City of Basketball Love

By Terry Toohey (@TerryToohey)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2024-25 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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CONCORD – The open gym was in full swing at Garnet Valley’s 2020 Center and to no one’s surprise, senior Haylie Adamski led the way.

If there was a newcomer, the senior guard took the time to introduce that player to the rest of the players in attendance. Once drills began Adamski was at the forefront, showing the rest of the team how it’s done.  

That’s what three-time captains do, they take charge and Adamski has been a leader since her freshman year.

“She’s one of the best overall players, not only from a basketball standpoint but also one of the top leaders I’ve ever had,” said Joe Woods, who is in his 22nd year at Garnet Valley and 27th overall as a head coach at the high school level. “Kids look up to her for who she is. She’s just a quality kid. She works hard and loves the game and the kids see that.”

Adamski’s love of the game is in her blood. She comes from a hoops family.

Her mom, Stacie, played at Bishop Hoban (now Holy Redeemer) High School in Wilkes-Barre where she was part of two District 2 championship teams, recorded more than 1,250 points and 1,000 rebounds and was the Wyoming Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior. She went on to play at Kutztown and is a member of the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame.

Her father, David, also played at Bishop Hoban and helped the Argents reach the Class 2A semifinals as a senior in 1996.

They passed their love of the game onto their children starting with Haylie.

“I’m surrounded by it all the time so I really like it,” said Adamski, who was selected as the homecoming queen this past fall. “It’s never been a chore to go play basketball. I’ve always wanted to be in the gym and my dad always asks if I want to go the gym and I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’”

Adamski never had far to go to get a workout in.

“We have two hoops in the driveway,” Adamski said. “We’re always shooting out there. If we’re not there we’re in the gym here after school. Mr. (Seth) Brunner (the athletic director at Garnet Valley) is nice enough to let us in the gym so we’re always shooting.”

Adamski takes charge whenever she’s on the court, be it in a game or a work out. It just comes natural to her.

“I’m the oldest of five siblings so I’m kind of like a second mom to them, helping out around the house, and that comes through on the basketball court,” she said.

The Jaguars will be counting on the leadership of Adamski and fellow seniors Kylie Mulholland and Savannah Saunders as they look to duplicate or better last season’s incredible PIAA tournament run where GV advanced to the Class 6A semifinals before falling to eventual state runner-up Spring-Ford.

Garnet Valley returns five of its top six scorers from that team that went 25-7, starting with Adamski, a four-year starter. She averaged 14.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. She has averaged at least 13 points a game in every season and ranks second in school history with 1,291 career points. Adamski has a shot at the school record of 1,773 points held by Emily McAteer, who will serve as an assistant coach this season. Adamski has already committed to Lafayette.

Also back is Mulholland, a two-sport standout who helped the soccer team win the Central League title and advance to the PIAA Class 3A tournament. She posted 11.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game last season.  

The other returning starter is senior Savannah Saunders, who also plays soccer and lacrosse. She averaged 4.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Also back are Adamski’s younger twin sisters Addison and Kylie, who are both sophomores. Addison was fourth in scoring (5.8 ppg) and also collected 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. Kylie contributed 2.8 points and 1.0 assists per game. Both started on occasion.       

Behind Adamski and Mulholland the Jaguars averaged 52.8 points and 10.6 assists per game. However, as good as Garnet Valley was on offense, its calling card was defense. GV held the opposition to 35 points for less 18 times and went 17-1 in those games. They allowed 37.3 points per game and recorded 10.3 steals per outing.

“We weren’t expected to go far,” Adamski said. “We finished third in the Central League and sixth in District 1 and everyone said that we weren’t going to make it past the first round (of the PIAA tournament). We drove to Easton and people were like, ‘I don’t know how this is going to go,’ I said, ‘No, we’re going to win.’”

Garnet Valley did win. The Jaguars overcame an early 16-2 deficit to beat Easton Area in overtime, 58-50.  Garnet Valley went on to beat District 3 champ Central Dauphin (52-46) and North Penn (58-51) before falling in the semifinals. It was Garnet Valley’s deepest run since making the state final in 2019.

And so the expectations are high. They always are at Garnet Valley. The Jaguars have made the state tournament 10 times in the last 11 years. The only year they didn’t make it was in 2021 when the state tournament was limited to district championships because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s going to be a challenge, but the Jags are up to it.

“I think we will be really successful this year,” Mulholland said. “I’m really excited to get back on the court with this team because I think we’ll be really good. Going as far as we did last year gave us a lot of experience playing really good teams in tough environments. We have most of the same girls back so we’re excited for this season.”