City of Basketball Love

Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert)
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BERWYN — Conestoga students rushed their home floor as a Garnet Valley half-court heave fell short.

After 40 minutes of play, it was finally time to celebrate. Fans embraced Ryan Mackey, who had just provided another act of late-game heroics.

The senior guard buried the game-winning free throw with 2.7 seconds left on the clock to give Conestoga a one-point victory as it defeated the Jaguars 34-33 in double overtime in the first round of the Central League playoffs on Thursday night. Led by Mackey, the Pioneers overcame an early deficit in a slow-paced, low-scoring affair by getting points in the right opportunities down the stretch.

“What a game,” Conestoga head coach Mike Troy said. “We went down early, and I thought the guys really dug down on the defensive end, held Garnet down scoring-wise to give us a chance on the offensive end.”

Two closely-matched teams, Conestoga (17-6, 13-5) and Garnet Valley (14-10, 10-8) split their regular-season series. After the Pioneers won on the road earlier this season, the Jaguars marched into Conestoga and won on Tuesday. With the loss fresh on their minds, Conestoga was motivated. Add in the fact that Garnet Valley won last season’s league title in ‘Stoga’s gym, and the Pioneers were ready to battle.

“We took that personally,” Mackey said. “We really were competitive, and we wanted to win this game.”

And while the matchup ended up as close as can be, Conestoga had to climb to get there.

Garnet Valley, the No. 5 seed, held the fourth-seeded Pioneers scoreless in the first quarter, leading 9-0 after eight minutes. The Jaguars were extremely methodical with the ball, but ended with points when they attacked the rim. Their 3-2 zone neutralized the few chances that Conestoga had on offense.

“We thought we had the pace that we needed,” Garnet Valley head coach Mike Brown said, “particularly because of the big kid.” He was referring, of course, to 6-foot-10 Conestoga center Michael Walz, a Richmond commit. “If there’s a whole lot of possessions, eventually he’s going to do some damage. It took all that we had to hold him down, so by slowing it down, it helps us.”

Garnet Valley’s plan to limit Walz worked for much of the game. He had no points through three quarters as the Jaguars led 20-13. But late in the game, the senior found a bit of a groove.

With the score inching closer, Walz threw down a dunk with five minutes remaining for his first basket, cutting the deficit to two. However, the big man was charged with a technical foul for delay of game after the shot, and the subsequent free throws put Garnet Valley back up by four.

Walz continued to set up teammates on offense, and Conestoga stayed within striking distance. Down two with 1:23 to play, the Pioneers found Mackey in the right corner for a 3-pointer to take their first lead of the game, 25-24.

The raucous ‘Stoga faithful erupted as Garnet Valley called timeout, but Mackey had one thought on his mind: “We need a stop.”

Garnet Valley's Max Koehler (left) and the Jaguars' high-scoring offense found it tough going against a "Stoga squad intent on slowing the game down. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

The Pioneers got their stop and hit a pair of free throws to go up three with 2.9 seconds left. It appeared to be over. That was, until Max Koehler stepped in. The junior guard, who had the ball in his hands all night for the Jaguars, took the inbound the length of the floor following a timeout and let a deep 3-pointer fly on the run. It hit nothing but net, sending the game to overtime.

In the overtime, Garnet Valley held the ball for much of the period, passing around the perimeter deliberately to eat up the clock. Each team got off one shot attempt, both missing to send the game to a second overtime.

“I think where our character showed was in the first overtime,” Troy said. “They tried to stall, four corners, the entire overtime. We just kept focused and kept doing our fundamentals, and we were able to hold them scoreless in that overtime. That kind of goes to character — when they hit a big shot, how do you respond to that? I thought our team responded terrifically.”

In the second overtime, things went back and forth. Ryan Wootten made two 3-pointers for Garnet Valley, but Chris Erickson made a key bucket, Walz hit two free throws and Mackey sank three free throws late in the period.

With the game tied once again, Mackey drew a foul with 2.7 seconds on the clock. He made his first free throw for his game-high 12th point, but missed the second shot. Koehler got the ball again, but couldn’t work another miracle.

“When you play together, anything’s possible,” Troy said, “When you play your style, anything’s possible, and we really showed that tonight. Garnet had its style, a very good style. They’ve been really hot lately, and thankfully we were able to get the ball at the end and win the game.”

Conestoga students and cheerleaders celebrate at the end of the game. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

Conestoga advanced in the Central League playoffs with the win and will move to the league semifinals at top-seeded Lower Merion on Saturday at 6 p.m. Radnor hosts Haverford High at 4 PM in the other league semifinal; championships are Monday, 7:45 PM at Ridley.

After a hard-fought win against a fierce competitor, the Pioneers will look to defeat another opponent who had success against them in the next round.

“It was an emotional night for all of us,” Mackey said. “We knew we deserved to play Lower Merion again. … They just blew us out the last time we played them, but we know that we can beat them. So that’s what we’re focused on.”

By Quarter
Garnet Valley:   9   |   4   |   7   |   7   |   0   |   6   ||  33
Conestoga :     0   |   8   |   5   |  14  |   0   |   7   ||  34

Scorers

Garnet Valley: Ryan Wootten 11,Jake Sniras 9, Max Koehler 7, Logan McKee 4, Ryan Faccenda 2

Conestoga: Ryan Mackey 12, Chris Erickson 6, Michael Walz 6, Matthew Malarkey 5, Brendan Steyer 3, Collin Todd 2