McNicholas’ winning shot boosts Ridley past Garnet Valley

CONCORD — Kylie McNicholas comes from a famous Ridley family.

Her grandfather is legendary Ridley High football coach, Joe McNicholas, a 226-game winner.

“He’s a big talker,” McNicholas said, laughing. “He’ll give me advice on some things.”

Kylie McNicholas, a junior, is a sharp-shooting guard for the Ridley girls basketball team. She made the game-winning shot in the fourth quarter to propel the Green Raiders to a thrilling, 47-45 victory Tuesday night at Garnet Valley.

The last name is synonymous with success at Ridley, and Kylie McNicholas surely made her grandfather proud with her effort Tuesday.

McNicholas stood at the corner along the Green Raiders bench and calmly swished her third 3-pointer of the night with a minute to go. She finished with 11 points and a game-high four assists.

McNicholas recently missed a few games due to a banged-up shoulder suffered in the Green Raiders’ loss to first-place Springfield earlier this month. She said it had taken a little time to find her shot again.

“I know my teammates are always going to be there to have my back,” she said. “I’ve been in a shooting slump recently, but in this game I finally started to feel more confident in myself. The first game back after my injury, I felt like I couldn’t even shoot, really. I felt a lot better tonight.”

Meanwhile for Ridley, Dakota McCaughan was popping 3-pointers like TicTacs. The sensational senior guard drained nine treys en route to scoring a game-high 28 points. She shot 9 of 15 from long distance. As a team, Ridley made 16 field goals, including 13 from beyond the arc.

McCaughan’s biggest play of the night wasn’t one of her bombs-away 3-balls or killer crossover moves; rather, it was the charge she took in the waning seconds of regulation, sealing the win for the Green Raiders. McCaughan doesn’t often hang inside the paint to take an offensive charge, but with the game on the line, she sacrificed as GV’s Ava Possenti drove the lane with eight seconds left.

She took the impact and fell to the floor as Possenti was whistled for the offensive foul with three seconds to go. McCaughan was helped off the hardwood and congratulated by her teammates.

“I watched her earlier in the game and I could see that she wasn’t too shifty, so I knew that with the time constraint that she was going to go right up,” McCaughan said. “I just stepped up and I knew my teammates were going to let me take it and I got real excited.”

McCaughan chatted with a college scout after the game. She is bound to make one college program very happy.

McCaughan oohed and aahed the audience with her filthy dribbling, smart passing and long-range shooting. While she led the Green Raiders to their second win this season over the reigning Central League champions, the senior guard continues to do wonders for the team around her. McCaughan gave props to McNicholas, who made the biggest shot of the night after GV had taken the lead on a Mikayla Anderson layup.

“She was huge,” McCaughan said. “I’ve been playing with Kylie since I was little, since I was in sixth grade and she was in fifth grade. She’s always been like a little sister to me, so for her to step up, it really takes a lot of the pressure off everybody. With our team, we have so many good guards and it takes the stress off of everybody. I know that if I’m not going to take the shot, Kylie will. It’s fun to play with her.”

Although the M&M girls were the only Ridley players in double figures, junior guard Lindsay Boyd (three points, two steals, two assists) and junior forward Shannen Hinchey (three blocks, three steals) played very well down the stretch.

Garnet Valley jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter, but McCaughan sank four consecutive 3-pointers to end the period. Ridley (17-2) held a five-point lead at halftime and was  up nine early in the third period before the host Jags (13-4) made their comeback.

Abbey Anderson, who poured in 14 points, hit a triple to give the Jags a 36-35 lead late in the third. Hinchey and McCaughan made baskets at the start of the fourth to put Ridley back to front. After Dentinger scored to tie it, Abbey Anderson gave her team the lead once more with another 3-ball. The teams traded buckets in the fourth quarter, with McNicholas giving Ridley the lead for good. Savannah Moss added a free throw in the last 30 seconds to complete the scoring.

Dentinger registered 17 points and 11 rebounds for Garnet Valley.

Elsewhere in the Central League:

Marple Newtown 45, Strath Haven 33 >> Haley Levy scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Mackenzie Hilden posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards for the Tigers (8-10).

Mary O’Brien contributed seven points and six rebound in the win.

Cayden Fraizer had 10 points for Haven.

Radnor 50, Penncrest 42 >> Ellie Mueller netted 13 points and Brienne Williams added 10 for the Raiders, who exploded four 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Alexis Calloway and Ashley Rodgers tallied 13 points apiece for the Lions.

Springfield 48, Harriton 21 >> Alyssa Long amassed 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Cougars (13-4, 12-0) rolled to an easy win.

Alexa Abbonizio poured in 15 of her game-high 25 points in the third quarter and made five 3-point shots.

Haverford 40, Conestoga 25 >> Chiara MacGillivray scored nine of her game-high 17 points in the third quarter to power the Fords. Addison Brodinik and Caroline Dotsey chipped in with seven points each.

Upper Darby 53, Lower Merion 42 >> Aubrey Ennis (16 points), Gabby Liberio (12) and Jasmine Forrester (12) all reached double figures in scoring to pace the Royals (9-10) to victory. It was the first game at Lower Merion since the passing of Kobe Bryant and the occasion was marked at the start of the game.