Conestoga’s tough first-half defense shuts down Great Valley in district opener

Tredyffrin – Conestoga gave the packed Pioneer gym a first-half defensive clinic Friday night en route to a 57-45 win against Great Valley in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA District One tournament.

Bolstered by a tough-to-penetrate defense in the first half, the Pioneers bolted out to a 30-13 halftime lead, and never led by less than seven points the rest of the way.

Conestoga head coach Mike Troy said, “We did a lot of prep work for their offense before the game. Paul [Great Valley head coach Paul Girone] has his team run a terrific Princeton-based offense, and our kids paid attention [during the game] to [Great Valley’s] keys and cues on offense. We did a good job limiting their three-point shots.”

Conestoga held Great Valley to only five treys all night, and it was a remarkably clean defensive effort by both teams – only two fouls were called in the first half – and 12 for the entire game (six by each team.)

Girone was impressed by Conestoga’s overall first-half effort.

“It was like facing a barrage [in the first half],” said Girone. “I told Coach Troy [after the game] that if his team keeps playing like that, they’ll go the state championship. They have five guys who can shoot, all five of them handle the ball well, and their team is well-coached.”

Leading the scoring charge for Conestoga was senior guard Darryl Caldwell, who scored 23 points. Caldwell, who earlier this season reached the 1,000 career point milestone, was productive from both three-point territory and underneath Friday night, and finished with 10 field goals (three of them were treys).

Conestoga junior Charlie Martin was potent from outside, hitting five treys and finishing with 15 points.

Troy said, “I thought [Andrew] Larkin, [Lucas] Yonda and [Peyton] Jones did a good job in limiting their big man [senior forward Will Buzan]. Buzan had to work for every shot.”

Buzan finished the night with 24 points – no other Patriot scored in double digits. Buzan really started to warm the basket late in the third quarter, as the Patriots crept to within 45-33 at the end of the third stanza.

When Great Valley senior guard Andrew Gal hit a three-pointer from the right corner with less than five minutes left in the game, the Patriots trailed by only 48-41. Troy called time out and rallied the home troops.

“In the third quarter, I thought we were rushing a little on the offensive end,” said Troy. “I told our guys [in the timeout] to just relax, share the ball and keep doing what they had been doing [throughout the entire game]. Great Valley is a veteran team, with eight seniors, but our kids had the maturity to finish out [the win].”

With the score 48-41, Larkin was fouled as he drove inside, and nailed both free throws. A Great Valley turnover underneath was following by a successful Caldwell drive inside heavy traffic, then a minute later Conestoga, playing very patiently, got a Caldwell three-pointer from the left corner to make it 55-41.

Girone was proud of his never-say-die squad in defeat.

“Congratulations to all our kids – our guys deserve a lot of credit – they don’t give up,” said Girone.

“I’ve been coaching 36 years, and this is the most coachable team I’ve ever had. They’re smart, they run everything that I want. We may not always be the most athletic team, but we’re the most disciplined. And Buzan’s carried us on his back all season, he makes everyone [around him] better. I’m really going to miss him.”