UPPER DARBY – The play that Upper Darby dialed up to start the second quarter Tuesday afternoon served a dual purpose.
On the one hand, senior guard Nadir Myers stood on 998 career points. The sooner he reached 1,000 points, the better for the Royals’ collective focus, coach Bob Miller knew. But after spotting Ridley the first 10 points of a Central League matchup and going the first 3:50 of play without scoring, the hosts would’ve greatly appreciated any easy offense at that point.
The elemental inbounds play – a down screen to free Myers for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the right corner – accomplished what so much of Myers’ voluminous offense does: It advanced not just his personal tallies but translated into wining basketball for the Royals.
Myers scored 30 points in an exemplary personal showing that included his 1,000th career point, helping Upper Darby shake its early struggles and rout Ridley, 82-60.
Myers, a senior guard, has spent the last two years at Upper Darby. He averaged 18.8 points per game last year and entered Tuesday at 20.4 ppg this season. He played his sophomore season at Martin Luther King High after spending his freshman season at People for People Charter in Philadelphia, a non-PIAA school. After his sophomore season, he returned home to Upper Darby, where he’d attended middle school at Beverly Hills.
“It means a lot of to me to know that I was good enough to get in there and keep getting better through the years, just keep progressing on my game and making my teammates better,” Myers said. “ … It feels good to know that I grew up around here. To come back here and try to win at my home school and play with my friends I’ve known since seventh grade, it feels better. It just feels more comfortable.”
Tuesday was the second highest tally of his Upper Darby career, after hitting Ridley for 32 points in the finale last year.
Myers is just the second player to reach 1,000 points at Upper Darby, joining Mark McCarthy (1,098).
At no point Tuesday did Myers’ personal goal seem at odds with the greater good for Upper Darby..UD’s first basket came off a Myers assist, a Khysir Slaughter triple to get within 10-3. Myers’ basket while being fouled capped a 6-0 run late in the first to get UD to 16-15, with Lovo Mulbah hitting a triple to put the Royals up for good to end the frame. Myers hit a pair of threes 3s in the second quarter, UD putting the game in hand with a 19-9 edge.
If a 37-25 margin at half was too close for comfort, Myers nailed four field goals in a 12-2 run to open the frame, ballooning the lead to 22 points. He hit his first five shots of the second half.
Myers shot 12-for-19 from the field, including 6-for-11 from 3-point range. Collectively, the Royals (7-3, 2-3 Central) shot 24-for-32 (75 percent) on 2-pointers. Sixteen of their 33 field goals were assisted.
Yassir Joyner tallied 17 points plus five assists. Mulbah had 10 points and a team-best four steals. Slaughter paired 15 points with three assists. Niymire Brown struggled from the field but augmented eight points with seven rebounds and four blocks.
Together, the group contributed to 21 Ridley turnovers, 13 in the middle two quarters.
“It gets everybody moving, gets us going in fast transition,” Myers said of the defense. “Everybody likes easy layups.”
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Upper Darby’s Nadir Myers, left, scores in the first half against Ridley Tuesday evening. He had 30 points including the 1,000th of his career to lead the Royals to an 82-60 victory over the Green Raiders (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group).
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