CB West routs short-handed Garnet Valley in District 1-6A quarters

CONCORD >> Garnet Valley wasn’t the favorite in its District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal game against No. 5 Central Bucks West Saturday afternoon.

Yes, the fourth-seeded Jaguars were at home, but CBW is pound-for-pound the best team in District 1 no matter what the silly seedings would suggest.

GV learned about C.B. West’s immense talent last month on a Sunday afternoon at Harriton High. Participating in the Blue Chip Super Showcase, the Jags dropped a 17-point decision. It was one of only two regular-season defeats the Jags would suffer.

“I’ve been saying it since we saw them before,” GV coach Joe Woods said, “They’re the best team in the district.”

Woods believed the Jaguars would play better in Saturday’s rematch. What he didn’t expect, perhaps, was that his team would have to win without sophomore Brianne Borcky, the second-leading scorer on the squad and one of the top players in Delaware County.

Without Borcky, who was sidelined with the flu, the Jaguars tried to stay competitive. Alas, C.B. West was too good.

Maddie Burke poured in 18 points and the Bucks put on a shooting clinic in a 61-31 romp over the Jaguars.

C.B. West (21-4) advances to the District 1 Class 6A semifinal round to play No. 9 Abington Tuesday night at Bensalem High. The Jaguars will hit the road to take on top-seeded North Penn in the playback round for seeding in next month’s PIAA Class 6A tournament.

The Bucks were on fire from 3-point range and ran the floor like a bunch of clydedsales. They scored 34 points in transition and shot 10-for-24 from beyond the arc.

“Win or lose, we go out to improve every game, no matter what,” said forward/guard Tori Abelson, who was a terror. Although she scored nine points, Abelson had the best all-around performance, finishing with six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

It’s hard to imagine there’s anyone left in District 1 that can thwart C.B. West’s mission.

“We’re all really close on this team, and we’re all really competitive,” Abelson continued. “So, we want to get better and we’re all cheering for our teammates to do better with each game, too. A win like this is awesome because you can see that we’re improving.”

The Bucsk set up their 3-point opportunities with flawless permeiter passing that left the Jaguars feeling dizzy. And whenever they pulled in a defensive rebound, they were on the go.

“That is just our style,” Abelson said. “We like to play fast.”

Garnet Valley hung around in the first quarter, closing within a point at 12-11. Maddy Sorokanych, who scored four points in the first quarter, was among a cavalcade of GV reserves who saw action in the early minutes.  Eleven players got playing time in the first period.

“We knew they were good, and we thought we knew how to handle them better this time, but then we lost Brianne and I don’t think we were ready for that,” said senior co-captain Sydney Fail, who had four points and four rebounds. “I think it was a big twist losing Brianne, but I think everyone did try their hardest. A lot of girls came off the bench and helped.

“Last time we played them — they run a lot — and our legs were dead by halftime. The starters were told in practice to go in for two, three minutes, give it your best and get ready to come out for a few minutes. We knew everyone was contributing — everyone had to. The girls off the bench stepped up and did what they needed to do.”

The Bucks (21-4) upped their energy level in the second quarter and scored 14 straight points to pull away from the Jags (22-3). By halftime, the game Bucks enjoyed a 20-point lead and were on their way to victory.

“At this point in the season, everyone is going to be good. And they are very good,” Fail said. “I mean, their 3s whooped us today. They killed it with the 3s. Our strategy was to let them shoot and just battle for the rebounds, but they made (a bunch of them). We run our 2-3 zone so often and it works so well against teams for the most part, but they just made every shot it seemed. We weren’t making every shot, so it came down to them making theirs and that kind of sunk our ship.”

Junior guard Nicole Barnes and sophomore forward Emily McAteer paced the Jaguars with six points apiece.

Maggie Rakowsky had 13 points and four steals, while Alex Burkauskas added eight points and three assists for the Bucks.