City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) +
Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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There’s no shortage of familiarity in the District 1 6A championship games.

Both matchups on Saturday night at Temple University are league rivalries: Perkiomen Valley vs. Spring-Ford in an all-Pioneer Athletic Conference girls’ championship and Lower Merion vs. Garnet Valley in a Central League boys clash. 

Here’s a look at both games:

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Girls: 1) Perkiomen Valley vs. 6) Spring-Ford

Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley high schools have rivalries in pretty much every sport they play. The matchup between the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division rival Vikings and Rams, separated by a 12-minute ride, is significant enough to earn its own name— “Battle of the Horns”.

The rivalry will rise to another level on Saturday when their girls basketball teams meet on the District 1 championship stage.

After packing each other’s gyms over the past two seasons, top seed Perkiomen Valley and sixth-seed Spring-Ford will meet at the Liacouras Center at 5 p.m. in the District 1 6A title game, both sure to bring plenty of supporters with them to make it feel like their typical backyard brawls.

“We’re familiar with their game, we’ve seen them play before but we still have to play our own game,” Spring-Ford senior Anna Azzara said after her team’s semifinal win over Conestoga on Wednesday.

Spring-Ford won a District 1 championship in 2021 and went to the title game in 2022 before returning for a third time in four years on Saturday. Perk Valley is the defending District 1 champion, returning to Temple to defend its crown.

This will be the eighth meeting between the two teams in the past two seasons and 11th in the past three since PV’s talented 2025 class arrived to challenge Spring-Ford’s 2024 group. Right now the Vikings have a 7-3 edge in the series.

The squads split their regular season meetings in 2021-22 before the Rams won the PAC championship over the Vikings. Last season, Spring-Ford won the first regular season. Perk Valley has won six straight in the series since, including two PAC championship games and last season’s District 1 6A semifinal.

However, there are a few opportunities the Rams feel they let slip. The Vikings rallied with a 17-0 run in the final three minutes to knock off Spring-Ford in last season’s semifinal. They needed a last-second three and a clutch block by junior Grace Galbavy to survive in a comeback overtime win in the second matchup this season.

“They’re definitely a big challenge since we lost to them a bunch of times already, but I think if we keep practicing and knowing their plays and everything they do, I think we have a good chance,” Rams senior Katie Tiffan said. “Because last game it was close, and the other games it was closer, so I think we just need to pull out a win against them.”

Tiffan (Lynn University), Azzara (Wright State), Mac Pettinelli (St. Bonaventure) and Aaliyah Solliday lead a senior class for Spring-Ford (23-5) that was on the District 1 6A championship team in 2021 with current Villanova star Lucy Olsen and Tiffan’s older sister Emily. Junior 5-10 forward Kareena Preuss joins them in the starting five. Senior Siena Miller and Tiffan’s younger sister Christina have rounded out the playoff rotation, though coach Mickey McDaniel has emphasized the importantceof his team’s "b-energy" from the bench.

Galbavy, an all-state player last season, is a 6-foot wing, leading the Vikings on both ends. Coach John Russo can also run his team through 6-foot-3 junior forward Quinn Boettinger, a Navy commit. Junior point guard Bella Bacani is the team’s other double-figure scorer, but the VIkings go seven deep with senior Anna Stein (Kutztown) and junior Grace Miley, Lena Stein and Julia Smith all capable of starting. Their defense is suffocating with multiple options to hurt team on the offensive end as well.

Neither team has lost to another Pennsylvania squad as the Vikings' lone defeat came out of state against Gill St. Bernard's and the Rams have two out-of-state losses to go along with their three defeats to the Vikings.

PV won its three district games up to this point by 27, 29 and 31 points, respectively. But the veteran Rams won't be intimated by their neighborhood rival or the stage.

“We’re playing the best of that side of the bracket, so we have to bring our best,” Boettinger said after a semifinal win against North Penn on Wednesday.

“Spring-Ford’s definitely going to bring theirs,” Galbavy added.

Boys: 1) Lower Merion vs. 14) Garnet Valley (7 PM)

For Gregg Downer’s top-seeded Aces, the District 1 playoffs have been more like the Central League Playoffs, Part Two.

Before beating Chester in the district semifinals on Tuesday, Lower Merion had to go through two familiar faces in Conestoga and Springfield (Delco.), beating ‘Stoga for the third time this season and Springfield for the second. Now it’s matchup No. 3 against Garnet Valley, yet another Central League opponent, the Aces beating the Jags in both their regular-season meetings. 

It’s the first time since the Central League was founded in 1967 that two of its members will meet for a District 1 title. 

“Well, it’s a nice feather in the cap for the Central League, to get two teams to the finals [...] it’s a good moment for our league,” Downer said on a Friday phone call. “Truthfully, we’re a little tired of playing league opponents; we would like ideally to play some fresh faces, hopefully we’ll get some fresh faces in the state tournament, but beating a team like Garnet Valley three times is not an easy task.”

Lower Merion (26-1) is playing in its seventh district championship game under Downer, now in his 34th year as the Aces’ head coach. Garnet Valley (19-8) last made the district finals in 1997, then a small 2A school, a far cry from the current situation down in Glen Mills. 

In 2012, Mike Brown inherited a Jaguars program that had won just three games total in a three-year span and almost immediately turned them into a contender. They made the district playoffs under him for the first time in 2015-16 and have been back every year since, qualifying for several state playoffs and winning a game in the PIAA bracket each of the last two years.

Despite entering the district playoffs in the first round and forced to play on the road the last three rounds, Garnet Valley responded by beating No. 3 Spring-Ford, No. 6 Methacton and No. 2 West Chester Henderson to make it to Temple.

“He’s done a great job,” Downer said of his counterpart. “He and I have a friendly relationship. Really good coach, they run really good stuff and the hat trick of beating Spring-Ford, Methacton and Henderson, all on the road, just kind of shows you the caliber of the coaching and the caliber of their team.”

Both coaches have a strong starting five they lean on heavily. 

Downer’s top five are senior guards Adam Herrenkohl (6-foot-3), John Mobley (6-2), Owen McCabe (5-10), junior guard Carson Kasmer (5-10) and senior forward Jayden Robinson (6-5). Two others, 6-4 senior Justin Mebane and 5-10 junior Gus Wright, give the Aces a few minutes.

It’s a group that’s without a star — there’s certainly no Kobe Bryant in the group, but also no B.J. Johnson, Sam Brown or Demetrius Lilley in there. McCabe and Mobley were both picked as First Team All-Central selections, but they’re both small-college recruits.

“It has surprised all of us,” Downer said. “I don’t know if it’s surprised the fortitude of the kids, but quite truthfully it surprised the coaches. We never expected to be here at 26-1, we never expected to be 20-0 in the Central League. 

“You’re always hopeful that you can maximize your season, but these kids have really taken us on a journey, they’ve figured out ways to win, they’re not afraid of any particular moment. I’ve usually had a Division I player, maybe two Division I players, but this is just an accumulation of tough, gritty guys that love to surprise people.”

Brown’s rotation features senior guard Quinn O’Hara (5-11), junior guard Jake Sniras (6-3), senior wing Jack Krautzel (6-1) and his brother, junior wing Brady Krautzel (6-1), and freshman forward Grayson Golek (6-4). Junior guard Cole Boruk (5-10) and junior wing Nick Bosch (6-1) have gotten a little time as well.

Sniras is the best pure scorer of the bench, able to get his shot off from anywhere. O’Hara has been a solid No. 2 the last two years, while the Krautzel brothers provide all the little things, from knocking down open shots to setting screens and defending all five positions. Golek, a promising inside-out player who can stretch the floor and defend the rim, has played beyond his youth.

“Their kids play well together, they have good synergy,” Downer said. “Every play, many of his plays have two or three movements, and if you make a mistake or get caught off balance, you can get stuck. He’s got a lot of flare-slips, a lot of backdoors, a lot of post-ups, but what impresses me, it’s kind of the same look every time down but they run it with really strong precision.”

Lower Merion won both regular season matchups, 85-69 at Lower Merion in December and 62-58 at Garnet Valley in January. The Aces haven’t lost since December 29, but the Jaguars are confident regardless.

"Jake Sniras is always telling us, 'Revenge game. Revenge game,’” O’Hara said after Garnet’s semifinal win over West Chester Henderson. “We keep that in our mind every game."