Ches-Mont American boys basketball: Great Valley edges winless Oxford in spirited seesaw battle

East Whiteland >> Pounding the ball inside in the first quarter, Great Valley jumped out to an 8-0 lead against winless Oxford, and led 16-6 at the end of the first quarter in front of a spirited home crowd Tuesday night.
The Patriots appeared to be heading for a runaway win – but the speedy, scrappy Hornets had other ideas.
The Hornets gradually gained momentum during the next two quarters, and led 49-42 with seven minutes to go. It took a late rally by the Patriots, and a 3-pointer by Great Valley senior guard Matt Porreca with 28 seconds left, to pull out a 61-59 win for the home team.
Great Valley head coach Paul Girone said, “We ran a terrific offense in the first quarter, but then Oxford responded and started getting rebounds.”
The Patriots feature some height – 6-4 sophomore forward Alex Capitano, 6-3 senior forward Robert Geiss and 6-2 junior center Nate Graeff – but going against a small Oxford squad, Great Valley had trouble rebounding Tuesday night.
“We got outrebounded – we didn’t block out like we should,” said Girone. “There were four or five times tonight where we were on the foul line and didn’t get the rebound.”
Great Valley (3-1) still led 38-32 late in the third quarter, but then Oxford senior guard Brian Dorsey hit a pair of threes, then drove in to score following a Great Valley turnover to knot the score at 40-40. Dorsey was the high scorer for the night, with 20 points, including four treys.
When Oxford pulled ahead 49-42, the Patriots called a timeout.
“In the huddle, we were telling each other that we’ve got to be more aggressive on rebounding,” said Porreca. “They like to run and [Dorsey] is quick off the dribble.”
Great Valley junior forward Liam Ward hit a three-pointer to cut Oxford’s lead to 49-45; Patriot senior forward J.J. Long nailed a turnaround jumper to make it 49-47, and Great Valley sophomore forward Gavin Frankenheimer stepped in for Alex Capitano to make two free throws and tie the score at 51-51. Capitano had to briefly come out of the game when he got fouled, as he injured his hand after falling following the collison that led to the foul call. Capitano, who has been averaging about 20 points per game, finished with a team-high 17 points Tuesday night but was taken to a hospital afterward for an examination of his hand. Results of the examination were not available at press time.
“We were in dire straits, but we came back,” said Girone. “When Gavin stepped in for Alex and made those two free throws, and then we got the ball back right after that, it was a huge momentum shift.”
Great Valley senior forward Rob Geiss hit a jumper to give the hosts a 53-51 lead, but Oxford guard Dante Crews came right back with a steal and drive to the basket to tie the score at 53-53.
Porreca hit a three-pointer to give the hosts a 56-53 lead with 3:01 left, then Dorsey nailed a trey of his own to tie it at 56-56 with 2:35 left. Thirty seconds later, Dorsey was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws to give the Hornets a 59-56 lead with 2:01 left.
Graeff scored inside to cut the Hornets’ lead to 59-58, and then Oxford turned the ball over underneath on a bad pass and Porreca came through with the game-winner with 28 seconds left. Porreca finished with 15 points (and a trio of treys).
Porreca said, “Our teammates were moving the ball fast [in the final minute], and I got a nice kick-out pass by Nate Graeff [for the winning shot].”
Girone said, “I was glad to see Matt come through with those two [treys] at the end. He is one of the hardest-working players on the team.”
Graeff finished the night with 16 points, converting seven field goals, many of them from inside.
“Nate’s been getting some good defensive rebounds for us, and we’re getting more offense from him lately,” said Girone. “He’s a good screener.”
After Porreca’s three-pointer with 28 seconds left gave the Patriots a 61-59 lead, Oxford brought the ball down for one last shot. In the final second, a three-point attempt by Oxford fell short, and as the Patriots came up with the ball, Hornet guard Dante Crews got into a scuffle with a Great Valley player. A technical foul was called on Crews, he was removed from the game (and the gym) and will be suspended for one game.
Oxford head coach Kevin Kelly said, “Great Valley is a well-coached team. We showed great heart in coming back tonight with our back to the wall after the first quarter. We’ve got to keep grinding. We have three starters on our team that hadn’t played varsity basketball before this season. Other than [senior center Troy Brown, who scored 16 points Tuesday], we’re very small.”