ROYERSFORD >> The Spring-Ford girls basketball coaching staff occasionally tells its team to ‘rip off the rear-view mirror’ as a way to not dwell on a mistake or the past.

It was a rip-off-the-mirror sort of first half Saturday for the reigning district champion Rams thanks to Central League champion Garnet Valley in their District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal matchup.

“No matter what happens in a game, if you make a mistake we tell them, ‘Rip off the rear view mirror,’” said Rams head coach Mickey McDaniel. “You have 0.3 seconds to be upset with that mistake but then you’ve got to move on.”

The Rams had a bit longer at halftime to dwell upon a 12-point first half that came courtesy of the Jaguars’ devastating 2-3 zone defense, but, like directed, it was left to the past.

Sophomore Katie Tiffan was Saturday’s glass shatterer with an individual 12-point run to start the third quarter that sent No. 11 Spring-Ford on its way to a 40-30 win over No. 14 Garnet Valley to advance to its fifth straight District 1 semifinal.

“Second half we really brought it to them,” said sophomore Anna Azzara. “Great effort on the defensive end and on the offensive end. We were knocking down our shots more than we were in the first half.

“It’s great to get where we are. We have great chemistry on and off the court and we want to keep going, We don’t want it to end.”

Final: Spring-Ford 40, Garnet Valley 30, District 1 6A girls basketball quarterfinals.

Reigning champion Rams are returning to the semifinals after a second half surge and 19 from sophomore Katie Tiffan. Jaguars go to seeding playbacks pic.twitter.com/FoKv9Eqb3y

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) February 26, 2022

Tiffan’s game-changing run – part of her 19-point outing – coupled with Spring-Ford upping its defensive pressure turned a 20-12 halftime deficit into a 10-point win that sets up a semifinal meeting with No. 2 Souderton – a 47-41 winner over No. 7 Perkiomen Valley – in Wednesday’s Final Four.

Azzara scored 12 points for the Rams, including a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the third that gave Spring-Ford the lead for good.

The Rams, who feature four sophomore starters, found their offensive stroke in the second half but as notable was holding the Jaguars to 10 second-half points.

“This program has been known for defense over the years so it’s like anything else with a tradition: no one wants to let that tradition go away,” said McDaniel. “I don’t think they’re ahead of schedule, they’re right on schedule because where they’re at is equal to what they’ve put in. They put the energy, effort and want into being a very good defensive team and you’re seeing the rewards.”

Garnet Valley (20-8) had visions of knocking off another PAC opponent after upsetting No. 3 Methacton 41-36 last Wednesday but instead enters playbacks for District 1 seeding ahead of the PIAA tournament. The Jaguars already qualified for states courtesy its second-round win.

Freshman Haylie Adamski had a team-high seven points and sophomore Emily Olsen scored six. Seniors Carly Disabatino and Ava Possenti chipped in five each.

Garnet Valley head coach Joe Woods was unsure of the ceiling of his Jaguars team that is mostly underclassmen in its seven-player rotation. While it won’t include a top 4 finish in the district it remains on an excellent late-season run – Garnet had won 6 straight entering Saturday – with more to come.

“We got off to a bit of a rough start this season with some injuries and things of that nature and we were 4-4 at one point,” Woods said. “We’re big-time young and it took us some time to mesh, build the chemistry.

“Our expectations were to just keep working because we didn’t know how it would all come together. But they’ve come together, had great chemistry. We became truly a team midway through the season and sometimes it takes that with a newer group.”

Garnet Valley owned the recent history between the two teams – four straight dating back to 2016 – including the 2019 district semifinals.

Fortunately for the Rams they’d already broken their rear-view mirror.

The Jaguars led 11-5 after a quarter and secured their biggest lead at 17-7 on a Disabatino drive at the 5:15 mark of the second quarter. They settled for a 20-12 halftime lead after the one-sided first 16 minutes.

But Woods knew that wouldn’t be the game’s full story.

“We knew they were going to make a run at us. They have excellent 3-point shooters – they have 3-4 of them – who can stick it. We did an excellent job shutting that down in the first half – we held them to 12 points – but as I reminded the players in the second half that we needed to forget about it. It’s a brand new game. They’re going to come after us and we’ve got to be ready.”

Tiffan was apparently most ready for the second half as she individually scored the period’s first 10 points – her 3 at the 4:51 mark giving Spring-Ford a 23-22 lead.

“She was a hot shooter,” said Azzara. “We had to get the ball to Katie because she was making her shots.”

“I was feeling pretty good,” said Tiffan. “Our offense was doing really well together and I think that’s how I was getting my open looks. We just worked really well together.”

Tiffan, who scored 15 in a second-round win over No. 6 Bayard Rustin, is keeping the Tiffan name prominent for Spring-Ford girls hoops: older sister Emily (Class of 2021) was an All-Area first team selection a season ago and starter on last year’s PIAA runner-up. Younger sister Christina is a freshman on the Rams’ roster.

Mac Pettinelli for open 3 on quick kick from Azzara and Spring-Ford run ups lead to 28-22, 2:27 3Q pic.twitter.com/sUV8H3FDnl

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) February 26, 2022

With the lead, the Rams’ defensive pressure unsettled the Jaguars in the second half and would now allow a serious run late.

“Our zone was excellent in the first half but they knocked down some 3s and we had to come out of our zone,” said Woods. “I think we were getting a little tired with our 7-player rotation. Some of our players got a little frustrated and they really D’d us up and forced us in to some bad shots.

“Some of our players panicked a bit but that’s what happens in basketball sometimes. All the credit to Spring-Ford. We knew we were going to be in for a game, particularly on their home floor.”

NOTES >> Spring-Ford only had four players score, all sophomores: Along with Tiffan and Azzara, Mac Pettinelli scored seven and Siena Miller had two. … Garnet Valley will face a third-straight PAC opponent, No. 7 Perkiomen Valley, in playbacks on Wednesday. In the other matchup toward determining the 5th-8th place teams, Haverford meets Abington.