EAST WHITELAND >> The Great Valley boys basketball team knew coming into Saturday afternoon’s clash with Church Farm, thay would need to win its last four games of the regular season to have a chance to qualify for the District 1 6A playoffs.
Well, one down for the Patriots.
Great Valley bolted out to an 18-point halftime lead and then held sway enough to fend off a furious Church Farm rally for a 49-45 nonleague victory.
The Patriots (8-10) sank just two baskets from the field in the second half, but shot enough free throws to get the victory. Jack Woodard led the Patriots with 15 points, while Chris Woodard added 12 — nine in the first half on three three-pointers.
“We just stopped making shots in the second half today,” Great Valley coach CJ Savage said. “We did the same thing the other night in a loss to Unionville. The first half today, we shot well and then we went the other way in the second half.
Hopefully, we grew up a little today. I thought we showed good composure late in the game to hang on for the win. We need to win these last three games to have a chance for the playoffs, so we need to be ready.”
Great Valley held a 30-12 halftime lead on 11-for-20 shooting, while the Griffins (7-6) was just five-for-22. But, CFS outscored the Pats, 19-10, in the third to make it 40-31 after three. The Griffins drained eight three-pointers for the game, seven in the second half.
When Nieman Smith scored in tight, the deficit shrunk to 40-34 with 4:43 to play. Great Valley had 13 second-half turnovers after having just five in the first half. They shot just two-for-13 in the second half.
Henry Person went strong to the basket to make it 44-36 in favor of the Patriots with 3:42 left. Church farm came right back when Ayden Cadle drained a three to make it 44-39 with 3:29 to go.
“We shot poorly in the first half and they were packing in their man-to-man defense and daring us to shoot and we were not making our shots,” Griffins coach Jonathan Guarante said. “We made some adjustments in the second half and our defense was much better. Although they shot 15 more free throws than we did and our best player was out with a knee injury, I thought the kids showed passion and heart and I am very proud of that.”
The Griffins got the lead down to 44-41 when Smith, who had a team-high 15 points, hit two free throws. Great Valley hit two free throws for a 46-41 advantage. The Griffins came down the floor, but Smith missed a three.
From there, neither team scored from the field and the Patriots, who shot 30 free throws to the Griffins’ 15, made enough shots to take a 48-42 lead with just 30 seconds to play.
Smith missed an attempted three with 21 seconds left and ran out the clock for the win despite being outscored 33-19 in the second half.
“I thought it was a combination of their pressure and us just not running our offense in the second half,” Great Valley point guard Tyler Markowski said. “We usually handle pressure better than we did today. But, we get our composure enough in the fourth period to get the win. We have to be ready to play Rustin on Tuesday night.”
Great Valley 49, Church Farm 45
CHURCH FARM: Crosby 2 0-0 6, Elumanze 1 0-0 2, Green 1 0-0 3, Smith 3 7-12 -15, Nishanti 1 0-0 3, Jarvis 3 2-3 8, Cadle 3 0-0 8, Andrews 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 9-15 45.
GREAT VALLEY: Markowski 1 2-4 5, Person 3 1-2 7, Weikert 1 4-6 6, J. Woodard 3 8-10 15, Levine 0 0-2 0, C. Woodard 3 3-4 12, Benson 1 2-2 4. Totals 12 20-30-49.
Church Farm 6 6 19 14-45
Great Valley 10 20 10 9-49
3-point goals: Crosby 2, Green, Smith 2, Nishanti, Cadle 2, Markowski, J. Woodard, C. Woodard 3.
