Point guard Hicks helps Malvern Prep edge Haverford School

MALVERN >> To play point guard at the frenetic pace of Malvern Prep, you have to be in supreme shape, make good decisions on the floor, want the ball in your hands in crunch time and make pressure free throws down the stretch to close out games.

Well, Friday night at O’Neill Sports Complex, the Friars’ senior point man Rahdir Hicks showed all of those traits as he drained 11 of 12 from the free throw line — including 6-for-7 from the charity stripe down the stretch — as the talented Friars held off a very good Haverford School squad, 68-65, in Inter-Academic League play.

“We run really hard in practice but we don’t do suicide drills or anything like that,” Hicks said. “We just play fast and we practice fast and that is how we get in shape. It is a fun system to play in because it gets you in shape in no time.”

The visiting Fords (2-1) were led by the game-high 23-point performance from Jameel Brown, a junior who is a Purdue commit. And Haverford had a 38-36 halftime edge on a torrid 13-forf24 shooting performance in the first half. The Fords were identifying the hot hand and getting good looks against the Malvern Prep (3-1) zone defense.

But the lead never made it past four points in the second half as the Friars stayed close, behind the 3-point shooting of Chase Reardon, who drained four of his five treys in the first half and led the Friars with 18 points. Fran Oschell tallied 13 points to go along with 13 rebounds and Hicks added 15 points to the Friars’ cause.

But, as hot as Haverford School shot in the first three quarters, it cooled off considerably in the decisive fourth. The Fords shot just one-of-10 from the field and were outscored by the Friars, 16-13, in the final period.

“Our zone is designed to take away the shooter but (Haverford coach) Bernie (Rogers) does such a good job and they are so well coached that they were identifying the hot hand in the first half,” said Malvern Prep coach John Harmatuk. “We tightened things up in the second half and even went to man defense for a while.”

The game was a one-, two- and three-point affair right to the end. After Hicks went strong to the basket to make 63-61 with 1:41 to play the Friars were in command. But, the Fords would not go away easily. A Malvern Prep miss with 1:07 to play in the fourth quarter gave the Fords life.

Haverford brought ball up the floor and Brown missed from the left side with 40 seconds to play. Oschell swept the boards and fed Hicks, who was fouled with 20 seconds to play. The Towson commit drained both for a 65-61 Malvern Prep lead.

“I really like to have the ball in my hands at the end of games,” Hicks said. “And I feel I can make those pressure free throws to help my team. And if I am doubled I have faith in my teammates to hit free throws too.”

Brown was fouled on a 3-point try from the top of the key and he hit two of three from the line to open a 65-63 Malvern Prep lead with 12.6 seconds to play. Hicks took the inbound pass and was immediately fouled. The Friars’ senior hit one of two for a 66-63 lead. After two Fords’ free throws with 3.2 seconds to go made it 66-65, Hicks again was the target as he was fouled on the inbounds pass and this time he hit both from the free throw line and the Friars had a thrilling victory.

“(Haverford School is) such a good team,” Harmatuk said. “We like to get up and down and put up a lot of shots and we get in shape by playing the game of basketball fast.”

Malvern Prep 68, Haverford School 65

HAVERFORD SCHOOL: Brown 5 10-13 23, Rogers 3 4-4 10, Clover 2 0-0 4, Gunther 3 0-0 7, Sims 2 1-2 6, Pollak 1 0-0 2, Kearney 4 0-0 10, Springman 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 15-19 65.

MALVERN PREP: Reardon 6 1-1 18, Hicks 2 11-12 15, Oschell 5 3-5 13, Baran 0 0-2 0, Dudek 0 2-2 2, Hutchinson 4 2-4 11, McHugh 0 0-0 0, Vanderegeest 4 0-0 9. Totals 21 19-24 68.

Haverford School 14 24 14 13-65

Malvern Prep 13 23 15 16-68

3-point goals: Genther, Brown 3, Sims, Springman, Kearney 2, Hutchinson, Reardon 5, Vandergeest.