Perkiomen (30) Ricapito  4 2-4 6, Minder 8 6-8 14, Auchland 3 0-0 3, Hinson 5 0-0 5, Force 2 0-0 2,Totals  22 8- 12 30. 

Spring Ford (42) O’Hara 3 2-5 5, Dishman 10 3-3 13, Keys 2 0-0 2, Joyce 6 3-4 9, McDowell 4 0-2 4, Branch 2 2-2 4, Scanlon 4 1-3 5.  Totals  31 11-19 42. 

Three point field goals- Dishman (SF) 2, Hinson (UP)