Germantown Academy doesn’t back down in loss to Westtown in PAISAA final

PHILADELPHIA >> Germantown Academy wanted to, heading into Saturday afternoon’s PAISAA championship game, do what many think was going to be impossible — beat Westtown School.

Featuring not only the top talent from the Philadelphia area, but across the whole east coast, the Moose steamrolled the Friends Schools League to a league championship and had little trouble dispatching all in their path to Saturday’s tilt.

The Patriots provided much more of a test, staying with Westtown and even leading much of the game before ultimately falling, 73-65.

The Pats, powered by Devon Goodman (this has been a theme) rolled out to a 12-4 lead to start the game. Westtown halved it by the frame’s end, but it was already clear that the Pats weren’t going to roll over.

“My guys gave them everything we had,” Fenerty said. “I’m just really proud of them.”

Back-to-back threes by Goodman and Kyle McCloskey to start the second pushed the Germantown Academy lead to 10, and the Moose were reeling.

“We wanted to show them that we were here,” Fenerty said. “All we heard was that we weren’t supposed to beat Kiski, or we won’t supposed to beat Hill.”

“We did,” he said, “and we came out pressed Westtown.”

Westtown coach Seth Berger called a timeout, and little did the Pats know it, but that was the beginning of the end.

By the half, the game was tied at 28.

When the third quarter rolled around, Westtown’s athleticism became too much to handle. Norristown native Cameron Reddish, one of the nation’s most talented sophomores, broke loose for seven in the frame, and a trio of other guards, Najja Hunter, Brandon Randolph, and Jair Bolden did most of the rest of the offensive work in the quarter.

“That killed us,” Fenerty said. “They got so many second shots.”

No wonder, when most of your starting lineup is at least 6-feet-5-inches. GA’s tallest player, Joe Stinson (about 6-foot-8) was still sick with a chest infection, so the Pats had to rely on the 6-foot-5 Kyle McCloskey for height.

He did admirably, but by the fourth quarter’s start, GA was facing a five-point deficit. Two minutes in, it was 11. The Patriots were never out of it—they cut the lead to just five four times throughout the rest of the game—but Westtown didn’t relinquish its advantage for the game’s remainder.

In the end, the Pats put in a herculean effort against what everyone knew was probably a more naturally talented team. Goodman led with 25 to cap his stellar senior year, and Kyle McCloskey and Evan-Eric Longino finished in double figures with 15 apiece. Westtown’s Brandon Randolph led the gym with 26.

The loss caps a 24-6 season for Germantown Academy, one that saw the team’s fourth-consecutive Inter-Ac title (on the strength of a 9-1 league record) locked up. The Pats will graduate three seniors that saw heavy minutes—Goodman, Gabe Alter, and Bailey Whitman. Goodman’s going to play ball at the University of Pennsylvania, Alter is a preferred walk-on at Colgate, and Whitman hopes to walk on to Connecticut College’s (Division III) team, so basketball does appear to be in their future.

That said, a season-ending loss is always tough, but regardless of the sour end note, it was still a year for the group— and Fenerty —to cherish.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a group of young men,” Fenerty said. “They’ve been on a mission, playing for so much.”

“They just kept playing,” he went on. “To win the Inter-Ac for four years in a row, that’s a remarkable testament to the character of these guys.”