Boys Basketball: Krautzel has last laugh as Garnet Valley survives in double OT

CONCORD – Max Koehler saw the smile on teammate Jack Krautzel’s face as he stepped to the line in double overtime. It was out-of-place enough to register with him.

Krautzel, you might’ve thought, would want to be anywhere in the known universe beside the free throw line at Garnet Valley at that point Tuesday night. He’d gone 1-for-4 from the line at the end of regulation to see a Jaguar lead over Methacton that had run to 13 in the fourth evaporate. He’d missed two free throws in a first overtime period that saw zero points scored.

But still, Krautzel’s grin was undimmed.

“I’m like, this kid knows he’s got it,” Koehler said. “And I knew he got it, and the rest of us knows he’s got it. We had trust in him.”

Krautzel scored seven points in the second overtime and cleaned up the missed free throw with 2.2 seconds left to seal the game as the Jaguars bested Methacton, 73-69, in the District 1 Class 6A second round.

“You’ve just got to think about how much you practice, how work you put into it,” Krautzel said. “Even if you’re making mistakes, that hard work will come through when it matters.”

The win sends the Jags (17-7) to the quarterfinals to meet top-seeded Spring-Ford on Friday. They also advance to the state tournament.

All of which seemed perfectly obvious with 3:59 left when Jake Sniras hit a shot in the lane to make it 55-43 Garnet Valley. The Jags had been outstanding to that point. Coming off a loss in which they had scored just 29 points in the Central League playoffs against Springfield, they had 33 by halftime. They assisted on their first nine baskets and 12 of 14 in the first half, a pristine display of ball movement.

“You can see when we move the ball, how much easier and flowing our offense is,” Koehler said. “It’s awesome to see.”

But turnovers crept in in the third. And the ninth-seeded Warriors (16-9), who struggled to hit 3-pointers all night, suddenly hit them when they needed them.

The Jags’ free-throw shooting didn’t help. They shot 6-for-13 from the line in the fourth, allowing the Warriors to crawl back in the game. Sal Iemmello hit a 3-pointer with 1:56 to make it interesting at 55-48. Cam Chilson knocked one down from the wing after a good close out by Koehler with 1:12 left to make it 58-53.

With 33 seconds left, Iemmello connected from the corner, cutting the lead to 59-56. Christian hit a 32-footer with 12 seconds left to make it 60-59, then after a scramble where Garnet Valley looked to have it under control, Christian canned one from two steps inside halfcourt at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. It was his seventh 3-pointer of the day on 14 attempts.

“I think it’s just a sense of urgency, knowing we’re battling from behind,” Christian said. “We’ve really got nothing to lose. We got off to a slow start, so that kind of hurt us, a big hole.”

Methacton spotted Garnet Valley the first 13 points of the game. They only got within three at 15-12 after one quarter because Christian hit four first-quarter triples, the last to beat the horn from the logo in a poignant bit of foreshadowing.

Neither team scored in the first OT, as the offenses pulled the handbrake and slowed to a glacial pace. Both had to reset after the end-of-regulation chaos.

“I hit that shot, everyone is going crazy and next thing you know, we’re out there and there’s three minutes left, and the whole place is calm again,” Christian said.

“It’s tough to get right back into it after you thought you had the game and someone hit a huge shot,” Krautzel said. “But you’ve got to reset and get back in and, it’s game time, let’s go win this. It’s 0-0.

Krautzel hit a 3-pointer when left all alone to put Garnet Valley up 67-64, but Methacton scored four straight, two free throws from Alex Hermann giving the visitors their first lead at 68-67.

Ryan Faccenda led Garnet Valley with 19 points, including 9-for-11 from the line. Max Koehler had 16 points and six of the Jaguars’ 17 assists, on 26 made baskets. Sniras added 15 points, and Krautzel had 14 points and six boards.

Christian led Methacton with 21 points, Iemmello with 20. Herman, whose ability to drive off the dribble in the third quarter started to turn the tide, added 13 and nine rebounds, and Chilson had 11 points and seven assists. Methacton shot 13-for-32 from distance.

Down for the first time, Sniras answered with a jumper from the elbow, his specialty. When Iemmello couldn’t hit in traffic, Krautzel grabbed the rebound and hit two at the line. The Jags fouled up their end-of-game plan to foul before a Methacton shot, but they got away with it, Chilson missing the first of 3 down 71-68, then missing the last on purpose. Krautzel enveloped that rebound, then with a grin if not overwhelming conviction, sank two more to make sure he wasn’t the only one in home colors heading home smiling.