Boys Basketball: Springfield wins fifth straight, advances to league semifinals
CONCORD — Its district fate still unresolved, Springfield could’ve been playing its final game Thursday night in the opening round of the Central League playoffs. Without need of intervention from the district math, though, the Cougars possessed a certain power to make sure the encounter with Garnet Valley wasn’t the end of the road.
“Our message for the past couple of weeks has been to control what you can control, win every game you can,” senior guard Michael O’Donnell said. “We’ve just been treating every game like a playoff game. That’s what we did tonight; not thinking about districts, we just had our eyes on winning this game.”
Thursday, control meant O’Donnell taking over, with a game-high 22 points to lead Springfield to a 48-29 victory. It gives the fifth-seeded Cougars (12-11) five wins in a row and at least one more game, Saturday against top-seeded and unbeaten Radnor in the semis.
The Cougars’ postseason fate in the District 1 Class 6A playoffs won’t be decided by then, potentially depending on the result of Chester’s game with Chester Charter Scholars Academy that day.
It wasn’t on the Cougars’ minds, though, O’Donnell said. The high-scoring guard hit four 3-pointers for his game-high tally. He had 14 points at halftime … as did the No. 4 Jaguars. Two of his triples came on the final two possessions of the first half, part of a 16-0 run bridging the break.The makes, which turned a 15-14 lead into 21-14, seemed even more monumental in such a low-scoring game.
“Especially going into halftime, that was a big momentum shift,” he said. “Obviously a one-point game and a seven-point game is a big difference. We got a lot of momentum going into the locker room, and they’re down.”
Springfield big Colin Truede took up the mantel out of the locker room. He scored the Cougars’ first 10 points of the third, including back-to-back triples, to stretch the lead to 13.
“He’s been big in the post,” O’Donnell said of Treude. “We’re lucky to have a big that’s able to shoot 3s, and he’s also able to go to work in the post. He did a really good job tonight, and he got us going in the second half for sure.”
Garnet Valley (15-8) never found its shooting touch in its third straight loss. They made just two 3-pointers and were held to a solitary point in the fourth. That wasn’t the desired result after rallying back to within 10 at 38-28 after three quarters via an 8-2 run.
Jake Sniras led Garnet Valley with 11 points. Max Koehler added six.
Treude finished with 13 points for Springfield. Jake Adams hit a pair of 3-pointers for nine points. Mike Hoey didn’t score but keyed the defensive effort.
In the Ches-Mont League:
Sun Valley 63, Avon Grove 60 >> Chris Kwadiah tallied a game-high 25 points to help the Vanguards hold off the Red Devils. Kaiden Robinson pitched in with 15 points and seven rebounds, Bucky Grayston added nine points and 10 rebounds.
In nonleague action:
Chester Charter Scholars Academy 91, Faith Christian 58 >> Azarhis Smith posted a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jayden Williams also had a double-double. He finished with 17 points, 10 assists and four steals. Samaad Powell chipped in with 14 points and six boards.
