Floyd, Barnett lead Interboro to tournament title
PROSPECT PARK >> Amanda Floyd and Keri Barnett were rewarded for their hard work and individual performances at the Interboro Christmas Tournament.
Floyd, a 5-9 junior forward, was named tournament MVP. She scored eight points, grabbed nine rebounds and made one steal to lead Interboro past Sun Valley in Thursday’s championship game, 28-20.
“It’s exciting,” Floyd said. “They’re a rival. We beat them last year (in the tournament final) and it’s good to beat them again.”
She scored a career-high 28 points Wednesday in the Bucs’ 58-55 decision over Collegium Charter.
Floyd is one of the go-to players for the Bucs, who earned a piece of the Del Val League crown last winter.
One player who first-year head coach Trish Phillips is excited to watch the next four seasons is Barnett, a freshman point guard.
Barnett filled up the stat sheet and helped set the tempo with her defense. She finished with three points, three rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
“I don’t like to shoot a whole lot,” she said. “I just want to try and get others the ball and do what I can to help.”
While she is a high school rookie starting on varsity, Barnett has flourished in the early going this season and is doing everything that Phillips and the Interboro coaching staff have asked.
“It’s a little different and there is a lot pressure,” said Barnett, whose older brother, Bob, was a standout baseball player at Interboro and a Division III Academic All-American at Widener.
“Especially since a lot of other teams are mostly juniors and seniors, and I’m just a freshman. There’s pressure.”
So far, so good for Floyd, Barnett and the Bucs, who have won two in a row following a 1-5 start.
Maddie Diehl steals & scores for Interboro pic.twitter.com/GxGeSJ99dl
— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) December 29, 2017
“We are coming along and the kids are getting better,” Phillips said.
Phillips was a varsity assistant coach at Interboro under John Livingston in the 1990s. Her staff includes her son, Tim, who is an assistant baseball coach Bonner & Prendergast and one of her former students, Becky Slate. After years away from the game, Phillips wanted to apply for an assistant position at Interboro. When former coach Jody Boon Jr. stepped down, Phillips decided to go for the head position.
“I knew that I wanted to get back into coaching,” Phillips said.
The Bucs are still getting familiar with Phillips, but are enjoying the new challenge.
“It’s different, but we really like her,” Floyd said. “Everything seems to be working.”
Interboro led from the opening tip and shut out Sun Valley 6-0 in the first quarter. The Bucs controlled the glass, with Floyd and Marta Walewska (seven points, 13 rebounds, three steals) leading the way.
“We like to move the ball and go fast, but we also know that sometimes we have to slow it down and be more patient,” Floyd said.
The Bucs held a 14-point lead in the second half before Sun Valley started to chip away and make things interesting. Maddie Michael drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to seven points with 1:30 left to play, but the Bucs were able to hold off the Vanguards’ late surge.
Maya Jacyszyn, who scored 12 points and dished out two assists, was named to the all-tournament team.
First-year Sun Valley coach Mark Treml, who is a member of the Aston Sports Hall of Fame for his decades-long service coaching youth football and basketball in the community, is looking for more intensity and execution from his players.
Treml was promoted from Northerly Middle School — where he guided teams to undefeated seasons — to the head varsity position as winter practice got under way. The Ridley graduate coached many of his current players at the youth level. Treml coached Aston A.A. football for several years, coached baseball with the Aston-Middletown Little League and Aston Valley League and coached boys and girls basketball in the Del Val Youth League.
“I know all of these girls, but it’s different in high school,” Treml said. “I try to be a positive reinforcement in their lives, but I’m disappointed tonight. … We have deficiencies that turned into efficiencies and efficiencies that have turned into proficiencies. Right now, our biggest deficiency is two things: outside shooting and rebounding.”
More than half of the Bucs’ points came off second-chance rebounds. Interboro owned a 34-28 advantage on the glass. Taylor Grayston came off the bench for the Vanguards and pulled in a team-high six rebounds.
“We have to attack the gaps and get to the rim because that’s what we’re really good at,” Treml said. “For some reason, mentally, they have to learn how to embrace physicality in this game. As we told them, this journey has just started. it’s our jobs, as coaches, to put this together at the foundation stage.”
Maddie Diehl added six points, six rebounds and four steals for the Bucs.
