City of Basketball Love

Eugene Rapay (@erapay5)
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Despite losing to Octorara--who entered Thursday night undefeated in league play--in an earlier matchup, Great Valley felt confident in meeting the Braves once again.

“We knew we could play with them,” Great Valley guard Andrew Gal said. “We played really badly the last time we played them. This was one of the games we’ve been looking forward to all year and we’re just glad we came out on top this time.”

A loss on Tuesday to Sun Valley had Great Valley locked in and focused on practice in preparation for the big home game on Thursday, determined to prove its worth to the top team in the division.

Although the Braves had already clinched the top spot in the Ches-Mont American  and Patriots had the second-best spot, a win would have solidified a perfect season for Octorara in league play.

However, Great Valley had other plans. Behind the coaching of C.J. Savage, who filled in for Paul Girone, the Patriots were able to triumph over the Braves in the regular season finale.

Savage, who has been an assistant coach for six years, stepped in for Girone on Thursday. Girone was not feeling well and went to the hospital to get himself checked out. Savage expects to know more about the coach’s condition tomorrow, until then, he’s elated to earn his first win as a head coach in such a big game.

“It feels good, oh man,” Savage said, after the 65-58 victory over Octorara (18-3, 11-1). “I’m happy and super excited for the boys. There’s great potential so it’s about what they do with their opportunities.”

The win signifies the end of Octorara’s 11-game winning streak in the Ches-Mont American.

Great Valley (15-6, 9-3) had a hard time making its shots in the previous meeting on January 12, a 46-40 Octorara win, but it couldn’t say the same for Thursday night.

The Patriots found much success from long range, shooting 9-of-15 (60.0 percent). All but one of those baskets from beyond the arc came from Gal and fellow senior Will Buzan.

They had the hot hand early, combining for 6-of-7 from 3-point range. Great Valley’s ball movement picked apart Octorara, who was seemingly always one step behind the Patriots. Great Valley punished Octorara for its strategy to often bring out a double team for the ball handler, leaving one man wide open.

“We made more shots tonight,” Gal said. “Last time we were there, none of us shot well. We just shot well and played with energy and it brought us a ‘W’ which is most important.”

Buzan finished with a team-high 20 points. Meanwhile, Gal added another 17 points on the floor.

Both were instrumental in helping the Patriots pull away in the second half, after holding a narrow 32-28 lead at the half.

Their impact wasn’t limited to just what they did on offense. They made their presence felt in other aspects of the game.

With most of Octorara’s game plan centered around Jackson and Christian Ray, Buzan was tasked with mainly having to deal with them inside.

Christian led the Braves with his 24 points and nine rebounds, but Jackson was limited to just six points.

“We wanted to collapse the middle when they try to dump it in and get those easy points in the paint,” Buzan said. “We all collapsed and played great help defense overall.”

Meanwhile, Gal added some key rebounds and free throws coming down the stretch to help put the game out of Octorara’s reach.

Now with the regular season over and finished with, Great Valley is looking forward to the tough road ahead in the Ches-Mont playoffs.

The Patriots will head over to Coatesville (19-2, 11-1), the top team in the Ches-Mont National division, in the league semifinals on Saturday.

Regardless of Coatesville’s excellent record, Great Valley is looking forward to the challenge.

“We've got to play well,” Gal said. “We know they’re amongst the two best teams in the district. Play within ourselves and just hope for the best and play hard. We can’t come out timid because we know we can beat anyone.”