City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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COLLEGEVILLE — Anytime a Neshaminy player got anywhere near the rim, they had a problem.

Well, not one problem. Two problems.

Perkiomen Valley’s Quinn Boettinger and Grace Galbavy are both expert shot-swatters, the pair of sophomore forwards an imposing force in the middle for the Vikings, a major reason why they’re the top overall seed in the District 1 6A tournament. 

“It’s always such an uplifting stat, I feel like it’s kind of overlooked sometimes,” the 6-foot-3 Boettinger said. “You can score a ‘3’ but it doesn’t bring as much energy as when you get a giant blocked shot — and then transition to a ‘3’.”

With Boettinger and Galbavy combining for seven blocks — and 30 points — Perkiomen Valley rolled No. 8 Neshaminy 48-27 on Friday night to advance to the District 1 6A semifinals. They’ll play either No. 4 Souderton or No. 5 Spring-Ford, who play Saturday afternoon, in a Tuesday semifinal. 

The first few blocks came in the first quarter, the rest scattered throughout the second and third, emphatic reminders that the paint was Perk Valley’s, no matter who got a hand on it. 

“I know it ignites our offense,” Perk Valley coach John Russo said. “It gives life to our bench, our coaches, our players on the floor and it just ignites, it just brings our tempo, we’re an uptempo team, it brings our tempo to another level because they’re just so dynamic. 

“Quinn’s are more in defensive position and she gets to the right spots and she gets the block, Grace’s come out like a lightning bolt, she can come out from the wing and block it on the low block. When they’re dynamic blocks, it sparks everything.”

Boettinger blocked more than 100 shots by herself as a freshman, the only real threat to do so on the Vikings last year. With Galbavy coming aboard from Upper Perkiomen, moving into the district this summer, those swats are now split almost evenly, both with more than 50 on the season. 

Galbavy, a 6-0 wing forward with a 6-3 wingspan, admitted she’s taken some of Boettinger’s rebounds, too.

“Sometimes I’ll just run in, it’ll be going right in her hands and I’ll just run in and get the rebound,” she said. “I’m not looking at who’s on what team, I just run in and get the ball, that’s all I know.”

Of course, neither are complaining as long as the Vikings win. That’s something they’ve done a lot this season, improving to 25-1 after Friday night’s victory, which came as part of a double-header that saw the PV boys pick up a 63-60 win over Neshaminy, securing their own state playoff berth. 

It was a full-team defensive effort that held Neshaminy (19-7) to just 10-of-49 (20.4%) from the floor, the perimeter of Bella Bacani, Julia Smith, Lena Stein and Ella Stein — all sophomores save for Ella, a senior — a smothering blanket, the open looks for Neshaminy few and far between.

“Quinn and Grace’s blocks (are) dynamic,” Russo said, “but I thought Bella, Lena, Julia and Ella stopping (Zemitis) and (Ibarrondo) was just magical defensively for a coach that loves defense.”

Despite starting five sophomores, Perkiomen Valley has made it at least step further in the District 1 6A playoffs than a year ago, when the seventh-seeded Vikings lost to Souderton.

“it feels like amazing because this is the round we got knocked out in last year,” said Boettinger, who was a freshman starter on a PV team that earned the sixth seed out of District 1 last year in the PIAA bracket, losing to District 1 champ Plymouth Whitemarsh in the 2022 state quarterfinals. “Just knowing we got to make it another step forward and show how we’re really progressing this season just feels great.”

Boettinger didn’t get many touches in the first quarter, the Division I prospect playing on an ankle she hurt a week ago, needing a little time to warm up. She got involved in the second quarter, coming up with a put-back bucket, layup on a post feed and four foul shots to get to eight point by halftime, by which point Perk Valley already held a 26-13 lead as Galbavy knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to go into the break.

They each had four points in the third quarter, Lena Stein (9 points) and Bacani (5 points, 5 rebounds) each adding a bucket to grow the lead to 38-22 entering the fourth, and Neshaminy never really threatened. The starters hit the bench with four minutes to play, letting the reserves finish it out.

“I’m really excited, obviously getting the No. 1 seed for the regular season, we have a lot of hope for what we can do,” Galbavy said. “I really hope to be at Temple [for the District championships next Saturday], I want to have a medal around my neck, and I want it to be gold.”

If Perk Valley does draw Spring-Ford in the semifinals, it’ll be the fourth time the two Pioneer Athletic Conference rivals will have seen each other, PV winning the last two, including in the PAC championship game. If they play Souderton, it’ll be a rematch of a 46-23 PV win at Perk Valley on Jan. 21. 

“We’re going to see who wants to play us more,” Galbavy said, “but either team, they’re both great teams, and I’ll be happy to play either one.”

By Quarter
Perk Valley:    8   |  18  |  12  |  10  ||  48
Neshaminy:    5   |   8   |   9   |   5   ||  27

Shooting
Perk Valley: 15-37 FG (5-17 3PT), 13-14 FT
Neshaminy: 10-49 FG (5-18 3PT), 2-5 FT

Scoring
Perk Valley: Grace Galbavy 16, Quinn Boettinger 14, Lena Stein 9, Bella Bacani 5, Ella Stein 3, Becky Taylor 1

Neshaminy: Reese Zemitis 11, Taylor Gurysh 5, Alena Cofield 5, Jess Purdy 3, Lola Ibarrondo 3