Confident Sky Newman comes through in clutch for Haverford

CONCORD — Haverford’s Sky Newman was left alone on the outside, directly in front of her team bench.

With time ticking away, the junior guard knew she had little time to think. She was poised to make a basket.

“I had to shoot it with confidence and put it in,” Newman said.

Oh, she did precisely that, drilling the game-winning 3-point basket with about 15 seconds left to play. Garnet Valley’s last attempt was a long-distance shot by Haylie Adamski that fell off the mark as time expired.

Newman’s clutch trey lifted the Fords to a thrilling, 36-34 victory over the Jaguars, upping their record to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Central League.

“As a young starter it’s important to remain calm in every situation,” said Newman, who managed eight points and one assist. “The coaches really help us out with that, just trying to stay focused at all times.”

Newman’s triple came seconds after Garnet Valley’s Ava Possenti grabbed an offensive board and hit a jumper inside the paint to give the hosts a one-point edge.  Haverford had a timeout to spend, but coach Lauren Pellicane was confident that her players would come through without her having to draw up a new play.

“It was a big-time shot,” Pellicane said. “I told the girls that I think that was the first time I did not call a timeout in that spot. I just wanted to see if the kids could make a play. … That extra pass was the right decision. And I told (Newman) that it was a better shot there instead of her dumping it down low because she was wide open. She made a big-time play for us.”

With an experienced team, Haverford began the 2021-22 season as one of the favorites to go all the way in the Central League. Although the Jaguars haven’t won the title in three seasons, they are still considered a measuring stick for a team such as Haverford.

“Like everyone else, this is probably the first time that we’ve had our entire squad since the first game of the year, so we’re starting to get back,” Pellicane said. “We haven’t really practiced a lot and the kids have been off for four straight days with the snow day (Monday). Both teams battled. Our goal is to get better every night and just keep playing hard.”

The Fords raced out to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter, but went 1-for-11 from the field in the second quarter and trailed the Jags by two points at halftime.  The Fords needed a big second half from their top scorer, junior forward Caroline Dotsey, who was held to zero points on 0-for-8 shooting thanks in part to the defense of GV forward Katelyn Dugery. Dotsey came out on fire in the third quarter, hitting four of her first six shots. She nailed a jump shot from the wing with 2:22 left in the game to put the Fords up by three points. Dotsey ended with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

“I would say this is pretty big for us,” Dotsey said. “We worked really hard to win this. They’re always a good, competitive team and every year we come here we know it’s going to be a good game. .. Even when my shots don’t fall, the first half was really tough for me, but it’s good that everyone stepped up. I was able to get my teammates the ball and they were able to finish. Everyone kind of picked up where I wasn’t able to.”

Emma Rowland provided lockdown defense all night for the Fords. The senior point guard had two points to go with a game-high five assists. Junior big Mollie Carpenter grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and sophomore guard Aniya Eberhart scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter.

The Jaguars (4-4, 2-2) continue to show improvement under long-time coach Joe Woods. Sophomore forward Emily Olsen was excellent, particularly in the second half when she scored 10 of her game-high 14 points. She also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Dugery added four points and three blocked shots, while the freshman Adamski ended with six points.

“The kids showed a lot of character battling out there because Haverford is a very good team,” Woods said. “They have great size and some great players, particularly No. 15 (Dotsey), who is a phenomenal player. I thought Katelyn Dugery did a great job defending her and shut her down in the first half. I think in the second half we got worn down a little bit and we weren’t rebounding well, even though we were still playing pretty good defense. They got a lot of second and third chances, so we have to be better with our rebounding going forward.”

In other Central League games:

Radnor 42, Strath Haven 37 >> Kate Gallagher delivered off the bench for Radnor.

Gallagher had 10 points and four steals to help the Raptors (3-3) rally past the Panthers (3-3). Radnor outscored Strath Haven, 21-14, in the second half and went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Ellie Davis poured in 12 points to lead the winners. Rose Henry also tallied 12 points for Strath Haven, which received an 11-point effort by freshman guard Maryella Gill.

Springfield 47, Penncrest 31 >> Kaitlyn Kearney made four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 18 points as the Cougars (4-2) toppled the Lions (5-2). Mia Valerio added nine points in the winning effort.

Kyra Curci netted a team-high eight points for Penncrest.

Marple Newtown 41, Harriton 37 >> Mary O’Brien hit key baskets down the stretch to lead the Tigers, scoring seven of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. Haley Levy produced 14 points and seven rebounds, while Brook Impriano chipped in with nine points for the Tigers (4-2).

Annie Aspesi netted a game-high 15 points for the Rams.

In the Ches-Mont League:

Kennett 60, Sun Valley 34 >> The Vanguards fell behind by 14 points in the opening period and couldn’t recover. Aliceia Whitfield led the way with nine points and Melana Timmes finished with eight points and nine rebounds in the loss.