Those who follow the Garnet Valley girls basketball team are not surprised to see it have success in the PIAA playoffs.
Under longtime coach Joe Woods, the Jaguars have competed for, and won, a District 1 championship in the state’s highest classification. They win a lot of games and make a run in states every season. Five years ago the program played for a Class 6A title in Hershey.
So here the Jags are preparing for a Class 6A quarterfinal round matchup with North Penn Friday night at Bensalem. They are one of three girls teams from Delco left standing, alongside Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara.
As the sixth-place team from District 1 the Jags have survived this long while their two Central League rivals Haverford and Conestoga were eliminated in the second round. All of Garnet Valley’s six losses came courtesy of those two squads.
The Jags are on the opposite side of the state bracket and began the tourney traveling to unfamiliar territory. In their first-round game at Easton, District 11’s second-place team, the Jags found themselves trailing 16-2 after one quarter, but clawed all the way back and won in overtime.
The Jags’ 52-46 decision over District 3 champion Central Dauphin at Pottstown wasn’t as dramatic. They held a lead most of the way, but it was far from easy.
“In the past couple of weeks we have been coming together and defensively we’ve done a good job,” Woods said. “The Easton game, that team is strong and very talented. They have one or two Division I recruits. We got down 16-2 with two minutes to go in the first quarter … but we just stuck to it and didn’t give up. We made some adjustments and kept battling and the girls came through in overtime.”
The Jags’ have received tremendous play from junior guard/forward Haylie Adamski, senior forward Emily Olsen and junior guard Kylie Mulholland. In the Easton win, Adamski dropped 23 points, while Mulholland added 18 points, five assists and four steals.
Olsen led the way in the victory over Central Dauphin with 17 points, six rebounds and four steals. Adamski notched 16 points, seven boards and four assists. Muholland contributed seven points and eight rebounds.
“I’m proud of them, the way they stick together no matter what,” Woods said. “They don’t give up.”
Garnet Valley (24-6) and North Penn (23-5), which placed fourth in District 1, have some recent history. Last season the Jags defeated the Knights in the district playback round. North Penn is coming off a 56-54 overtime win over North Allegheny. Caleigh Sperling, who dropped 30 points in a district quarterfinal win over Haverford last month, hit a buzzer beater for the Knights.
North Penn is arguably the toughest team the Jags have faced this season, but Wood said his players are ready to roll and game for another tall challenge.
“I think we’ve exceeded expectations. A lot of people thought we wouldn’t get this far,” he said. “The girls are excited and looking forward to the game against North Penn.”
