Nagy and company fill in for Garnet Valley
HAVERFORD >> Somebody on Garnet Valley had to fill a vacant position in the starting lineup Monday afternoon.
That somebody was … well, several players.
With senior guard Nicole Barnes not in attendance for a Central League showdown at Haverford, many Jaguars were asked to take on added responsibility.
Junior guard Jillian Nagy started in place of Barnes, who was back at home preparing for her senior prom showcase at Garnet Valley. Barnes would have been present had the Central League last week not decided to move all games from Tuesday, their regularly scheduled day, to Monday.
“I was a little nervous, but I’m used to playing with the starters when I have to go in if Nicole gets in foul trouble or if someone gets hurt,” Nagy said. “I feel like I can pick it up pretty well.”
When Nagy wasn’t handling the point and running the offense, the job was given to junior forwards Emily McAteer and Brianne Borcky, or junior shooting guard Morgan Falcone.
The all-hands-on-deck approach worked out just fine. After a wobbly start, Garnet Valley caught fire in the second half and rolled to a 44-31 victory to remain undefeated in the Central League one game left to play.
The loss knocks Haverford out of third place, one game behind Conestoga and Springfield, who have three league losses each. If Conestoga cannot defeat Garnet Valley Wednesday, only three teams will qualify for the Central League playoffs, which get underway Saturday.
The win against a solid Haverford team proves that Garnet Valley (19-2, 15-0) can overcome adversity.
“We never really practice for it,” Borcky said, referring to Barnes’ absence. “We usually practice with the starting five against the next five off the bench. “During the games we try to get as much subs in as possible so that we’re all used to playing with one another.”
Brianne Brocky drives and score for @GVWBB pic.twitter.com/sp5pgq8S29
— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) February 5, 2018
Four minutes into the third quarter, Haverford grabbed a one-point advantage on a basket from Sara Walsh. The Fords,
though, would go the next 11 minutes and change without a field goal.
In the interim, McAteer and Borcky put on a clinic. Borcky assisted on all five of McAteer’s second-half field goals, feeding her as she cut to the basket.
“I feel like I can just look at her and she’ll know to cut backdoor and I can give her a pass,” said Borcky, who posted eight points along with game-highs in rebounds (seven), assists (seven) and steals (three).
McAteer and Borcky have been varsity starters since their freshman season.
“Playing together for so many years, that helps,” said McAteer, who scored her 1,000th career point earlier in the season. She poured in a game-high 25 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the floor against Haverford. “At halftime we knew we had to slow it down because we were rushing way too much in the first quarter. We just seemed to find each other. I think, together, we knew we had to slow it down.”
Haverford was the better team in the opening minutes, racing out to a 14-7 lead thanks to 3-pointers from Erin Doherty and Erin Kelly. After a timeout, Borcky and McAteer led the Jags on a 7-0 run to close the period. For the game, Garnet shot a crisp 50 percent (18-for-36) from the field.
“We know that every time that we come out, teams want to beat us,” said McAteer, who added six rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot. “We treated it like a big game. We knew they were coming after us.”
Doherty paced Haverford (14-7, 11-4) with 14 points. Lindsey Lane chipped in with six points, four rebounds and three assists, while Walsh contributed four points, four rebounds and a blocks. After going 8-for-19 from the field in the opening half, the Fords were 5-for-21 after intermission.
“I think we rushed things a lot in the second half, and we always say how those first couple minutes in the second half are the most important minutes of the game,” Doherty said. “If we had waited a little more and gotten off better shots, I think we would have been more successful.”
