Malvern Prep’s defense shuts down GA

Malvern >> High-scoring Malvern Prep relied on its defense Tuesday for a 62-43 win against visiting Germantown Academy, a victory that kept the Friars (20-4, 7-0) perfect in the Inter-Ac.
After an early bump in the road – the game was tied 18-18 at the end of a high-scoring first quarter – the Friars held GA to five points in each of the next two periods, outscoring the Patriots in the third quarter 24-5.

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In the third quarter, the Friars went on a lightning-fast 13-0 run in the span of 52 seconds, turning several GA turnovers into quick layups.
Malvern Prep head coach John Harmatuk said, “We don’t play a lot of zone defense, but our spark plug defensively, [senior guard] Joe McElwee, was out sick today, and he really helps us in our press [defense], so we kind of threw a 2-3 defense in there against GA today in the third and fourth quarters – I’m not sure they were expecting it.”
In the first quarter, the Patriots (12-9 overall, 4-3 Inter-Ac) kept up with the fast-paced Friars, matching them basket for basket. Both sophomore guard Jake Hsu and senior forward Tayshaun Mack tallied three field goals in the first period.
“Whenever we get locked in defensively together as a team, we’re good, [but] we just came out in the first quarter a little bit flat,” said Harmatuk. “GA not having their best player playing [Jordan Longino was suffering a high ankle sprain] kind of threw off our rhythm at the beginning of the game. GA is a well-coached team, and they play hard.”
In the first quarter, Bucknell-bound Deuce Turner led the Friars’ attack (seven points in the period) and he finished the contest with a game-high 17 points.
“[Longino] told me before the game that he wouldn’t be playing today, so I think [his absence] might have taken the energy out of our team at the beginning,” said Turner. “We were more focused in the second and third quarters.”
Harmatuk said, “I just think we focused defensively for the last three quarters.”
Early in the second quarter, Malvern took the lead for good. A steal by senior guard Spencer Cochran led to a layup from junior guard Rahdir Hicks for a 23-20 lead, then a GA turnover was followed by a Turner drive through heavy traffic to make the score 25-20.
Turner blocked a GA shot, the Friars moved quickly downcourt, and junior guard Lonnie White’s acrobatic dunk off a Turner feed gave Malvern a 27-20 lead. Junior post Fran Oschell’s putback gave the hosts a 29-21 lead just before halftime.
GA head coach Matt Dolan said, “We got off to a great start – we moved the ball in the first quarter, got into the lane and played with confidence. The next three quarters we didn’t do what we wanted to – we were stagnant, we weren’t aggressive, we didn’t play north-south, we didn’t get in the lane aggressively enough. You’ve got to compete on every possession, because if you don’t against a great team like Malvern, they’re going to make you pay.”
With Malvern using a 2-3 zone defense in the third quarter, the Friars went on a 17-0 tear in the first 3:20 after halftime, relying on six different scorers during that spurt.
The Friars really turned on the jets 2 1/2 minutes into the third quarter, going on a 13-0 run in 52 seconds to boost their lead from 33-23 to 46-23.
With the score 33-23, Oschell’s block was followed by a Turner drive and free throw. White nailed a trey from the left side, quickly followed by a three-point play from Hicks. Senior guard Keith Carra intercepted a pass and drove in for a layup to make it 44-23, then a GA turnover was quaickly followed by another Carra layup and a 46-23 Malvern lead with 4:40 left in the third quarter.
Harmatuk said, “I think today was just a good, solid all-around team effort for us.”
Malvern had a balanced attack; Turner (17 points) and Oschell (13 points) were followed in scoring by Carra (eight), White (seven), Hicks (seven) and Cochran (seven).
For Germantown Academy, Casey Traina led the scoring with 12 points. Sophomore guard Jake Hsu scored six of GA’s 18 first-quarter points.
“Jake Hsu gave us all he had today,” said Dolan.
The GA coach, in response to a question about Longino’s absence, said, “We’ve had a lot of guys hurt, and certainly [Longino] means a lot to our team, but the ball went up at 4 o’clock (tip-off time), and we’ve got to be ready to play. We have enough [to compete], but we just did not play well today.”
Malvern Prep 62, GA 43
Germantown Academy 18  5  5 15 – 43
Malvern Prep                  18 11 24 9 – 62
Germantown Academy (43): C. Traina 5 1-1 12, Hsu 3 1-2 7, Mack 3 0-2 6, Adames 2 0-0 5, L. Traina 2 0-0 4, Smith 1 0-0 3, Snowden 1 0-0 2, Millard 0 2-2 2, Anderson 1 0-0 2, McDowell 0 0-0 0, Griffen-Batchler 0 0-0 0, Marvin 0 0-0 0, Putnam 0 0-0 0, Totals 18 4-7 43.
Malvern Prep (62): Cochran 3 0-2 7, Langdon 0 0-0 0, Turner 6 4-5 17, White 3 0-0 7, Dudek 1 0-0 3, Hicks 2 3-3 7, Carra 4 0-0 8, Oschell 6 1-2 13, Gordon 0 0-0 0, Br. Bekkedam 0 0-2 0, Bl. Bekkedam 0 0-0 0, Totals 25 8-14 62.
3-point field goals: GA – Adames, Smith, C. Traina; MP – Cochran, White, Dudek, Turner.