City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Haverford and Perkiomen Valley faced off in a tri-scrimmage at West Chester Rustin back in November, both envisioning deep postseason runs in the season to come.

While one of the 2022 District 1 quarterfinalists looked like a district contender at the time, the other appeared to have some growing up to do.

“I thought that was the worst we played all year was in the scrimmage vs. them,” said Perk Valley coach John Russo, who described the scrimmage as a butt kicking. “I really thought they beat us up. That’s what’s supposed to happen when it’s seniors vs. sophomores. I feel like we are no longer sophomores, and maybe we can punch back.”

Little did the top-seeded Vikings and second-seeded Fords know they’d meet in Saturday’s District 1 6A championship at Temple at 4 p.m. — or that Rustin would be playing in the 5A title game earlier in the day.

Led by three seniors, Haverford (27-0) has continued doing much of the same to its opponents throughout the season, winning all but four games by double digits, including romps over Methacton (47-29), Springfield-Delco (56-31) and Pennsbury (43-21) on the way to the District 1 title game.

The Vikings’ young group — five sophomores in the starting lineup — has been terrific as well with just one loss this season and none since Jan. 13, winning 14 straight contests heading into Saturday.

“We saw a little bit of each other early on, very early on,” Haverford coach Lauren Pellicane said.

“You just get a little familiar with their personnel early on, but obviously we’re four months later, so a lot’s changed in that time and teams grow and evolve. Obviously, we know they’re very talented, a young team and we absolutely know we’re gonna have to be at our best. There’s no doubt about that.”

The matchup is one that seemed to be brewing since around mid-January as an undefeated Haverford squad and a one-loss Perk Valley team started separating themselves from the rest of the District 1 field, eventually winding up on either side of the postseason bracket as the top two seeds

Perk Valley sophomore Grace Galbavy said it’s been hard to ignore the Fords’ run, even finding herself at a couple of their games or hopping on one of their streams

“I’m sure they’ve been watching us. We’ve been watching them. They’re fun to watch,” said Galbavy, who you can tell is a basketball junkie about a minute into conversation with her. 

“I can’t wait to play them to be honest. I’ve been waiting to play them all season, and I can’t wait for it. We get to play them at Temple, obviously we want to come out on the winning side of that game as well. It’ll be a great game and hopefully we can top them.”

The Fords are led by Maine commit Caroline Dotsey, a 6-2 forward with a polished post game and shot blocking ability inside to go along with a jumper that extends to the 3-point line. She’s joined inside by classmate Mollie Carpenter, a 6-1 forward and Catholic University recruit. Sophomore Rian Dotsey, Caroline’s younger sister, adds some more length as a 6-1 wing.

Senior guard Sky Newman is an experienced ball handler who can knock down shots, and junior 5-10 guard Aniya Eberhart can jolt the Fords on both ends of the floor.

“They have senior leadership, they have really good coaches, they run really good sets for their bigs,” Russo said. “They’re going to be a really tough matchup.”

“Shoot, I’m a fan of them. They’re really good. I can’t wait to play them. They’re a really good team.”

Perk Valley is one of the few (if only?) teams that can matchup with the Fords’ size. Sophomore 6-3 forward Quinn Boettinger, who scored 17 points in a comeback semifinal win over Spring-Ford, has an offer from Drexel. Galbavy is a 5-11 wing with D1 offers as well who creates matchup problems with her perimeter play, but can also defend and rebound inside.

Sophomore guard Bella Bacani is the team’s third top scoring threat, a gamer who is tough on both ends and can knock down triples. Sophomore 5-9 guard Lena Stein, who was out sick in the semifinals, does a lot of the dirty work for her team but can also provide big buckets, particularly driving to the hoop. Sophomore guard Julia Smith is a timely shooter and Stein’s older sister Ella is the Vikings’ lone senior, often asked to provide energy off the bench — though she scored 11 points against Spring-Ford in the starting lineup. 

“With their size, we haven’t seen a team similar to ourselves really that much all year,” Pellicane said. “That’ll certainly play a role. We obviously know they’re talented. They have multiple threats, they’re big. We know what we’re gonna get into and we’re gonna do our best to prepare and compete.”

She’s not preaching anything special to her team as it heads into the first District 1 championship game in program history, already with the program’s first Central League title in a decade secured.

“Different guys are stepping up, which is nice to see,” Pellicane said. “That’s what you really want at the end of the season. If we can get a balanced scoring output and we can continue to defend as a team, I think we’ll be ready to step on the floor, no matter who we’re playing every single night. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Galbavy and her teammates believe it’s an even fight against the Fords despite that lopsided scrimmage four months ago. 

“We both match up very well,” Galbavy said. “They have two short guards and they have three rebounders just as we do. It’s really gonna be our coaches vs. their coaches and our effort vs. their effort. I think the coaches are gonna cancel out. We both have great coaching staffs, so whoever wants it more is gonna win, so hopefully we do.”