City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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GLENSIDE >> Once she went in, Arcadia couldn’t afford to take Delaney Finn out.

The Knights, already short-handed before being hit with foul trouble early in Saturday’s game against visiting Immaculata, need a spark. They got it from the freshman guard out of Northeast Philly, who stepped on the floor confident and rarely left it after.

Finn had the best game of her young college career, scoring a game-high 17 points as Arcadia outlasted the Mighty Macs 63-60 in a back-and-forth game.

“I just needed to focus, play hard and do everything I needed to for us to win,” Finn said. “I’ve been working on my shot a lot, so I think that helped with all of them going in.”

Finn, who played her high school basketball at Archbishop Ryan and her travel ball with the Mid-Atlantic Magic, has been a presence off the bench all season for Arcadia. In her first seven appearances prior to Saturday, Finn had averaged 2.85 ppg in 12 minutes per game.

Against Immaculata, Finn set season-bests with 17 points, 29 minutes played, five rebounds and two assists, all while having her best shooting game of the year by hitting 6-of-7 attempts overall and 5-of-6 from three. Finn wasn’t the only Arcadia player to contribute in a game that came down to the very last shot, but third-year Knights coach Jackie Hartzell highlighted the guard’s impact at a needed time.

“She gave us a spark we really needed,” Hartzell said. “We’ve been struggling shooting the ball lately so to have her come off the bench and make shots the way she did, it really gave us a spark and hopefully there’s more of that from her to come.”

When Abby Beam picked up her second foul with 6:34 left in the first quarter, Hartzell quickly sent Finn to the scorers' table. The freshman didn’t come off the court again until halftime and she got right to work, nearly doubling her career scoring total in the process.

Finn got her first bucket on a layup cutting to the rim off a pass from classmate Taylor Koenig and she nailed her first three-point look with three seconds left in the opening quarter to cut Immaculata’s lead to 15-13. The 5-foot-4 guard added another trey then assisted a three by Hanna Rhoades in the second quarter, which closed with Arcadia getting a personal 6-0 run by graduate student Scarlett Glasser-Nehls for a 32-26 lead at the break.

“If I get in, I’m going to do everything I can and go as hard as I can,” Finn said. “The threes definitely helped, then my defense, with those combined I was able to help the team.”

Beam came back to start the third and the junior guard was on the floor late for a couple of integral plays. With Finn playing well, Arcadia was able to use both guards after halftime and Finn rewarded the coaches for the extended playing time with nine points after the break.

Her best stretch came in the fourth quarter. With Arcadia trailing by a point, Finn made a nice pass to a cutting Rhoades for a 53-52 lead then a possession later, the two traded roles with Rhoades driving and kicking to Finn for a knockdown three in front of the Knights’ bench.

Arcadia's bench watches Finn's final 3-pointer. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The first-year guard had one more big shot in her, draining a three off a find by Glasser-Nehls for a 59-54 lead with 2:28 to play. Finn's efforts on the afternoon raised her season numbers to 9-of-21 from three, good for 42.9 percent, and increased her scoring average to 4.6 ppg.

“It just felt really good, I had a lot of confidence today,” Finn said. “I shot it and when it went in, I felt really happy.”

As Finn was discussing her contributions on the day, Knights assistant coach Jim Ricci walked by, gave the guard a pat on the shoulder and noted “that’s all Northeast Philly.” While her senior year at Archbishop Ryan was challenging in terms of on-court success, Finn was still a second team All-PCL selection and Hartzell added the freshman is someone willing to be coached and always responds when challenged.

“Delaney is battle-tested,” Hartzell said. “She played in the Catholic League, she’s a tough Northeast Philly kid, she always gives her best effort. She’s been shooting the ball ok this year but it was nice to see her breakout, there were a couple big possessions where we just needed a basket and she stepped up. To be able to have a freshman do that is huge.”

To Immaculata’s credit, the Mighty Macs came right back. Reese Mullins, who paced the visitors with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double, knocked down two free throws then Olivia Ettore connected on a three and Tessa Liberatoscioli converted a layup to go back in front 60-59 with 38.2 seconds left.

Arcadia called a timeout to advance the ball, then got a driving layup from Rhoades for the go-ahead basket with the clock reading 31.9 to play. With Immaculata taking a timeout, Arcadia used the opportunity to sub Beam in for Finn and Beam came up big with her defense forcing a tough shot that was off the mark and forced the Mighty Macs to foul.

Beam would knock down a pair of free throws with 1.7 left, but Arcadia still had to endure one last look from the visitors that would have forced overtime. 

“We definitely got punched, Immaculata is a really tough team, they made some big plays and got some tough offensive rebounds but we responded every time,” Hartzell said. “That’s really nice to see, we have some injuries right now, so we’re a little bit smaller and we’re asking those players who are smaller to out-rebound bigger, athletic players and they’re doing the best they can.”

After what she felt was a strong start to the season, Hartzell hadn’t seen the same kind of crisp play from the Knights in recent games. Even with a couple contributors still out, the first thing she told the group after Saturday’s win was that she felt like they had their team back.

Arcadia had four players in double figures, with Glasser-Nehls netting 13 of her 15 in the first half, Rhoades finishing with 11 and Delaney Bell tallying a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds behind Finn’s pace-setting 17 markers. Harztell also felt like the Knights’ shot selection overall was better, most of their perimeter looks being generated off ball movement.

“One of the biggest plays of the game was Hanna driving to the basket and kicking out to Finn for a three,” Hartzell said. “It was an unselfish play and the right play. Those plays get you going and we played team basketball, Hanna making that play was really, really big.”

Hartzell added that it's difficult for any freshman to come in and contribute right away, no matter what role they’re asked to fill. Finn has given her new team her best every time she’s called upon and both the guard and her coaches hoped Saturday’s breakout performance would be a springboard for the remainder of the season.

“It was a little bit hard at first, it’s different going into college from high school,” Finn said. “I got used to it pretty quick I think, it feels really good to be here and be able to play in college.”