City of Basketball Love

Konner Metz (@konner_metz)
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Every time a white jersey caught the basketball beyond the 3-point line with a bubble of space, the Marple Newtown faithful were visibly and audibly antsy to see the ball through the net. 

Most of the time Saturday night, those wishes from the home crowd were answered. 

Marple Newtown shot lights out from deep, drilling 14 three-pointers on 20 attempts en route to a hard-fought, high energy 74-64 victory over Strath Haven. The green light, trigger-happy mentality from beyond the arc was exactly what the Tigers needed after scoring just 40 points in a loss to Penncrest two nights prior.

“That’s this year’s approach, we’re big on being shot ready off the ball,” coach Sean Spratt said. “I think the big thing is, we were here two nights ago and it was our worst shooting night of the year. 

“Some of those guys were just due, and we’re fortunate to have multiple guys hit. Once they had one fall, they all got a little confident, and it just trickled in.”

Perhaps the most confident player of all was sophomore Matt Gardler, who drained a game-high six triples, and used three mid-range jumpers and eight free throws (on eight attempts) to tally 32 points for Marple Newtown (11-7, 7-6).

The star guard with plenty of basketball blood – from his parents to his two older siblings at the college level – hit six fourth quarter free throws to ice the game after Strath Haven (8-11, 4-9) had pulled within two multiple times in the final frame.

“Just knock it down for my team,” Gardler said of his mindset at the stripe. “Get extra points, get us up by a bigger lead and make sure we secure a win.”

That extra effort from Gardler and the entire team (16-17 from the FT line) was so needed because of an equally impressive performance on the other side FROM Strath Haven’s Jaden Jauregui. The senior guard and Union (N.Y.) commit scored from all three levels, totaling 33 points.

Often bullying his way into the paint for and-ones, along with taking both catch and shoot and pull-up triples, Jauregui willed the Panthers back from an early 11-point deficit in the first half. When Marple went up 12 in the third quarter, Jauregui nailed three long balls in four attempts over the span of a couple minutes.

Jaden Jauregui (above, left) impressed with 33 points in a losing effort for Strath Haven. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

The Panthers’ second-leading scorer, Jack Edwards (11 pts), made two threes in the first quarter; Matthew Jones (11 pts) was heavily involved, and hit one of Strath Haven’s nine three-pointers, BUT THEY just couldn’t keep up with the opposition’s constant makes from beyond the arc.

Despite 13 fourth-quarter points from Jauregui, the Strath Haven defense couldn’t halt their opponent in the late goings, as Spratt’s team widened a 64-62 lead to the eventual final score during the final minute-and-a-half.

“We’ve had our hands full with him, I think, six games in a row now,” Spratt said of the Strath Haven star. “He’s good, he’s a very savvy player, he’s smart, very aggressive. He has that length advantage, so once he gets that step downhill, it’s really hard. You just gotta tip your hat to him; luckily we had Gardler to counter.”

Jauregui got the better of Marple Newtown earlier this season in a December matchup where he made a last-minute shot to help his team to a 48-46 win, scoring a game-high 22 points. Gardler rode the bench for the final few minutes of that one after fouling out, and a Strath Haven 1-3-1 zone stymied the Tigers in the back half of the game.

This time around, the zone still caused chaos and disruption, as Marple had 19 turnovers. But when they were able to maintain possession, the ball went in. It was certainly a group effort from the Tigers, with Daron Pfitzinger-Miller (13 pts) and Stephan Hamson (11 pts) both making three triples, plus Steven Tansey adding 10 points, including two made deep balls. Each time the lead tightened, a Tiger threw a counter punch and poured in a bucket.

“Gardler hit a big corner one with a two-point lead, Stephen Hamson hit one, Daron hit one to send a two-point lead to a five-point lead,” Spratt said. “They were good, but they were also much-needed, timely ones.

“Strath Haven played with a ton of energy and they went on some runs that kind of put us on our heels, so to have Daron step up, Matt Gardler step up at the right time, was much needed.”

Spratt said he felt it was the best full, 32 minutes from Pfitzinger-Miller, who is playing off the bench in his first year at Marple. He gave his team some extended minutes, as P.J. Esposito and Corrado Fishcetti did not play.

“Finding an open spot, getting there, shooting the ball, and bringing energy, that’s what I come off the bench to do,” Pfitzinger-Miller said. “Some games, I haven’t played much, but I just watch and learn.”

Thanks to clutch second halves from Pfitzinger-Miller and Tansey (8 pts each), Marple secured an important victory that keeps them fifth in the Central League standings, tied with Springfield (8-11, 7-6), a team they host Tuesday night; the top six make the league playoffs.

With the offense getting streaky at the right time, the Tigers have the chance to make some noise in the coming weeks. But Gardler also recognizes there’s plenty to work on amidst a night of lights-out shooting that won’t happen every time out.

“It’s good, but we still let up 64,” Gardler said. “So we got to clean up some things on defense. We also let up 19 turnovers, we have to cut that out, too.”

That upcoming contest with Springfield will be important in sorting out the logjam in the middle of the Central standings. Meanwhile Strath Haven tumbled down with the loss, and took a hurt in their District 1 5A chances, riding the bubble coming into Saturday night’s tilt. 

But for the Tigers, it was all positive walking away with the key home triumph.

“This was huge, it’s our 11th win and that means we won’t have a losing record,” Spratt said. “That in the Central League is pretty solid. It’s good to have that, we can kind of take a breath and relax, but that’s not really our goal. We’re going to try to win the second half of the season.”

By Quarter
Strath Haven:       12  | 19  |  13  |  20  ||  64
Marple Newtown: 19  | 15  |  19  |  21  ||  74

Scoring
Strath Haven: Jauregui 33, Edwards 11, Jones 11, Reid 4, Fisher 3, Nangle 2

Marple Newtown: Gardler 32, Pfitzinger-Miller 13, Hamson 11, Tansey 10, Keating 8