New York metro backcourt helps Church Farm run past Delco
LOWER MERION — It’s hard to believe that Church Farm’s Gavriel Henriquez-Peralta and Brandon Hernandez have only been teammates for one season.
The chemistry the junior guards displayed on the court Saturday made it appear as if they’ve been playing together for years.
“Because we live in a brotherhood at Church Farm and come from all different places around the country that makes us support one another, because we really don’t have family around here,” said Hernandez, who hails from Newark, N.J. “We live together in the dorms and hang around with each other all day so we’ve developed a good chemistry.”
Henriquez-Peralta agrees with that wholeheartedly.
“This is my first year at Church Farm and it shows how quick the bond, the brotherhood, develops,” said Henriquez-Peralta, a native of the Queens section of New York City. “My teammates welcomed me in and that’s how I was able to fit in.”
That chemistry, especially between Hernandez and Henriquez-Peralta, was on full display as the top-seeded Griffins rolled over third-seeded Delco Christian, 72-41, at Harriton High School to win the District 1 Class 2A championship and earn a berth in the PIAA tournament.
The backcourt duo set the tone early as Church Farm (16-9) bolted to a 12-4 lead and never looked back to win its first district title since 2017, the first year the PIAA went to six classifications. Hernandez had a hand in nine of the first 12 points.
“It’s all about making the right plays,” Hernandez said. “It doesn’t matter who gets the bucket. If it means taking a shot or making the extra pass, that what we do. It’s all about playing together.”
Kazembe Okera-Anglin led the Griffins with 17 points. Matthew Sullivan pitched in with 15. Henriquez-Peralta finished with six points and nine assists. But where he and Hernandez really wreaked havoc was on the defensive end. With them leading the press, Church Farm forced 19 turnovers in the first half to open up a commanding 40-18 cushion at the break.
“Our point guard (freshman Khami Orange) got in early foul trouble,” Delco Christian coach Reggie Parks said. “We only have a couple of ball handlers so when we lost him it made it really difficult to break their press.”
One person is not enough against a duo as athletic and relentless as Hernandez and Henriquez-Peralta.
“They set the pace,” Church Farm coach Jonathan Guarante said of his backcourt pair. “They’ve done it all year, mostly on the defensive end. We try to heat up the other team, make them want to play faster than they want to play. We look for our defense to create our offense and we did that today.”
Senior Josh Parks did his best to keep the Knights (11-14) within striking distance. He shared game-high honors with 17 points but had to work for every point. When the Griffins weren’t harassing the guards and forcing turnovers they were double-teaming Parks every time he touched the ball.
“We knew they were explosive,” Parks said. “We tried a lot of defenses. It’s hard to contain people that you know are explosive, know how to get to pass the ball and get to the rim. Congratulations to them. They did a good job.”
