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Garnet Valley sophomore Jake Sniras breaks out, beats Coatesville

12/30/2022, 10:00pm EST
By Rich Flanagan

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagn33)

CHESTER — Jake Sniras recalled the trepidation that he felt at different times during his freshman year.

While he was a starter for all 29 games in his first varsity season, Garnet Valley had two experienced players that it would run its offense through in 6-foot-4 senior forward Logan McKee and 6-2 senior guard Max Koehler, who will play at York College (Pa.) next season. It was effective as the Jaguars entered the District 1 6A playoffs as the last seed but then beat Upper Dublin and Spring-Ford, advancing to the PIAA state tournament where they won their first state playoff game since 1997.

Stepping into year two alongside McKee and Koehler, Sniras has noticed a change in himself both from a physical and mental standpoint. He’s grown to 6-foot-4 and 180 lbs., and the game has slowed down to the point where he can make assertive decisions in key situations. It was the next and most natural step in his maturation as a player for a program looking to build on last season’s success.


Jake Sniras (above) is entering his second year as a varsity starter for Garnet Valley. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“Last year, I was really scared to shoot because I was a freshman,” Sniras said. “I wasn’t really looking for my shot and my teammates weren’t really looking for me. I have an understanding that if I score, we have a better opportunity to win games and it opens things up for my teammates as well.”

He got his first true opportunity to show the greater Philadelphia basketball what he can do against Coatesville in the 18th annual Pete & Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University. He wanted to showcase everything he had learned from having a full season of high school basketball under his belt and he did not disappoint. 

In the waning seconds of the second overtime, Coatesville called a timeout with an opportunity to ice the game at the foul line, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Sniras corralled the rebound and pushed the ball up the floor to senior guard Drew Van Horn, who immediately gave it back to his sophomore teammate with valuable seconds ticking away.

Sniras would not have attempted this shot last December but this time, there was a sense of calm that hoisting one and giving himself a chance is better than allowing the timidness to overtake him as it once did.

“We were supposed to run a dribble handoff, but it got all messed up,” Sniras said. “I threw one up and got lucky.”

Sniras rose up over Chris Proctor and nailed the game winner from just behind the arc to give Garnet Valley a 65-63 victory over Coatesville. The buzzer sounded as the ball swished through the net and the eruption from the Jaguars bench was deafening as Sniras closed out a 33-point, 10-rebound, five-assist and five-steal performance to give the Jaguars a (7-1) an enormous win as they move into the Central League part of the season.

 

Sniras scored 12 points in the third quarter alone but only scored four in the final quarter and the first extra period. He credited Coatesville’s pressure defense but also didn’t discredit his increased confidence on a night where he reached his new career high in scoring.

“They were really pressuring me after I had put up a lot of shots earlier and they had a guy on me after that,” Sniras said. “I didn’t make one for the rest of the fourth and into overtime, but I rose up and, with my height since I’m bigger than most guys, gave myself an opportunity.”

On a night where the atmosphere of playing in an event of this magnitude can overcome a player, particularly one less experienced, Garnet Valley head coach Mike Brown was impressed with Sniras’ evolution from where he was as a freshman.

“He’s only a sophomore and it’s a great thing for a kid like him,” Brown said. “I told the whole team that it’s a great experience, especially if we make it to an atmosphere like the district and state playoffs. It was that kind of atmosphere.”

Coatesville (6-4) railed 57-55 with 3:38 left to play in the fourth, then Jeremiah Marshall converted a layup to tie the game. Shortly afterward, Zuri Harris recorded a steal with 52 seconds in regulation and Coatesville milked the clock to get one final shot. Marshall drove down the right side and hung in the air, but his final attempt fell short. McKee (14 points, 13 rebounds) converted a pair of free throws in overtime then later hit 1-of-2 at the line to give the Jaguars a one-point lead at the 2:48 mark. 

Coatesville was given another opportunity to win the game with the score tied at 60-60 and 13.5 seconds left but Dior Kennedy’s mid-range jumper from the right elbow was off. McKee scored inside for his final bucket, but Hurris hit a 3-pointer to give the Red Raiders a short-lived lead before Sniras subsequently sent the Garnet Valley faithful into a frenzy.

Brown noted that he had one more timeout but preferred to take his chances with Coatesville scrambling to stop the ball.


Sniras (above) was 14-of-23 from the floor including 4-of-7 from downtown on Friday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“We had one timeout, but we deliberately didn’t call it because then they would get to set up their defense and it’s the age-old issue of if we called one, what would we call there,” Brown said. “The defense is spread out after the miss and the guys know how to play. It worked out.”

A play that generally seems rudimentary turned into a total breakdown and somehow Sniras fired away and the Jaguars left Widener with the most incredible finish of the day. Brown is confident that the team has improved but more importantly, he knows Sniras has vastly improved and may be the key to an even deeper run in the postseason.

“The best thing is that he has improved,” Brown said. “He started every game as a freshman and some kids would just rest on their laurels. He hasn’t done that. He loves to play and we’re on him all the time to pick up his defense, but offensively he got bigger and more confident. There’s room to improve and he knows that.”

~~~

By Quarter
Coatesville:       21  |  13  |  15  |   8   |   3   |   3   ||  63
Garnet Valley:   19  |  15  |  19  |   4   |   3   |   5   ||  65

Shooting
Coatesville: 23-54 FG (6-18 3PT), 11-14 FT
Garnet Valley: 26-49 FG (6-14 3PT), 7-9 FT

Scoring
Coatesville: Marshall 15, A. Fowlkes 13, Harris 12, Kennedy 9, Brown 8, Peoples 3, Ponder 3

Garnet Valley: Sniras 33, McKee 14, Koehler 7, Faccenda 7, O’Hara 2


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