Faccenda works speed over size, boosts GV past Conestoga

CONCORD — If you picked the right moment Tuesday night, you would’ve caught Ryan Faccenda gazing up into the face of Michael Walz on an inbounds play.

In trying to defend the 6-foot-10 Conestoga forward, Faccenda was looking for any hint, any glance by the Richmond commit that would betray which way a pass would come. For the 6-1 Faccenda, an early alert as to a possible entry pass would be precious information.

The more indelible expression from Walz – and the one easier to spot for those in Garnet Valley’s gym – was one Faccenda didn’t have time to savor. It came when Faccenda – not once, not twice, but three times – in the fourth quarter blew by Walz on the offensive end to bank home buckets vital to the preservation of Garnet Valley’s season.

Faccenda scored six points in Garnet Valley’s perfect-shooting final frame to rally past Conestoga for a 41-38 win that keeps alive their hopes of a District 1 playoff berth.

In the battle of forwards wearing No. 21, the smaller man came up much, much bigger.

“He was hedging me one way,” Faccenda said. “I knew if I got a quick step on him and jabbed, I could get by him and I figured I could get one. I just kept going, and I got one and then the next one and the one after that.”

The rematch of last year’s Central League final, won by the Jaguars in Berwyn, portends yet another meeting, again up the Main Line in the Thursday’s Central League opening round. A spot in that field had been secured by the Jaguars (14-8, 10-6). But they needed a win Tuesday to keep alive hope of a District 1 Class 6A playoff berth. Garnet Valley entered 26th in the rankings, just beyond the 24-team field. (League playoff games do not factor in).

This was also the same score by which the Pioneers beat the Jags 14 days ago.

Conestoga (15-5, 12-4) entered eighth in the district 6A rankings, but this loss possibly endangers a first-round bye for the Pioneers.

The way the Jaguars coped with the vertical threat of Walz would define the game, and Logan McKee took the lead. He limited Walz to four offensive touches in the first quarter, only one (which became an assist) inside the 3-point arc. Walz attempted just one shot in the first half, a 27-footer.

With Garnet Valley in a 2-3 zone, it fell to McKee, the nominal big at 6-3, to front, harangue and harass Walz any which way he could.

“I would say I was working pretty hard on the big guy,” McKee said. “I didn’t want him to get any points on me. I was really focused on that. I was tired, I’d say, but if I get a break, I’m right back in it.”

Despite the effort expended on defense, McKee also supplied a game-high 18 points. It included all eight in the first quarter. He hit four 3-pointers and wisely navigated clear of foul trouble.

McKee’s offensive contributions were magnified by who didn’t produce for the Jags. Max Koehler, dealing with a hip issue, didn’t make a basket and had just three points. Jake Sniras was blanked in the first half and scored five points, all in the third. Leading 3-point shooter Ryan Wootten settled for six points and only attempted four shots.

“It’s just carrying that same aggression you have on defense to offense and not leaving it,” McKee said. “It’s mainly about keeping that same aggression and keep playing, don’t stop.”

Some of that owes to Conestoga’s defense, which clamped down on Koehler’s dribble penetration and made sure never to leave Wootten open.

Offensively, neither team sustained for long. Conestoga led by three after three quarters. Without Walz involved, they found open jump-shooters, but only sporadically.

“We knew they were going to key in on him and probably double him, and he trusts us to make our shots,” guard Aidan Carew said. “We did a pretty good job shooting, and we’re just going to try to get him more touches next game.”

Chris Erickson scored 11 points but was 1-for-5 from the field in the second half. Carew scored 10, including two 3-pointers. Ryan Mackey was shut out. Walz finished with eight points, including all six of Conestoga’s fourth-quarter points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

One pivotal difference came behind the arc, where Garnet Valley shot 8-for-17 and Conestoga 3-for-13. Much of that resulted from Garnet Valley smartly using the space that Walz’s presence opened up while the Pioneers didn’t.

“Coach (Mike Brown) was telling us we have to be smart when driving at him,” Faccenda said. “We have to drive at him and look to kick out to whoever is helping off, or if he is helping off someone else, we have to look to kick to their man to get an open shot. I think it worked really well tonight.”

The Jaguars were 5-for-5 from the field in the fourth, with a Wootten trey tying the game at 34. Then came three straight buckets by Faccenda to put GV up, 40-38.

The Jags wobbled at the line, Drew Van Horn missing a front-end and Koehler hitting one of two. But Wootten came up with a big steal after a GV turnover. And with the Pioneers needing to go the length of the court in 2.9 seconds, Walz’s outlet pass was picked off by, who else, Faccenda to seal it.

“Fac is just someone that will always step up at the end of the game,” McKee said. “He’s an end-game player. He will always be there. He had a 6-10 kid guarding him that wasn’t faster than him, so he took his chance every time. He saw his opportunity and he took it.”

Also in the Central League:

Haverford 65, Lower Merion 60 >> Nick Colucci tallied five of his 12 points in overtime as the Fords (16-4, 13-3) avenged an earlier loss.

J.R. Newman went off for 24 points, including 6-for-6 at the line in the fourth quarter. Googie Seidman added 19 points. Sam Brown led Lower Merion with 29 points.

Penncrest 46, Marple Newtown 45 >> Saahir Lee scored 24 points, and Ben Stanton added 17 as the Lions bolstered their playoff position.

Eric McKee led the Tigers with 15 points. Matt Gardler added 13. The Tigers had a chance to win it late but hit only one of four foul shots with less than a second left.

In the Del Val League:

Chester 79, Interboro 46 >> The Clippers (14-3, 7-0) made quick work of the Bucs to win a fifth consecutive Del Val League title.

Isaiah Freeman tallied a triple-double with 13 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Larenzo Jerkins supplied 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Kevin Rucker chipped in 11 points.

Abu Kamara led Interboro with 16 points.

In the Bicentennial League:

Delco Christian 57, Faith Christian 48 >> Joshua Parks scored 18 points and Khamai Orange chipped in 14 points as the Knights (10-9, 7-4) scored 23 points in the final eight minutes to rally to victory.

In the Inter-Ac League:

Springside Chestnut Hill 65, Episcopal Academy 58 >> Kevin McCarthy hit seven 3-pointers for a game-high 31 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Churchmen.

Germantown Academy 62, Haverford School 44 >> Dave Kearney scored 11 points, and Matt Kearney added nine for the Fords.