Lower Moreland is League Champ for First Time Ever; Seth Baron Wins Coach of Year

The accolades continue to roll in for the Lower Moreland boys varsity basketball team.

Last week the Lions clinched a share of the Bicentennial League title for the first time in school history, and earlier this week Seth Baron earned Coach of the Year honors in the league during his first year as head coach at LM.

Lower Moreland finished with an 11-1 league record – tied with Holy Ghost who usually is the powerhouse of the Bicentennial League – and played a tight defensive style all year long to earn the blue and gold banner that will hang in the gymnasium.

“I can’t speak enough of what it means because it’s the first time in school history,” Baron said. “We are exceptionally proud of the accomplishment. We all want to make sure we aren’t done. There’s still a lot of basketball left and we’re looking forward to our next goal. But that was a major goal.”

The Lions now move on to the BAL tournament, which kicks off tonight at home at 7 p.m. against Delco Christian. After the league tournament LM will play in the PIAA District One AAA tourney where it received a 3-seed and a first-round bye.

Baron was very quick to point out even though he received the Coach of the Year award, it really is a team accomplishment.

“I take the word ‘team’ very seriously and that’s from top to bottom,” Baron said. “If anything this award is a testament to our coaching staff. We have a couple of volunteers that have put in a countless number of hours. We have coach Adam Brown who has been everything I can ask for in an assistant coach. It’s an honor spread out to all our coaches and the team.”

The recognition doesn’t stop here for the 2011-12 Lions. Sophomore Jake Cohen received All-League 1st Team honors, senior Demetri Zoubroulis was selected to the All-League 2^nd Team and senior Mike Mangan earned an All-League Honorable Mention.

A big catalyst for the Lions’ success had to be the . After losing to Ghost by 20 at home, LM marched to the Firebirds’ home court and won by seven. It was Holy Ghost’s first loss of the season and LM’s first win at their gym in six years and the fans who made the trip stormed the court when the buzzer sounded.

LM finished the season winning 10 of its final 13 regular season games.

“After we beat Devon (Prep) at their place earlier in the year, then we came back in that Ghost game, we knew we had a real chance,” Baron said. “We knew once we got that win at Ghost, looking at the schedule, we knew we had a chance to do something that no team has done before,” Baron said.

Come out and support the team during its playoff run this week. Bicentennial League tournament games will be played Tues.-Thurs.-Sat. of this week. It's opponents are yet to be determined past the first round. LM will play its first Disctrict Tournament game on Feb. 25.