Shipley senior Gruzinski providing spark for Gators

Bryn Mawr >> Prior to the start of the season, Shipley boys’ basketball coach Phil D’Ambrosio had a long conversation with senior Joey Gruzinski about the added responsibilities he would have in order to help the Gators have a successful season.
On Dec. 21 in a non-league contest against Haverford School, Gruzinski played the complimentary part to sophomore Khalil Farmer and fellow senior Khai Champion that D’Ambrosio had been wanting to see in Shipley’s 61-56 win at Yarnell Gymnasium.
With Farmer and Champion leading the way with 18 and 17 points, respectively, Gruzinski chipped in with 15 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer in the corner off a feed from Eli Smith, followed by a short jumper that gave the Gators a 58-53 lead that sealed the victory.
“I told Joey that we need to someone to step up, take chances to take some of the scoring pressure off of Khal and Khalil,” said D’Ambrosio. “Today, Joey stepped up and made some huge plays to help seal a big win.”
“The drive into the lane before kicking into the corner is like second nature because we work on that in practice all the time,” said Smith. “I know when I do this, the shooter in the corner will catch and shoot. Today it was Joey’s turn and he knocked down a big shot.”
With the clock moving towards the final minute in the fourth quarter and Shipley holding a slim 56-53 lead, Gruzinski got the ball in the corner, poised to take a three-pointer. A Haverford defender closed on him and Gruzinski calmly head-faked his defender and took a step inside the three-point arc and hit the jumper. While this was going on, D’Ambrosio was trying to tell his senior guard to pull the ball out and milk the clock.
“I honestly did not hear him,” said Gruzinski. “Normally I would not shoot the ball in that situation, but I figured I was hot, so I went up with the shot,”
With Shipley trailing 25-12 midway through the second quarter, Gruzinski helped ignite the comeback with a three-pointer. From there, the Gators went on an 8-3 run to cut the deficit to 28-23 heading into halftime.
The second half featured Champion and Farmer, who had a hand in all of Shipley’s third-quarter points. Champion and Farmer combined for eight points, while Champion assisted on the other two baskets scored by Justin Powell.
The fourth quarter featured a back-and-forth game before Gruzinski hit two big shots to help seal the victory.
Since his arrival for his sophomore year after spending his freshman year at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Gruzinski has slowly ingratiated himself by doing all of the little things, like collecting key rebounds and coming up with loose balls or being asked to shut down the opponent’s best player.
With the graduation of key players, Gruzinski knew his role would be expanded. So far, he has done his best to embrace his role but has needed to be reminded at times to not pass up the shot and shoot more.
“Coach has told me that I need to shoot between 8-12 times if we are going to win games like this,” said Gruzinski. “I am still transitioning into this role while still keeping in mind of the role I have been playing the last three years. I realize the Khai and Khalil will get the majority of the shots. I will do whatever I need to do to help us win games.”
“Joey has a grit and toughness about him and does not give up on plays,” said D’Ambrosio. “I hope a game like this will pay huge dividends and he can run with it.”
Prior to this game Shipley had been experiencing a roller coaster season and following the win D’Ambrosio mentioned to his team how a win like this could help turn a team’s season around. Hopefully for Shipley, this will be the case.