District 1 Class 5A Boys Basketball: Marple’s Matt Gardler ‘jumps’ to attention, upends Sun Valley

ASTON — Everybody in the gym at Sun Valley Friday night assumed, with less than a minute to play and the Vanguards trailing by three, that the ball would find its way to Chris Kwaidah.

Unfortunately for the Vanguards, that number included Marple Newtown’s Matt Gardler, the one player with the ability to stop it from happening.

For all of Gardler’s outstanding offense in a 23-point outing, it was a defensive moment – jumping the passing lane, getting fouled and making two free throws – that iced No. 9 seed Marple’s 53-50 win over No. 8 Sun Valley to open the District 1 Class 5A tournament.

“He was on fire the whole game,” Gardler said of Kwaidah. “He couldn’t miss a shot. I knew after I saw the flare screen coming that I didn’t want him to get the ball and shoot that final shot and have someone else shoot it. I just jumped the pass.”

That play encapsulated how the Tigers (12-11) pulled a mild upset away from home to keep alive their dream of returning to the PIAA tournament. When Sun Valley (15-8) needed a basket, it had little answer beyond Kwaidah. He scored 28 points, hit nine of the team’s 19 baskets and all three of its 3-pointers. He scored all nine of Sun Valley’s second quarter points and added 12 in the third.

But all that effort came at a cost, and Kwaidah missed his last five attempts from the field, including four 3-pointers.

“I rushed a couple of passes and I rushed a lot instead of taking my time,” Kwaidah said. “I know I’m supposed to be that guy to knock down the shot.”

Much as this reads on paper like a star-versus-star matchup, Marple’s ability to make it more than that is what gave the Tigers the edge. Brian Bogan played admirable defense to limit Kwaidah, chasing him all over the floor. But offensively, they got baskets when they needed them.

Corrado Fischetti had 14 points, including 10 in the first half, hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Daron Pfitzinger-Miller and Steven Tansey each hit a triple and had five points. And the Tigers, who shrugged off 18 turnovers to shoot 20-for-36 from the field with 12 assists, didn’t devolve into hero ball with Gardler, however tempting it seemed.

“It all comes from my teammates to find me the ball and look for me off cuts,” Gardler said. “That helps me score the ball.”

In a game that alternated between hot shooting and long fallow periods, the Tigers led by five after one quarter – when Gardler picked up a loose ball and tossed in a fadeaway triple in front of the Sun Valley bench at the horn – and by seven at half. A Kwaidah stepback 3-pointer got Sun Valley within 45-40 after 3. But each team had two baskets in the first seven minutes of the fourth.

Gardler’s steal put Marple up 51-46 with 13.2 left. He scored the team’s final 13 points, including all eight in the fourth. Kwaidah missed a 3-pointer, but Bucky Grayston (eight points) put it back up and in. Two more Gardler free throws iced it with 5.2 left, setting up a date at top-seeded Radnor Wednesday.