Jack Forrest (above) and an impressive group of LM sophomores led the way to a Central League championship. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

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Lower Merion made its return to the top of the Central League.

And the way the Aces did it left all those in attendance at Marple Newtown HS on Tuesday night thinking that they’ll be heavy favorites to do it again for the next few seasons.

Behind standout performances from a trio of sophomores, Lower Merion stormed past Strath Haven for an 82-60 victory, cutting down the nets as league champions for the first time in three years.

“It’s great -- as a sophomore and just getting it for the seniors, feels great,” wing Jack Forrest said.

Forrest (18 points), along with fellow second-year high schoolers Steve Payne (26 points) and Darryl Taylor (14 points), combined for over 70 percent of Lower Merion’s scoring output. A 6-5 wing, Forrest had the most impressive all-around game, chipping in five steals, four assists and three rebounds while knocking down five 3-pointers.

Aside from the opening three minutes, which saw Strath Haven jump out to a 9-3 lead, Lower Merion was in complete control.

And the fact that LM did it with such a young rotation was even more impressive. Despite two loud, sizable student sections going back and forth all night -- the gym was equally loud no matter who hit a bucket -- the young Aces never flinched.

“I always have three sophomores on the court, which is very unusual, I’ve rarely had to do that in my career,” Downer said. “Steve Payne, Jack Forrest and Darryl Taylor really didn’t look like the environment really affected them at all tonight, which was very important.”

For the team’s seniors, notably starters Terrell Jones and Noah Fennell, the win was a bookend to those who were on the team during its last Central League championship in 2014.

“I don’t really have a lot of words for it, it feels great and it’s good to go out as Central League champ,” said Jones, who chipped in a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. “We’ve been trying to get back since my freshman year and it obviously wasn’t easy and the hard work really paid off.”

Up eight (30-22) at halftime, Lower Merion pulled away with an absolutely dominant third quarter. The Aces knocked down all 12 of their shot attempts during those eight minutes, including three 3-pointers -- two by Forrest, one by Payne -- to open up a 61-39 lead going into the fourth.

The deluge continued well into the fourth quarter. Lower Merion had no problem with any defense Strath Haven threw out there, running past their press defense for layup after layup, and finding open shooters on the perimeter when the defense collapsed.

For the game, the Aces shot 31-of-47, including 10-of-19 from 3-point range.

“We were having a lot of fun, that was what was most important,” Jones said. “I think the coaches and myself included, other than a win, wanted to have fun, and I think we did both of those today.”

Strath Haven big man John Harrar, a 6-9, 260-pound senior, was a dominant force in the middle for the Panthers, finishing with 31 points and eight rebounds, as well as five assists plus a steal and a block.

But the rest of the Panthers (14-10) struggled to get anything going offensively; Ryan Morris had four 3-pointers but 12 points but nobody else on the team had more than four points.

“It was our best offensive performance of the season, probably our best top-to-bottom game of the season,” Downer said. “I thought our defense was good, I thought our energy was good. Harrar had like 30 points but nobody else really did much. Just a good, good team effort.”

Both teams still have games to play, as each will be taking part in District 1 playoffs.

Strath Haven is the No. 9 seed in the 5A bracket, which begins next Tuesday, when they’ll play No. 8 Upper Merion (13-9); Lower Merion, the No. 10 seed in the 6A bracket, opens up against No. 23 Central Bucks South (9-13) this Friday.

“You can say we have a lot of momentum, but there’s a very quick turnaround with the Friday ballgame,” Downer said. “We were really hoping for a top-8 bye and it didn’t happen, but we’ll need to be ready to go Friday night because if you lose that one, your season is over.”

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