WORCESTER – Garnet Valley’s strong third-quarter performance turned a seven-point deficit 18 seconds into the second half into a six-point advantage after a Brady Krautzel’s 3-pointer, a key bucket in the Jaguars’ run to a 64-53 victory in Friday night’s District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal game.
A Jake Sniras free throw with 8.2 seconds remaining in the third bumped No. 14 Garnet Valley to a two-point edge heading into the fourth. Quinn O’Hara proceeded to give the Jags a bit of stability, the senior guard opening the final quarter by hitting his fifth 3-pointer of the contest for a 48-43 lead.
“The three definitely helped but obviously basketball’s a game of runs, momentum and this group’s really mature and understands that,” O’Hara said. “So through their runs, through their big dunks we were just like we got to keep going.”
Jack Krautzel’s basket off a Sniras feed put Garnet Valley up 50-43 and the Jaguars held off Methacton from there, putting the game away by going 12-of-16 from the foul line in the final two minutes to reach the district semifinals for the first time since 2021.
“It means everything,” O’Hara said. “This group, we’ve been tested throughout the season, ups and downs, early-season struggles. And as the season ended we really got hot and came together, and right now nobody’s looking at the scoreboard caring about their points, it’s how many points does Garnet Valley have and that’s been the big shift from the beginning of the season to end of season.”
O’Hara finished with a game-high 22 points, connecting three times beyond the arc in the first quarter then in the fourth going 7-of-10 from the foul line to help Garnet Valley (18-8) upset another PAC side after topping No. 3 Spring-Ford in the second round Tuesday.
Brady Krautzel scored 10 of his 16 points in the third while Sniras added 13 points for the Jaguars, who advance to visit No. 2 West Chester Henderson – a 68-63 winner over No. 7 Central Bucks East – Tuesday night for a spot in the district final.
“I think just how bad we wanted it,” O’Hara said. “We just kept looking at each other, saying ‘Five minutes left, four minutes left.’ We were like, we can do this, we’ve done it, against Spring-Ford we did it, we knocked down free throws so we’re gaining experience as we go through the bracket. … We just grew up playing together and we just – me and Jack Krautzel – we want to go out champions so we just want more.”
Christian Matos paced Methacton (17-8) with 19 points, the sophomore hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the first half. Hermann had 13 points while Sal Iemmello contributed 12 points for the Warriors, who were trying to reach the semis for the second time in three seasons. Instead, Methacton looks to improve its PIAA tournament seeding hosting CB East in playbacks Tuesday.
“I know the guys were hurt going in there cause we had a great opportunity to have a home game here to make the district semifinals, which obviously only four teams get to say they’re doing that,” Warriors coach Pat Lockard said. “So I think we let an opportunity slip away tonight but we’ll kind of look at this, review it then we got to flush it and move on cause not many teams can say they’re playing good basketball.”
Since the 2016-17 season when PIAA went to six classes, Garnet Valley is just the third double-digit seed to reach the District 1 Class 6A semifinals. Abington went all the way to the final as the 14th seed in the 2021 tournament while Norristown was a 12 seed when it made the 2022 final four.
“They’re a heck of a team, obviously,” Lockard added. “I was joking with them, two years ago we saw them as the 24th seed and they were in the district quarters, this year as a 14 seed. They’re never truly the seed that they are. They play way above their weight class and I give props to their coaching staff for that.”
It was the third straight season Methacton and Garnet Valley met in the district tournament with their previous two contests both needing more than four quarters. In the 2022 quarters, the top-seeded Warriors bested No. 24 GV in overtime 46-41 then last season’s second-round game went to double overtime before the No. 8 Jaguars earned a 73-69 win over No. 9 Methacton.
O’Hara banked a 3-pointer to give Garnet Valley a 14-13 edge after the first quarter Friday. Back-to-back baskets from Sniras increased the lead to 18-13 before Methacton scored the next nine – Iemmello providing six points during the run – to go ahead 22-18.
The Jags pulled within two twice. Then Brady Krautzel’s putback, then a 3-pointer, was followed by another triple by Jack Krautzel to put Garnet Valley ahead 31-30.
“We definitely picked it up a little bit but a big thing for us is to stay level headed,” O’Hara said. “They go up 10, we go up 10, same attitude. We’ve just got to keep playing Garnet Valley basketball and I think that’s what we did and that’s why we pulled away.”
