Garnet Valley rallies to upset Spring-Ford, clinch PIAA, District 1-6A quarterfinal berths

UPPER PROVIDENCE >> A team of destiny?

Some people might think so. But Garnet Valley, in the midst of a high-flying postseason that almost wasn’t, just forges on.

The Jaguars came up big again Tuesday when they visited Spring-Ford for a second-round District 1 Class 6A playoff game. In a pairing where the winner secures a berth in the upcoming state playoffs, the 24th seed rallied for a 53-50 win over the eighth-seeded Rams.

Down by double digits with less than six minutes remaining. Garnet worked its way back first to pull even, 50-50, inside the final half-minute. It then went 3-for-4 at the foul line while Spring-Ford came up empty on two drives.

“In the regular season,” head coach Mike Brown said, “we had to win two of our last three games … against three of the best teams in the district. We won two, but lost the third to Lower Merion.”

Thinking it hadn’t made districts, GV got a pleasant surprise when a recalculation of the 6A bracket put it in as the 24th and last seed. The Jags then asserted themselves by beating out ninth-seeded Upper Dublin in last Friday’s opening round, 48-46.

Now, GV is in the state picture by virtue of reaching the district’s quarterfinal round. An accomplishment of note, considering it had to replace seven graduating seniors from the 2021 team. The Jags travel to top seed Methacton on Friday night with a chance to get back to the District 1 semifinals for the second straight season.

“You always picture doing that (making states),” Brown said, “but we lost the seven seniors. The kids did all the work this year. They’re a good group, even when they’re down.”

Spring-Ford remains in the hunt for states despite the loss. But it will have to navigate the 6A playback bracket and be one of the four teams left standing, District 1 getting 12 qualifiers for states.

The free-throw line was no friend to the Rams, who were 10-for-20 while GV shot 15-for-18. That proved particularly crucial in the fourth, when Spring-Ford went 2-for-8 over the final 4:15. In the meantime, the Jaguars erased the home team’s 45-36 lead with Max Koehler collecting 10 of his team-high 20 points – he was 5-for-6 at the line in that stretch.

“Obviously, we didn’t shoot fouls,” Ram head coach Joe Dempsey said. “We also had some mental mistakes.”

Cole Turner gave the Rams a big spark from long distance, getting all 18 of his points off 3-point baskets.  Jake Kressley chipped in with another 11, helping his team get a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter and stay out front even with Garnet making several runs at them.

“Him (Turner) having that many  ‘ threes’ is out of the ordinary,” Dempsey said. “He was big on rebounds and second shots.”

The back-and-forth first quarter ended with Spring-Ford ahead, 12-9. Alex Lewis scored three points in a 1:19 span inside the last two minutes, and Gavin Schauder hit a basket before the buzzer to give the Rams a lead that was solidified at the start of the second quarter, 17-9, by baskets from  Kressley and Turner.

The second period evolved into a 3-point shooting contest, the teams combining for six in the frame. Turner upped his total to four with a trey of treys, and Jacob Nguyen had another as the Rams boosted their advantage to 31-20 at intermission.

Garnet’s long-distance scoring featured back-to-back “threes” from Ryan Wootten and Logan McKee that pulled the Jags to five (23-18) with 2:17 left before the half.

The Jaguars went the “three” route to get Spring-Ford’s lead down to single digits (38-31) by the end of the third quarter. Logan McKee (15 points) had back-to-back long-distance buckets inside the final two minutes. Then he scored a putback basket and a banker in  a minute span of the fourth to help GV cut the deficit to three (49-46).

“They have tough kids who shoot well,” Dempsey said of the Jags. “At the end of the game, they got more.”

After Lewis made the second of two free throws for a two-point lead with 46 seconds to go, a Koehler basket made it a 50-50 game. Koehler then swished two free throws at the 18-second mark, and Ryan Faccenda made the first of two with three seconds left.

That became the final margin of victory, Spring-Ford unable to convert a pair of shots in the final seven seconds.

“Mike Brown is a good coach,” Dempsey said, dismissing the significance of the Jags having the district’s lowest seed. “We obviously didn’t take advantage of the bye we had. At this time of year, your deficiencies are exposed.”

District 1-6A Second Round

Garnet Valley 53, Spring-Ford 50

Garnet Valley: Faccenda 0 2-2 2, Koehler 6 8-10 20, McKee 6 0-0 15, Wootten 2 5-5 10, Snipas 1 0-0 2, Van Horn 1 0-0 2, Totals 16 15-17 53.

Spring-Ford: Campbell 0 3-5 3, Kressley 4 3-5 11, Schauder 1 0-0 3, Turner 6 0-0 18, Huntington 1 0-0 2, Lewis 2 3-6 7, Nguyen 2 0-0 5, Little 0 1-4 1, Totals 16 10-20 50.

Garnet Valley 9 11 11 22-53
Spring-Ford 12 19 7 12-50

3-point goals: McKee 3, Wootten, Turner 6, Nguyen.