City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

GLEN MILLS — The most exciting moment of Haylie Adamski’s Wednesday afternoon came when she was sitting on the bench. 

That’s not the typical spot the Garnet Valley junior likes to be, especially in the second quarter. But watching her twin younger sisters, Kylie and Addison, connect on a 3-pointer to close out the half of a holiday tournament game against Villa Joseph Marie, Haylie was delighted.

“It’s amazing,” she said, but was quick to add that it’s not some special bond between the two that drew the pass — just good hoops.“People think that’s the twin connection, but they pass to each other because they’re open.”

The oldest Adamski sister, one of the brightest young talents in the Delaware Valley, has been a player to watch in the Central League since leading Garnet Valley to a Central League title as a freshman. Now a junior and team captain for head coach Joe Woods’ Jaguars, she’s balancing being one of the team’s stars and leaders with being a big sister, and she couldn’t be happier.

(L to R) Kylie, Haylie and Addison Adamski. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“I’ve been waiting for this ever since we started [playing],” she said. “We used to play [in the] Malvern [youth league] together when we were really little and they could play up with me. But high school, it’s a lot different, and I think it’s really cool.”

With all three Adamskis finding the scoring column, the Jaguars overwhelmed the Jems for a 73-53 win in its holiday tournament semifinals. Garnet Valley will play Central Bucks South, which beat Great Valley in the opener, on Thursday at 3 PM in the championship game.

Haylie Adamski hit three 3-pointers on the way to scoring 17 points, the Division I recruit adding in four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and and two assists. Addison hit two second-quarter 3-pointers for her six points, Kylie adding a triple of her own in the third quarter and a layup in the fourth for five points.

The three aren’t all in the same roles: Haylie’s a starter and one of the team’s standouts, a second-year captain with nine Division I offers in her pocket. Kylie and Addison come off the bench, getting a few minutes in closer games, a bit of a longer run in games like Thursday’s, where Garnet Valley was up 32 midway through the third quarter.

Woods said he hasn’t had to talk to Haylie about working specifically with her younger sisters, his star player understanding that she has to set the tone for everybody, family or not.

“Just the example that she sets for the whole team is awesome, it’s tremendous,” he said. “To have a player of her ability and her maturity, being elected as a captain last year as a sophomore and then again this year as an upperclassman is a hallmark.”

Haylie, Addison and Kylie are the three oldest of Stacie and David Adamski, Stacie a former standout at Kutztown University. There’s also sixth grader Alexa and eight-year-old Lucas, all ballplayers, all following in Haylie’s footsteps as she plays for the national champion Philly Rise EYBL program and nears double-digit D-I offers.

“We’re a basketball family, we’re always in the gym together,” Haylie Adamski said. “This morning, we [the four sisters] came in and shot around for an hour-and-a-half before anybody else was here, Coach Woods opened up the gym for us.”

Haylie said she’s particularly close with her twin sisters, the three only 19 months apart in age. They’ll be seniors when Alexa is a freshman in high school, getting to see the flip side of this story in a few years. 

For now, as freshmen, they’re just trying to stay settled and composed on the court, and Haylie does what she can to help.

“Coach Woods knows how close we are,” she said, “if he needs help he’ll tell me to lift them up, ‘I don’t want them to get in their head,’ and I’m like ‘okay, I got it’ and they’re back into it.”

Kylie Mulholland led Garnet Valley with 18 points, the 5-4 junior guard coming up with six steals and five rebounds as the Jaguars forced 22 turnovers while committing just five of their own. That allowed them to take 20 more shots than the Jems — quite necessary on a night where the visitors shot 13-of-27 from 3-point range, led by Ava Guimenny’s 22-point outing on 6-of-9 from downtown.

The win got GV back on the right side of the ledger after suffering close home losses to league rivals Conestoga (46-40) and Haverford High (47-43) heading into the holiday break following a five-win start to the season.

“We learned from some of the mistakes we made but it’s always good to go against really top-notch competition,” Woods said. “Our goal is always to get better as we move along in a season and we’ll look forward to playing them again, for sure.”

By Quarter
Garnet Valley:  25  |  19  |  19  |   8   ||  73
Villa Joseph:    18  |  10  |   9   |  16  ||  53

Shooting
Garnet Valley: 27-60 FG (10-21 3PT), 7-12 FT
Villa Joseph: 17-40 FG (13-27 3PT), 6-9 FT

Scoring
Garnet Valley: Kylie Mulholland 18, Haylie Adamski 17, Emily Olsen 11, Addison Adamski 6, Jordan Daubenberger 6, Kylie Adamski 5, Katie Dwyer 3, Layne Zipperlen 3, Heaven Dada 2, Savannah Saunders 2

Villa Joseph: Ava Gumienny 22, Riley Deal 11, Grace Pizzica 8, Lucy Jasionis 3, Lizzie Grunwell 3, Julia Mack 3, Kiki Hadgimallis 3

~~~

Game One: Central Bucks South vs. Great Valley

A slow start led to a frantic finish as Central Bucks South outlasted Great Valley 35-33 in the opener.

The first three quarters were largely a defensive-oriented battle, neither team able to generate quick, easy looks. CB South (6-4) led 23-20 going into the final period, an 11-3 advantage after one quarter slowly whittled away by Great Valley (5-5). 

But the final frame had no fewer than five lead changes, both sides coming up with one big play after another. The teams combined for 25 points in the last quarter, almost as many as the second and third together, and the outcome wasn’t clear until the final buzzer.

“The fourth quarter actually had more action I think than the rest of the game,” CB South coach Beth Mattern said. “We just kind of went back and forth with each other, and finally at the end, it was exciting.”

Great Valley’s Julia Curran hit two go-ahead buckets herself, a floater and a 3-pointer, part of her game-high 15-point day. That came after the 5-4 guard gave Great Valley its first lead at 14-13 early in the third quarter; she also had four rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

CB South’s Jules Tropea had eight of her 11 points in the fourth, including a go-ahead bucket near the beginning of the quarter and a clutch pair of free throws with 4:30 left to put the Titans up three. Senior point guard Yordana ‘Yoyo’ Samayoa led CB South with 12 points, adding five rebounds, three steals and two assists, with two lead-getting buckets for the Titans along the way.

Tropea also came up with a block on a 3-point attempt in the game’s closing seconds, helping CB South hold on. 

“She’s just more confident, she plays a lot stronger,” Mattern said of the 5-11 sophomore and second-year starter. “She’s physically stronger, she’s mentally stronger. I think she’s confident and ready to go at all times.”

By Quarter
CB South:      11  |   2   |   7   |  15  ||  35
Great Valley:   3   |   9   |  11  |  10  ||  33

Shooting
CB South: 11-35 FG (1-11 3PT), 12-23 FT
Great Valley: 12-32 FG (1-7 3PT), 7-19 FT

Scoring
CB South: Yoyo Samayoa 12, Jules Tropea 11, Mia Klein 5, Ella Wheeler 4, Casey Balkir 2, Megan Schmidt 1

Great Valley: Julia Curran 15, Reilly Lackman 10, Kacee Magee 3, Lauren Chain 2, Kate Weikert 2, Kaela Buzan 1