Radnor has no answer for Twin Valley’s McDaniel
By Jason Guarente & Daily Times Staff
KUTZTOWN — It’s easy to forget that most people have never watched Peyton McDaniel play.
To many, even those in the girls basketball community, she’s numbers on a page or maybe a few video clips.
Sometimes it’s good to ask them for some perspective after Twin Valley’s senior appears in living color.
It’s safe to say Radnor coach Mark Jordan is a fan. As he put McDaniel’s performance Saturday into perspective, he kept shifting his personal timeline until it stretched back forever.
“She’s the best we’ve seen all year,” Jordan said. “She’s probably the best I’ve seen in 25 years. She’s probably the best I’ve seen ever. Is she always that good?”
McDaniel scored 27 points and helped Twin Valley fend off Radnor 51-42 in the PIAA Class 5A first round at Kutztown University.
In her final game, Radnor senior Ellie Mueller scored eight points to put her over 1,400 in her career. Earlier this year she became the program’s all-time scoring leader.
Julia Rigolizzo, another of Jordan’s four-year players, netted a career-high 18 points and did everything she could help the Raidets rally in the second half.
Twin Valley (22-7), the District 3 runner-up, will face District 12 champ Archbishop Wood in the second round Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.
For much of the afternoon, almost everything went wrong for Twin Valley.
Ava Morrow, the Raiders’ second-leading scorer, had four fouls at halftime. Natali Foster, one of their top defenders, had three fouls. Point guard Morgan Lennon was sick all week.
Despite all of those problems, McDaniel didn’t let the curtain fall on Twin Valley’s season.
“We definitely had to battle through some adversity,” she said. “Everyone on the bench stepped up and played the role they knew how to play. You never know when your name is going to be called. Those names that were called helped us get this win.”
Anna Kaplan and Rachel Knight provided valuable minutes with two starters on the bench.
McDaniel basically refused to miss. She made all six of her 3-point attempts in the first three quarters and had 26 points through 24 minutes.
Radnor (16-11), the fourth-place team out of District 1, couldn’t stop her.
“A couple of those were deep threes,” Jordan said. “We had a hand close to her face. She rises up like she’s in the NBA. She was every bit we saw on tape and then some. She impacts the whole game. She’s hard to game plan against.”
It was the fifth time McDaniel has made at least six 3-pointers in a game. Her career high is seven, set in the PIAA first round last season.
Twin Valley needed all of them. With Morrow and Foster out of the lineup, there were fewer scoring options than usual.
“Sometimes it’s hard not to become a fan,” Twin Valley coach Mark Morrow said. “When she made that fourth one, it’s like, ‘What do you do defensively?’ It’s just demoralizing that she can shoot that way. She’s stepping up at the biggest times. That’s what great players do.”
McDaniel’s final 3-pointer, with 2:05 left in the third quarter, stretched Twin Valley’s lead to 43-34.
Radnor made a run. It cut the deficit to four twice in the fourth quarter before Twin Valley pulled away at the foul line.
Sophia Rasiul, who had eight points, hit a crucial 3-pointer with 4:48 left to help hold off Radnor’s comeback. Lennon was terrific running the offense.
As the final seconds ticked away, McDaniel brought the ball across midcourt and the five players on the floor had a group hug. They were happy. Relieved. They just passed a tough test.
“This is the best time of year,” McDaniel said. “You want to play in these hard games, these situations. It’s a lot more fun with great competition. You’ve just got to play every game like it’s your last.”
This could have been the Raiders’ last.
McDaniel made sure they have at least one more.
