Check out who is our Bucks County high school Boys Basketball Team of the Year

This was a season of firsts for Upper Moreland.

For starters, head coach Dan Heiland and the Golden Bears won their first boys basketball league championship (sharing the Suburban One League Freedom Division crown with Cheltenham) since the 1982-83 team featuring Scott Trimble.

UM (24-8) also won 20 games for the first time since that ’82-’83 squad, which was coached by Gary Kochersperger. They are the school’s only two 20-win boys teams.

The Bears became the school’s first boys squad to win a state playoff game, too. They ended up winning three by outlasting District 2 champ Abington Heights 60-57 on the road, York Suburban 61-55 in overtime in the second round and Bonner-Prendergast 46-45 in the quarterfinals before losing to Neumann-Goretti 79-53.

“It’s a great feeling to know that we as a team made history,” said Nate Best, a 5-foot-9 junior point guard.

By finding ways to win three close games, fourth-seeded UM became the first non-District One champion to reach the 5A semifinals since the PIAA switched to six classifications in 2016-17. The only other No. 4 seed from any district to also get that far was Gateway, which lost in the 2021-22 final four, from District 7.

Given its success, Upper Moreland is the Courier Times/Intelligencer Boys Basketball Team of the Year.

The Bears did it with contributions from up and down the roster, highlighted by senior guard Colson Campbell, who was voted MVP of the SOL Freedom. Seniors Jadon Cybok and Anthony Carson joined juniors Best and Larry Hughes in the starting lineup, with senior Alex Costanzo and freshman Cannon Campbell leading the reserves.

“Our guys show up and perform,” Heiland said. “If we create a good game plan and the guys go out and execute it with toughness and the right attitude and mindset, really anything’s possible.”

Upper Moreland proved that this season.

“We beat teams a lot of people didn't think we could beat,” said Cybok, a guard. “We fought the whole way. We made a big impact on the school (and) history.”

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist forPhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.