City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

GLEN MILLS — There was no state playoff miracle this time around for Garnet Valley. 

The Jaguars went toe-to-toe with Central York in a PIAA 6A first-round matchup, acquitting themselves well against one of the best teams from central Pennsylvania for the second straight season. But unlike last year, when a buzzer-beating 3-pointer got the Jaguars into the second round, it was the Panthers who closed strong for a 69-60 win on Saturday afternoon. 

It’s the third straight year that the season ended in the state tournament for Garnet Valley (19-10), which made a run to the District 1 6A championship game for the first time since 1997. That’s a far cry from a decade ago, when the program was still on the upswing from three consecutive one-win seasons.

“I reminded them at the end of the regular season,” head coach Mike Brown said, “if we could get to the districts and even better, get to the states, that they would have so much fun, they’d look back and never forget it.

 “It’s really, really a lot of fun, between the crowds and the pressure and the celebrations if you do well. And they got to see that, fortunately, we played a lot of games before we got knocked out. They’ll remember it for a long, long time.”

The Jaguars ran into a strong Panthers group, one which was the top seed in the District 3 playoffs before getting upended in the quarterfinals by a Red Land group it will now face in the second round of states. 

The size of Central York, which boasts 6-foot-8 junior forward Ben Rill and 6-6 senior wing Greg Guidinger, was a problem for a mostly-undersized Garnet Valley squad. Brown’s carefully designed offensive attack, which usually features a heavy dose of backcourt cuts for layups, was stymied at points, forcing the Jaguars into more tough jumpers than they’d like.

“It was really difficult to run our stuff, it was, and they had us well-scouted,” Brown said. “They switched a ton, and when teams switch you try to slip the screen and get to the rim, but waiting at the rim is an enormous kid. Getting second shots was nearly impossible because of their size. It’s a credit to them, they were very very good.”

Rill finished with 15 points, tied for a game-high, along with junior guard Ben Natal. Guidinger added 11 points, plus nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks, shaking off an off shooting night to go 5-of-6 from the line in the game-deciding fourth quarter. 

“I thought Greg Guidinger played an unbelievable game,” Central York coach Jeff Hoke said. “He didn’t shoot great, [but] he did everything else we needed for us to win the game. He rebounded well, he passed well, his defense was great, he blocked shots. He’s our one senior and he played like a senior today.”

Garnet Valley got 13 points and five assists from junior guard Jake Sniras. Seniors Quinn O’Hara and Jack Krautzel added 11 each in their final games in Jaguars uniforms. 

Garnet Valley took a 46-45 lead into the final period in a game that saw Central York score the game’s first eight points and lead all the way into the third quarter, though for the most part not by more than a couple buckets. A 3-point play by Garnet Valley’s Brady Krautzel (12 points, 6 rebounds) gave Garnet Valley its first lead at 42-39 on a 3-point play midway through the third quarter. 

But Central York (22-3) scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter and was able to hold its host at arms’ length from that point onward. Garnet Valley wasn’t quite able to hit enough shots, while Central York got a few easy run-out buckets and hit its foul shots.

The closest point came after another Brady Krautzel 3-pointer with over three minutes left in the game, off a turnover, which made it 55-53. But Central York’s Brooklyn Nace (5 points) responded immediately with a 3 of his own, before R.J. Jackson (12 points) scored a transition layup to extend the gap right back to seven.

“I thought we played defense and rebounded really well down the stretch,” Hoke said. “They’re a great, tough team, good shooting team, I thought we made them take a lot of contested shots — they made a lot of good shots, too, oh my gosh.

“I wasn’t comfortable until the final buzzer, until 30 seconds when both teams subbed out. I’ve seen them live against Lower Merion, seen six games on tape, and there wasn’t one thing I saw that didn’t scare me.”

Brown expects Garnet Valley to be in contention for another state bid next year with three starters returning in Brady Krautzel, Sniras and freshman Grayson Golek, who added nine points and three assists on Saturday. 

And while this year’s run might not have been as long as the Jaguars wanted, Brown knows that his group can mark down the season as a successful one. 

“I think they’ll feel great about it, I don’t think it’ll take a couple weeks, honestly. Couple days,” he said. “They know what they accomplished, and whatever we face next year, it’ll not be the first time they face it.”

By Quarter
CY:  21  |  13  |  11  |  24  ||  69
GV:  18  |   9   |  19  |  14  ||  60

Shooting
CY: 24-52 FG (4-17 3PT), 17-28 FT
GV: 20-50 FG (9-25 3PT), 11-13 FT

Scoring
CY: Ben Rill 15, Ben Natal 15, Ryan Jackson 12, Greg Guidinger 11, Saxton Suchanic 5, Doug Layer Jr. 4, Ryan Brown 2

GV: Jake Sniras 13, Brady Krautzel 12, Jack Krautzel 11, Quinn O’Hara 11, Grayson Golek 9, Cole Boruk

~~~

PIAA 6A Boys (local games)

First Round (Sat., March 9)
12-3 Archbishop Wood 81, 1-5 Methacton 73
1-1 Lower Merion 85, 3-6 Cedar Crest 55
1-3 West Chester Henderson 80, 2-2 Hazleton Area 73
3-4 Reading 65, 1-4 Chester 63
3-5 Central York 69, 1-2 Garnet Valley 60
12-1 Roman Catholic 63, 1-11 Downingtown West 37
1-6 Coatesville 57, 11-2 Liberty 46 (2OT)
1-8 Springfield (Delco) 59, 12-2 Lincoln 43
11-1 Parkland 65, 1-10 Plymouth Whitemarsh 35
3-1 Cumberland Valley 84, 1-12 Bensalem 59
1-9 Spring-Ford 55, 2-1 Scranton 52
3-2 Chambersburg 72, 1-7 Central Bucks East 41

Second Round (Wed., March 13)
1-1 Lower Merion vs. 12-3 Archbishop Wood
1-8 Springfield (Delco) vs. 1-9 Spring-Ford
1-3 West Chester Henderson vs. 12-1 Roman Catholic
3-1 Cumberland Valley vs. 1-6 Coatesville