Youth serves Garnet Valley in win over Ridley

RIDLEY TWP. — The clock showed 1:51 when Greg Vlassopoulos, Garnet Valley’s leading scorer this young season, attempted his first field goal of the third quarter. Yet in that first six-plus minutes, as the senior wing turned his attention elsewhere on the court Friday night, the Jags saw their lead balloon from seven to an ultimately decisive 15 points.

The reason, as a boisterous Garnet Valley student section eagerly pointed out, was a pair of players who are sophomores.

Neel Beniwal scored a career-high 20 points, and Carl Schaller added 13 as Garnet Valley hung on late in the face of Ridley’s incessant press for a 64-55 Central League win.

Beniwal and Schaller combined for 15 points in the third quarter, one more than the Green Raiders scored. The result was a 20-point edge that was whittled to five in the fourth quarter by the awakening Ridley shooters.

Beniwal hit four 3-pointers, including a dagger early in the fourth as he provided the first five points of that frame. Schaller, the 5-7 point guard, started the second half with a triple from a Beniwal feed, then reciprocated to Beniwal on the next trip.

So early in their young careers, they’ve developed a rapport that allows Schaller’s shiftiness and Beniwal’s length to shine on the perimeter.

“It’s really nice because Carl, even though he’s small, he can score and he can get to the hoop and get fouled,” Beniwal said. “And he can make really good passes to us and we can shoot a three.”

It lessens the focus on the senior leaders of the Jags (3-0, 2-0 Central). Vlassopoulos was outstanding as usual with a game-high 21 points, 11 in the first half, to go with nine rebounds. But Cade Brennan was held in check offensively, scoring just two points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Those are the only two in the seniors’ category for coach Mike Brown, so the season’s progress will largely be determined by how quickly players like Schaller and Beniwal become steady contributors.

“Having Carl and Neel around is great,” Vlassopoulos said. “Two young kids, and I don’t think anybody predicted they would come in and show and produce the way they’re producing. If guys are making shots, you can always count on those guys to step up, get to the rim, make free throws, do everything to help us get that win.”

“It’s really good because Greg trusts everyone on this team to shoot the ball and knows we can score,” Beniwal said. “It’s really nice to know that this team is good and we can work together and score whenever we want.”

Vlassopoulos the steal and Euro step to the tin. After 3, 48-32 Garnet Valley pic.twitter.com/syRnYSMUrC

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) December 15, 2018

Ridley (2-1, 1-1) was in a similar position last year, and though much of the young core is back with a year under their belts, the offensive roles aren’t always clearly defined. So it was Friday that they had just 26 points in the game’s first 23 minutes. When they did turn it on, the spark was on the defensive end. Meese Tobey grabbed four steals in the fourth quarter as the Green Raiders activated the full-court press. That led to easy buckets and allowed the shooting of Jack Grace and company to shine through.

PHOTO GALLERY: Garnet Valley vs. Ridley

Grace hit four 3-pointers to tally a team-high 12 points, including two triples in the third quarter to keep the Green Raiders in contact.

“We got a couple of turnovers off the press. That really got us going,” Grace said. “Get a steal, get a point, that run we had in the fourth started it. If we didn’t press, it would’ve been a different game.”

Jack Grace a 3. Ridley within 5. 1:40 left. pic.twitter.com/GfkcNl0m4N

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) December 15, 2018

Enoch Clark added 11 points. Malachi Williams, who didn’t hit a bucket in the first three quarters, scored nine of his 10 in the fourth. Tobey added nine points, and Cam Farro had eight, but Tobey, Williams and Grace all fouled out, the first two with around three minutes to go.

The game held potent lessons for both teams. It reinforced to Ridley the penalty to be paid for slow starts, for scoring more points in the game’s final nine minutes than in its first 23.

“That’s a big problem we have,” Grace said. “We don’t play for three quarters and then we come on in the fourth – you can’t win a game by playing one quarter. So we’ve got to work on that and we’ll definitely be better from here.”

Garnet Valley committed five turnovers in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 12-2 run by the Green Raiders to get within 60-55, a rare stretch where the Jags looked like they had three underclassmen on the floor. That’s a teaching moment, though.

“Just not to panic,” Vlassopoulos said. “They had the full-court press on us and they were pretty much guarding every guy down there. And we did panic toward the end when they cut it to eight, five. So just stay calm, take good shots and hold the ball.”

Late-game wobble aside, the Jags have started with two road Central League wins. It’s a pretty impressive feather in the cap for a young squad that figures to improve with time.

“This is a really big game because we were both undefeated and it’s a big Central League matchup,” Beniwal said. “We had two really tough games back-to-back, and now we’re going home.”

Also in the Central League:

Haverford 53, Conestoga 48 >> Danny Roe scored 20 points, including a late 3-pointer to extend the lead to an insurmountable nine and notch a massive road victory for Haverford (2-1, 1-1).

Canaan Curry tallied 11 points, and Jake Ruane hit a late triple to fend off the Pioneers’ rally.

Penncrest 46, Radnor 44 >> Matt Arbogast scored seven of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Lions bagged a win. Malcolm Williams and Isaiah Rice scored 11 points each, and Dylan Bittle canned three first-half 3-pointers to tally nine points for Penncrest (3-1, 2-0).

Lewis Robinson led Radnor with 13 points, and Jahmir Dixon added 11 for the Raiders (2-2, 1-1), who led by seven at the half.

Strath Haven 59, Marple Newtown 54 >> The Panthers spread the scoring evenly, with Luke Edwards netting 16 points, Ibo Pio tossing in 13 and Brady Mutz adding 11. Justin Morris chipped in eight for the Panthers (1-3, 1-1).

Tommy Gardler led Marple (0-3, 0-2) with 23 points, and Aziz Khammassi chipped in 13.

Harriton 70, Springfield 40 >> Brian King scored all six of his points from the line to lead the Cougars. Devon Allen paired four points with six boards, and Nasir Pryor had five points and five assists.