City of Basketball Love

By Ryan Coyle (@ryancoyle35)
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Every moment should be treated as an experience.

On a Germantown Academy boys basketball squad where experiences in close games are limited, each moment holds extra value.

Moments like Wednesday’s 72-69 victory over Friends Select show the strides of a Patriots squad that is heavy on juniors and a sophomores in its rotation.

“Never apologize for a win, but even with a win we see that we have plenty of stuff that we can work on, but that is a great game for our continued growth and experience,” Germantown Academy head coach Matt Dolan said. 

In a game that saw Germantown Academy lead by 16 points midway through the third quarter, a late run by Friends Select brought the game within two points at 65-63 after Friends Select guard Isaiah Marshall scored a layup with two minutes to go.

The Falcons made their late fourth-quarter push with a full-court press and double teams that Friends Select was throwing at Germantown Academy. 

FSS junior Jay Chiles missed a three-point runner as time expired, helping the Patriots secure the win and move to 3-2 on the season, while Friends Select fell to 0-4, the Falcons also dropping tight games to Father Judge and Roman Catholic.

“Breathe, breathe, breathe,” is what Dolan was telling his guys in the timeout huddle as they were struggling with the Falcons’ pressure, turning it over multiple times. “We know there is a lot of emotion in the game, it is a game of runs and emotion. We always want our guys to be poised down the stretch in those tight spots and it is really easy to say that and teach that to them, but it is a different thing for them to have to experience and go through it in a real game.”

Last year GA went only 8-16, including a 3-7 mark in conference play. The Patriots often played from behind rather than out in front. Heading into Wednesday GA was 2-2, with a narrow loss to Cardinal O’Hara, 63-61, in its season opener.

Wins in tight games weren’t very common last year. For a young and inexperienced bunch, another close contest was an opportunity to gain some meaningful experience.

“Most of our rotation is a junior class and we have gotten our butts kicked the last few years, we haven’t played in a lot of close games,” Dolan said. “We haven’t pulled ahead a lot and then won close games, so doing that tonight and finding a way to close it out, I think it shows growth which is great.”

Leading the charge Wednesday for the Patriots, as he has for the past two years, was junior guard Bryce Rollerson, who had a game high 26 points, including a 12-point third quarter during which Rollerson jumped passing lanes leading to layups.

“That is always something I feel that is part of my game,” Rollerson said. “You can get some easy baskets just based off your anticipation in the game and jumping passing lanes for steals. At this level on the offensive end, you have to work for everything, so being able to score by making plays on defense makes it better for our team because you don’t need to rely on scoring as much in the half court on offense.”

Chiles led his team with 21 points. He scored 14 points in the first half, including knocking down four three pointers, before Rollerson locked in on the defensive end and held the Falcons lead guard to only seven points in the second half.

“The thing that really stood out for Bryce tonight was his defensive intensity.” Dolan added.

As the Patriots continue to get their young crop of players more adverse to the varsity game, they’ll be subject to different defensive looks on any given night. A zone flustered the Patriots in the first quarter holding them to only 11 points. The Patriots adjusted to the zone after that first quarter experience and exploded for 25 points in the second quarter. 

The offensive adjustment saw the likes of juniors Ellis Johnson and Tyler Nolan each score 13 points, with Nolan knocking down three shots from beyond the arc.

“We just started attacking after that first quarter,” Rollerson said. “We were settling for jumpshots, but we know we have some really good shooters, but when you attack, those will be more open later in the game. So we really just tried to attack and start to get to the rim when they were in that zone.”

While you’ll never apologize for a win, Dolan and Rollerson both see there is still a lot of room for improvement before the Inter-Ac schedule gets in full swing.

“Going forward it is all about just closing games, but that is a good experience for us winning it at the end,” Rollerson noted.

As the Patriots continue to fine tune things on both ends of the floor and gain this pivotal experience in the non-league portion of their schedule, the guys within that locker room are seeing games that were losses last year turn into wins and that steady climb up the mountain happening everyday.

But, they also know it is a process they will take day by day. 

“I think our growth has been good,” Rollerson said. “You can see by watching tonight that we still have a lot to work on, but I think we are getting there. We are going to keep working, we are going to keep grinding it out, and step by step we are gonna get there.”

By Quarter
Germantown Academy:  11  |  25  |  21  |  15  ||  72
Friends Select:           12  |  16  |  16  |  25  ||  69

Shooting
Germantown Academy: 27-54 FG (7-19 3PT), 11-19 FT
Friends Select: 26-46 FG (12-21 3PT), 5-12 FT 

Scoring
Germantown Academy: Rollerson 26, Johnson 13, Nolan 13, McKee 7, Brooks 7, Pressley 6

Friends Select: Chiles 21, Marshall 20, Smith 9 Coughlin 8, Aaronson 6,, Redi 3, Moore 2