City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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HAVERTOWN — Aniya Eberhart was Haverford’s ‘sixth man’ last season.

Coming off the bench, the 5-10 guard was able to spark the Fords’ offense and defense.

Now a junior, Eberhart has slid into a starting spot for Haverford. On Tuesday she showed she can still give the Fords a lift when they need it in her new role.

Eberhart made several big plays late on offense and defense in a 43-41 overtime win over Conestoga to keep Haverford undefeated early this season.

“Towards the end of the season I became the sixth man, but I was able to hop into that spot and continue to work for my team,” Eberhart said. “I knew that I was able to grow and this year I just wanted to start and continue to help my team.”

Eberhart tallied 10 points in Tuesday's game, scoring Haverford’s last four field goals. She had the only two points of the overtime period that proved the difference in the tight Central League contest.

“It’s huge for us,” Haverford senior Caroline Dotsey said of Eberhart’s performance. “I have huge confidence in everyone on this team and Aniya really pulled through for us this game. At times we fell into lulls. There were some messy parts to that game, but she was really able to lead on the court and pull us through for this win.”

Haverford (4-0) cruised in its first three games of the season, lopsided wins over Bonner, Merion Mercy and Lower Merion. It appeared off to the races for another runaway victory early in Tuesday’s contests, but the Pioneers had other ideas.

This was a statement game from Conestoga (2-2). The Pioneers defeated last season’s Central League tournament champion Garnet Valley last week and had their eyes on putting the league on notice by taking down the 2021-22 regular-season champion Fords.

Conestoga cut Haveford’s 12-point point lead with under two minutes left in the first half down to five, 28-23, by halftime. Junior guard Marisa Francione (16 points) finally tied the game for ‘Stoga, 33-33, with a pair of free throws at the 1:45 mark in the third quarter.

“We told them beforehand we just wanted to fight and claw and scrap,” Conestoga coach A.J. Thompson said. “To be down 12 in the first half and to fight our way back, I was really happy for them at the end of the first half to get it down to five. They’re a great team. They rebound the daylights of the ball and we’re not nearly they’re size, but I thought our kids fought really hard.”

Dotsey (Maine) led the Fords with 14 points and fellow front court mate Mollie Carpenter (Catholic U) had 11, both flirting with double-doubles. However, neither scored a field goal in the last 16 minutes-plus of regulation and OT.

After Conestoga finally finished off its comeback, Eberhart jolted the Fords with a pair of drives to close out the third quarter, putting Haverford back ahead 37-33 heading to the fourth. 

The Fords didn’t score a point in the first six minutes of the final period, allowing Conestoga to take its first lead, 38-37, on a three by Isabella Valencia (13 points).

They had a chance to extend that advantage but Eberhart swiped a pass and went coast-to-cost to score Haverford’s first points of the fourth with 2:08 left and give her team back a 39-38 lead.

“It was just straight defense,” Eberhart said. “After we got a defensive stop, we slowed down and tried to run our offense. It was mostly defense that got us offensive possessions.”

At 5-10 Eberhart has the same height as many opponents’ forwards, but she also has the quickness to beat her defender off the bounce. Even on night’s when she’s not breaking double figures, the length, speed, quickness and aggressive style of play materialize on the defensive end.

“She brings a lot of energy for our team,” Dotsey said. “Defensively, offensively, she’s quick, she’s long and for a guard she’s pretty big for us. It’s so nice to have someone like her be able to step up this year and really fill up to her full potential.”

Conestoga sophomore forward Janie Preston was on the bench with foul trouble for a good chunk of Tuesday’s game, picking up three fouls in the first half and tallying her fourth within the first few possessions of the third quarter.

She found a way to stay in the game, however, and made a big play late. After Carpenter drilled a pair of free throws with 30.2 seconds left to extend Haverford’s lead to three, Conestoga came down with a chance to tie the game.

Preston drilled a three from the top of the key off a feed from Katrina Valencia to tie the game 41-41 in the final seconds of regulation.

“We wanted to show up,” Thompson said. “We had a nice win last week against Garnet Valley and we wanted to show up and prove that it wasn’t a fluke and that we are here to contend for the Central League and I think we did that tonight. It’s just a matter of building upon this and continuing to improve and get better. I think our girls proved a lot to themselves and to the rest of the Central League.”

The defensive battle continued in overtime as neither team seemed capable of putting the ball through the hoop. Eberhart broke the deadlock with another speedy drive on the right baseline with a minute left. Senior guard Sky Newman’s defense forced a turnover on the other end.

While Carpenter wasn’t able to ice the game at the line this time, sophomore forward Rian Dotsey grabbed a pair of offensive boards that kept Conestoga from getting a tying or go-ahead look and allowed Haverford to celebrate a victory.

“We work so hard,” Eberhart said. “I don’t think anyone understands how hard we work in practice, how hard the coaches push us, how much time we put into this game. It’s just crazy because it’s just going to pay off in the end.”

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By Quarter
Conestoga:  9  |  14  |  10  |  8  0  ||  41
Haverford:   14  |  14  |  9  |   3  |   2  ||  43

Scoring
Conestoga: Marisa Francione 16, Isabella Valencia 13, Janie Preston 3, Ruth Lanouette 3, Katrina Valencia 2, Arielle LePage 2, Ryan Jennings 2. 

Haverford: Caroline Dotsey 14, Mollie Carpenter 10, Aniya Eberhart 10, Rian Dotsey 7, Sky Newman 2.