CONCORD — In Mike Brown’s time at the helm of Garnet Valley boys basketball, he’s had teams with more college prospects. He’s had more depth, more shooting ability, maybe more talent man-for-man.
But none of those teams in this era of resurgence has played in a district final.
So what makes the 2023-24 Jaguars, who travel to Temple Saturday night to take on top-seeded Lower Merion for a District 1 Class 6A crown, different?
“I think what makes this team different is how much we all genuinely love each other and how much we play together,” senior guard Jack Krautzel said this week. “If you look at our stats (in the district semifinal), everyone basically had the same amount of points. I think we’re all meshing together, and everyone has the same purpose and same goal of winning, and that’s why we’re winning.”
The amazing balance and adaptiveness that the Jaguars have cultivated is why they’ve risen from the No. 14 seed to the Liacouras Center spotlight, for an all-Central League final against the Aces.
This team is different than many in the recent past. Where Garnet Valley has had some legendary 3-point shooting teams, this year’s squad has learned not to be dependent on the long ball. It has a potent scorer with a college future in Jake Sniras, a 1,000-scorer in his junior year, but the team works better sharing the ball instead of Sniras playing iso. And it starts a freshman in Grayson Golek.
The need to learn how to win in different ways caused some bumps early on – see 30 points scored in a loss to Upper Darby. But that crucible has hardened the Jags.
“I think it just shows how hard we work,” Krautzel said. “We get so many offensive rebounds. I just think this team is all about playing as a team and working hard. We’re definitely not the most talented team in the world, but we play together and we work hard, and that means everything.”
The final is a fitting denouement for two unorthodox runs through districts.
Garnet Valley (19-8) started with a home win over No. 19 Harriton, then pulled three upsets away from home – at No. 3 Spring-Ford, at No. 6 Methacton and at No. 2 W.C. Henderson. Their tournament is bookended by Lower Merion schools.
But even more beguiling is the familiarity. The Jaguars are in states for the third straight year. In each district tournament, they’ve played both Spring-Ford and Methacton. The Jags this year lost to Henderson over the Christmas break, and the other two district foes were league opponents.
“It’s definitely been a surreal experience,” said point guard Quinn O’Hara, who missed districts and states last year after transferring midseason from Salesianum. “We’re just soaking it in game by game. Just incredibly blessed and excited for Saturday.”
Lower Merion (29-1) is in the same boat. It beat Conestoga to start districts, then Springfield and now faces a third Central opponent. The only deviation was Chester, and while the Aces and Clippers didn’t play this season, they’re perennial combatants.
Garnet Valley has made the familiarity work for them. It hopes this installment follows form, though the history isn’t great. The Aces beat GV, 85-69, in December and claimed a 62-58 win at GV on Jan. 27.
“I definitely think it’s different because we’ve played them so many times, but it’s the same thing for them,” Krautzel said. “But I think we can definitely use it to see what we did wrong last time and use that this time. We 100 percent can win this game, we all know we can, and we’re just excited for it.”
Garnet Valley’s run began by transmuting pain into purpose. It was beaten in double overtime in the first round of the Central League tournament, 69-68, on Feb. 8 thanks to a Marple Newtown buzzer-beater. The reward for that win would’ve been a semifinal at Lower Merion.
The Jaguars were defiant that night about using the setback as fuel. This is about as good as they could’ve drawn it up.
“It was definitely heartbreaking,” O’Hara said. “But coach Brown’s huddle after the game telling us that we had so much more basketball to play really inspired us and made us look forward to districts. We just wanted to make the most of districts. So that lit a fire under us, and we’ve been attacking game by game.”
