City of Basketball Love

Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1)
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GLEN MILLS — The Cambridge Dictionary defines a catalyst as “an event or person that causes great change.” 

The Radnor girls basketball team defines it as Mary Sareen. 

“She’s sort of like our catalyst,” head coach Rob Baxter said of Sareen. “We go as far as she goes. She can play the whole game, she doesn’t get tired, she plays good defense, she makes foul shots, she does a little bit of everything for us.”

In Radnor’s opening playoff matchup, Sareen was all over the court and making her impact felt. She led the team in scoring with 16 points and was the driving force of the 50-32 victory as fifth-seeded Randor upset fourth-seeded Garnet Valley. 

The 5-foot-8 point guard started off the game cold, missing five of her first six shot attempts from the field, but flipped the switch when it mattered most. She knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and also added six points at the free-throw line with the bulk of her damage coming during a second-half run which helped blow the game open. The team followed her lead and an improved second-half play from Sareen and the team were vital to paving the path to the win. 

“That was awesome,” Sareen said. “I’m really happy. We all are really happy, I feel like we’re always the underdogs for some reason. Every game. This time we really proved ourselves and I’m really happy about that win.”

It was not all smooth sailing for the Raptors in this one. Garnet Valley (13-11,11-6) came out in a full-court press which caused some issues early on. Throughout the first half, the game remained within one possession with both teams taking turns with the lead. 

However, the game changed right before the halftime buzzer. Sareen knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Radnor (16-8, 11-6) an 18-17 lead heading into halftime. This was her ninth point on the night and gave the team a notable boost before the break. 

“It gave us some juice,” Baxter said. “I thought we played really well without that but that was really a big shot.”

This momentum carried over following halftime as Radnor grabbed control of the game. The Raptors scored the first five points coming out of the break and never looked back. In total, Radnor outscored Garnet Valley 32-15 in the second half, including Sareen’s second momentum-changing three-pointer in the midst of this run. The Raptors also made a notable defensive adjustment which helped put a halt to the Jaguars' offense. 

“(We) took a shot at going zone against them and they just missed some shots,” Baxter said. “It just snowballed for them and it went to our benefit. We were able to rebound better than we’ve done all year and then we made foul shots which has kind of helped us all year.”

It was a tale of two percentages in this regard as Garnet Valley was forced to rely on perimeter shots and struggled to get them to fall. The Jaguars shot just 5-for-28 from beyond the 3-point arc and could not get any of the rolls they desired. They were unable to penetrate Radnor’s zone and were forced to continue heaving from beyond the arc, with no luck in breaking the cold spell. 

In contrast, it was the efficiency of Radnor at the free-throw line that helped carry them to victory. The full-court press of Garnet Valley resulted in them picking up a number of fouls and resulted in them spending the majority of the second half in the bonus. 

Radnor capitalized on this, connecting on 21 of their 27 free throw attempts in the victory. These free baskets were the driving force for their growing lead and Garnet Valley was not able to take back control at any point. 

The win marked Sareen’s first playoff victory and the first time beating Garnet Valley in her entire high school career. The two-year varsity standout was excited to avenge last year’s first-round exit and the rest of the team matched this intensity. 

“The whole game we played together,” Sareen said. “We played our hearts out. Every one of us believed we could win that game.”

It was a well-rounded team effort for Radnor as junior Kate Gallagher added 11 points while senior guard Meghan Dole scored nine on an efficient 4-for-5 shooting from the field. Anna Reger and Caroline Monohan each also scored six points. 

“Our teamwork is awesome,” Sareen said. “I mean, everyone is so supportive. Everyone wants everyone to succeed. Even if I have an off game then the other four will step up. If Kate has an off-game then everyone will step up. It’s just always a team effort.”

For Garnet Valley, it was Kylie Mulholland who led the team in scoring with 14 points. Jordan Daubenberger scored nine points of her own in the loss. 

The focus for Radnor will now shift to their matchup with top seed Haverford High at 7 PM on Saturday for their Central League semifinal This will be a tough task as Haverford is 22-0 on the season and 16-0 in conference play. 

While no one has found an answer to stopping the Fords and their powerful frontcourt yet, Radnor believes they have as much of a chance as anyone. The grit and toughness that Radnor put on display will be put to the test once again, as they are not ready to bow down to anyone. 

“I told our team there’s no one telling us that we can’t do this and the same thing on Saturday,” Sareen said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re undefeated, it doesn’t matter if they're in first place. No one’s telling us we can’t win.”

By Quarter
Radnor: 11  |   7   |  11  |  21  ||  50
Garnet:   9   |   8   |   5   |  10  ||  32

Shooting
Radnor: 13-26 FG (3-9 3P), 21-27 FT
Garnet Valley: 11-47 FG (5-28 3P), 5-8 FT

Scoring
Radnor: Sareen 16, Gallagher 11, Dole 9, Reger 6, Monohan 6, d’Entremont 2

Garnet Valley: Mulholland 14, Daubenberger 9, Adamski 7, Saunders 2