Spring-Ford keeps the momentum, cruises by Garnet Valley into District 1-6A semifinals

ROYERSFORD >> Spring-Ford’s Jacob Nguyen knocked down a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer. The Rams carried the trajectory after the break and came out aggressively on offense with three baskets in a row.

And with that, Spring-Ford was suddenly up by 12 points and well on its way to a 56-38 win over Garnet Valley in a District 1-6A quarterfinal Friday night. The Rams earned a spot in the District 1-6A semifinals and will host No. 5 Downingtown West, a 64-46 winner over No. 4 Central Bucks East, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Nguyen wound up with 22 points, E.J. Campbell scored 17 and Zach Zollers grabbed 13 rebounds for the No. 1 seed Rams (24-2). Logan McKee led the visiting No. 8 Jaguars (17-8) with 14 points and Ryan Faccenda added eight.

“I was concerned about the tempo of the game,” said Spring-Ford coach Joe Dempsey. “The 3-2 zone had us standing around a little bit. I told them we’ve got to attack this zone. If we don’t, we’ll be standing around all night.”

There were four lead changes in the first quarter that ended up knotted at 12-12. Then Nguyen hit a 3-pointer and Zollers tipped in a rebound to give the Rams a 17-12 advantage early in the second. But the hosts led by just 20-19 after a basket by Faccenda before they went on a decisive 11-point run.

Alex Lewis started it off with a basket off a pass from Nguyen. Then the Rams got the ball back with 20 seconds to go and timed things perfectly as Nguyen knocked down a shot from the right wing at the last second.

“That gave us a little momentum,” said Dempsey.

Tommy Kelly drove toward the basket and pulled up and banked in a shot to start the second half for Spring-Ford, Nguyen tossed in a one-hander in the lane and then scored again on a layup for a 31-19 advantage just over a minute into the third quarter.

“We were able to turn the gas up a little bit,” said Dempsey.

“We’re not used to being down by that much,” said Garnet Valley coach Mike Brown. “Sometimes you panic defensively and try to make steals that aren’t there.”

After that, the Jaguars closed to within seven points on three occasions, the final time at 41-34 early in the fourth quarter. But Nguyen drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the night from the top of the circle, Campbell scored two baskets in a row and Nguyen hit a jumper for his final points of the game that made it 50-34 lead with just 3:15 to go.

“They made some difficult shots,” said Brown. “That kid, No. 3 (Nguyen) hit some from 28 feet. They’ve got a lot of weapons and it caught up to us. They were the better team tonight.”

The Rams missed seven of nine free throws in the fourth quarter, but the game was well in hand by that point.

“Last year, we were up 15 in the fourth quarter and were missing our free throws,” said Dempsey. “Tonight, we did a little better. We did enough.”

Spring-Ford turned the ball over only six times in the first half compared to 11 for the Jaguars, which was also a key ingredient to its six-point halftime lead. Then the Rams shot 6-for-8 from the floor in the third quarter – including four in a row by Nguyen – to open a nine-point advantage and finished up with a 17-8 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Zollers pulled in numerous key rebounds in the second half, including several on the offensive end to help the Rams run more time off the clock.

“A great job by Zach,” said Dempsey. “He gave us some extra possessions. And Caleb (Little), E.J. and Jacob all can handle the ball.”
Both teams had already clinched PIAA Class 6A berths with quarterfinal wins on Tuesday, Garnet Valley’s by a 73-69 score over Methacton in double overtime.

Now the Rams need a win against Downingtown West to advance to the title game next Saturday at Temple University.

“I know they’re very good,” Dempsey said concerning the Whippets. “They’ve got some really good players.”

 

District 1-6A quarterfinals

Spring-Ford 56, Garnet Valley 38

Garnet Valley: Van Horn 1 0-1 2, Kaperna 0 0-0 0, McKee 6 0-2 14, Koehler 3 0-0 6, Bhoogadi 1 0-2 2, B Krautzel 0 0-0 0, J Krautzel 0 2-2 2, Faccenda 1 5-6 8,Anderson 0 0-0 0, Bosch 0 0-0 0, DiJoseph 0 1-2 1, Sniras 1 0-0 3, Furchner 0 0-0 0, Totals 13 8-15 38

Spring-Ford: Campbell 7 1-2 17, Banks 1 0-1 2, Nguyen 9 0-0 22, Zollers 2 0-3 4, Mckenna 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Dellangelo 0 0-0 0, Little 0 2-5 2, Kelly 2 0-0 4, Peticca 0 0-0 0, Lewis 2 0-0 4, Turner 0 0-0 0, Pufko 0 1-2 1, Moconchu 0 0-0 0, Rose 0 0-0 0, Early 0 0-0 0, Totals 23 4-13 56

3-point goals: McKee 2, Faccenda, Sniras, Campbell 2, Nguyen 4