City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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By coach Jim Fenerty’s own admission, Germantown Academy did not play as well as it could have in the team’s first pair of Inter-Ac games.

There was one main thing missing for the Patriots: Evan-Eric Longino.

The junior forward returned Friday night after missing two games with a bruised his right leg, and he scored 21 points as Germantown Academy moved to 3-0 in the conference and 13-4 overall with a 64-48 win at Penn Charter.

“We had not been playing well, and everyone would say ‘Well you’re 2-0 in the league.’ But we were not playing well,” Fenerty said. “We were missing Evan-Eric, but we were still not playing well. Tonight, I think we said let’s come out and get back to where we were. I’m proud of them. To get an away win in this league is very difficult. I know, I’ve been trying to get them for 27 years.”

Longino’s 21 points tied him for a game-high with teammate Devon Goodman, and Longino also added three rebounds and four assists.

It was the first full game for the 6-foot-5 wing since the injury occurred against Lincoln on Dec. 30 in a tournament in South Carolina. He said the injury happened when got kneed by an opponent directly above his own right knee. Longino tried to give it a go in the Patriots’ next contest, a Jan. 6 affair with South Philadelphia, but had to shut it down early.

The team held him out for its following two games (Inter-Ac victories against The Haverford School and SCH Academy). And while Longino noted it was difficult to watch from the sidelines, the recovery was worth it.

“It felt frustrating because I wanted to be out there helping my team,” he said. “So I had to sacrifice that. But I think it’s better for the long term. It was tough, I was dying to get out on the floor. I couldn’t even practice, I was just shooting free throws. But I was happy to get back out there.”

The free throw practice appeared to pay off as Longino was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and Germantown Academy went 13-for-17. The first three of Longino’s free throws came during a 13-0 run late in the first quarter as he got fouled on a 3-pointer.

The run gave the Patriots a 21-7 lead after one quarter in a game that was a one-point contest five minutes into play. Germantown Academy went on the spurt thanks to transition baskets and defense.

“I think it was energy, our student section definitely helped out with that,” Longino said. “Our play picked up during the run and I think it was all energy.”

Both student sections were well-represented, but the Penn Charter bunch had to wait until the second quarter to raucously celebrate the team’s 10th point. The Quakers had a better second quarter, but went into the locker room trailing by 12 points. Coach Jim Phillips noted Penn Charter allowed six Germantown Academy fast-break layups, which made the difference in the first 16 minutes.

“We were trying to be different. We were trying to change defenses and give them different looks,” Phillips said. “If you go man-to-man, match up with them, they have a lot. So we tried to give them different looks. I think it worked early, though it may not have seemed that way on the scoreboard because they turned us over a bunch.”

Germantown Academy went up by as many as 22 in the third quarter, but the Quakers would not go away on their home court. They scored nine points in about a minute toward the end of the third quarter to turn a 51-29 deficit into a 13-point game. Mason Williams also hit a 3-pointer to cut the Patriot lead to 10 early in the fourth quarter, but Penn Charter would get no closer.

Mason Williams led the Quakers (9-5, 1-2) with 14 points, while Adam Holland and Harrison Williams added 13 and 11, respectively. Kyle McCloskey chipped in 12 points and four rebounds for Germantown Academy, and Gabe Alter had four points, six rebounds and four assists for the victors.

Again healthy, Germantown Academy has a Saturday night date with Friends’ Central before getting back to Inter-Ac play against Episcopal Academy on Tuesday. In the search for a fourth consecutive league title, Fenerty is glad to be 3-0 and have Longino back on the floor, because he knows there’s much more work to do.

“It’s a 10-round fight and we’re only through three rounds,” Fenerty said. “We’re a little bloody, but we’re still standing.”