City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)

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GLEN MILLS — Akhir Keys had been waiting for about a month. Inside, it gnawed at the 6-foot-3 Chichester senior guard that he wasn’t able to do the things he did late last season for the Eagles. It frustrated him. He began to press. Nothing good was happening.

Keys found what he needed Tuesday night against host Garnet Valley in the 42nd annual Garnet Valley Varsity Club Invitational Tournament.

He dropped a season-high 17 points in aiding the Eagles (5-2) to a 52-46 victory over Garnet Valley (6-2), setting up the tournament championship game Wednesday night at Garnet Valley between Chichester and Archmere Academy (Del.) at 7 p.m., while the host Jaguars will play in the consolation game against Bishop Shanahan at 3 p.m.

“Akhir is someone who we’ve been waiting to explode,” said Chichester coaching legend Clyde Jones, who in a short period of time is turning Chichester into a winner as he did Harriton and Penn Wood. “He had a phenomenal summer. He led us in scoring this summer. He never misses a workout. He’s a program kid, who works hard and trains hard.

“He was in a bit of a slump to start the year. He’s the igniter. With Garnet Valley, they either bring the best out of you or they show your flaws. Tonight, they did both, but for Akhir, this was good to get him going.”

Chichester trailed once, 3-2, and never trailed again.

It was Keys who nailed a three early that gave the Eagles a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

He needed the boost. He needed the boost in confidence in his shot, and the confidence in going to the basket.

“This was very important for me, because there were a couple of games when I had two points, so I had to pick it up, because I’m usually a double-digit scorer,” Keys said. “Earlier, I was forcing shots in trying to pick up what I did last year. This year, I had to change some things and I started pressing. I think I was trying to do too much. I think it hurt me and it hurt the team.

“Tonight, I was getting to my spots, and hitting my shots, and trusting my teammates. This will really boost my confidence. I think it will help me move forward to keep doing what I’ve been doing and keep scoring.”

Keys certainly has help in that area. Keys set the Eagles up to win. Senior 6-1 point guard Mazen Sayed finished it. Sayed scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, many in clutch moments to stave off a few Jaguars’ late charges.

Sayed was pleased to see Keys come around and relax.

“This was a signature win for the program and this is what we saw from Akhir  last year, games like this,” Sayed said. “He’s one of my favorite guards to play with and one of my favorite teammates. This is the kind of victory that can bring us the kind of respect we deserve. It’s the kind of win when we see what Akhir can do.”

Both teams began sluggish, shooting a combined 0-for-12 from the floor in the first three minutes of the game. But once Chichester got started, the Eagles bolted out to three 14-point leads (20-6, 23-9 and 30-16) in the half. The Jaguars made it interesting a few times, getting to within 30-27 midway through the third quarter, when a pair of successful Keys’ drive gave Chichester some cushion.

With 33 seconds left in the game, Garnet Valley was again within a score to lead, trailing, 48-46, but Sayed stopped it with two free throws with 11 ticks remaining.

The Jags had troubles hitting shots, going 5-for-30 from three-point range and 16-of-53 overall.

“It’s hard to overcome that,” Garnet Valley coach Mike Brown said. “Chichester is good. We didn’t play well. The first half was horrible. We turned the ball over. Unfortunately, we fixed a little bit of it but not enough. We’re going to learn how we come back from a loss.”

Chichester got the boost it needed and from the player that the Eagles needed it from.

“My kids know Garnet Valley and coach Mike Brown does a great job, and they compete every night,” Jones said. “I wanted to see whether or not my kids can compete. We spend a lot of time watching film and working to get better, but this was a big win for our kids, but I don't want it to be too big.

“You can’t win three games in one game. It was a great step. This game was coming for Akhir. He battled through his slump and is where we need him. Akhir got us here. Maz brought it home.”

By Quarter

Chichester (5-2):  15   |  15  |  9  | 13 ||  52

Garnet Valley (6-2):  6   |  10  |  14  |  16 ||  46

Scoring

Chichester: Akhir Keys 17, Mazen Sayed 13, Vince Wildrick 8, Zaiyin Keys 5, Eyan Thomas 4, Carlton Gordy 3, DJ Anderson 2.

Garnet Valley: Logan McKee 15, Jake Sniras 11, Max Koehler 7, Jack Krautzel 7, Quinn O’Hara 6.

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McCarthy, Archmere storm past Bishop Shanahan

Archmere (Del.) junior Matthew McCarthy proved too much for Bishop Shanahan on Tuesday evening.

Whether he was putting the ball through the hoop or helping his teammates do the same, McCarthy found ways to beat Shanahan's defense time after time.

McCarthy scored a game-high 23 points and added five assists, seven rebounds and two steals in helping his team turn in a 56-43 win over the Eagles.

McCarthy had nine points in the first half to help his team out to a 24-19 lead. Shanahan senior Ben Rodner-Tims scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the third, but the Eagles couldn’t dig into the lead, still trailing by five, 36-31, entering the fourth. 

Archmere sophomore Charlie Malloy reeled off five straight — all assisted by McCarthy — to start the final period, putting his team up double digits. He had eight of 12 in the fourth. Eagles’ senior Charley Federico, who finished with 15, chipped away at the lead, but McCarthy scored straight five of his own, putting his team back up 46-36 around the four-minute mark with a three and it never got close after that.  

By Quarter

Archmere Acad. 12 | 12 | 12 | 20 || 56

Bishop Shanahan 13 | 6 | 12 | 12 || 43

Scoring

Archmere Acad.: Matthew McCarthy 23, Charlie Malloy 12, Chris Albero 10, Aiden Cawley 6, Matthew Malloy 3, Alexander MacWilliams 2.

Bishop Shanahan: Ben Rodner-Tims 16, Charlie Federico 15, Logan Kapczynski 4, Roman Alexander 4, Sean Griffin 2, Kevin Scaggs 2.

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.