City of Basketball Love

By Jeremy Goode
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Do not let her 5-foot-4 frame fool you. Everything else about Kylie Mulholland’s basketball game is just big. 

Mulholland’s game was fully on display, showing how deep her basketball bag is, as she recorded her 1,000 point and helped Garnet Valley come back and defeat Notre Dame de Namur Irish, 62-57 at the 18th Annual Hoops for Hope Classic at Arcadia University on Jan. 30. 

Coming into the contest, Mulholland was only two points away from scoring her thousandth. Two shots into the game, she achieved the milestone, sinking a baseline floater. The game stopped to acknowledge the accomplishment, as Mulholland was mobbed by her teammates and coaches. She took pictures with the team and her family, which included signs made to celebrate the area’s latest 1,000-point scorer. 

“It was honestly a relief,” Mulholland said. “It really means a lot that I’ve worked this hard and earned this accomplishment. To have all my friends and family who supported me through all these years to be there and watch it is really awesome.”

Mulholland finished with 18 points and five assists. While she is a major part in Garnet’s Valley offense, Mulholland takes pride in her defense as well, viewing herself as a balanced player. In addition to scoring and assisting teammates for scores of their own, Mulholland, often the smallest player on the court, grabbed five rebounds and secured four steals against Notre Dame.

How does Mulholland overcome the height difference she often sees against other teams? After all, she mentioned that she has been one of the shorter players on the court most of the time.

It’s all her mindset. 

“I think I play taller than I am,” said Mulholland, who played for the Delco Goats on the HGSL circuit in the offseasons. “I don’t feel short when I am out there. I’ve always been this short and just worked around it.”

Heading into the fourth quarter, Garnet Valley trailed Notre Dame by 10 points. Haylie Adamski kept Garnet Valley in the game enough going into the final eight minutes, making six baskets while scoring 16 of Garnet Valley’s 21 third-quarter points. The Lafayette commit finished with 23 points, earning player of the game; sophomore sister Addison Adamski added 17 of her own, including four 3-pointers, and her twin Kylie Adamski added four and three rebounds to round out the scoring.

The fourth quarter belonged to Mulholland, and ultimately Garnet Valley. In the final eight minutes, Mulholland did what she does best: score the basketball. She scored 11 of the team’s 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a late three-pointer to reclaim Garnet Valley’s lead, 54-53, then sank six free throws in a row in the final minutes to complete the comeback and give Garnet Valley the win. 

Mulholland’s game is consistent. The third-year starter said her defense carries through her offense. Her rebounding and steals help the team in transition as everyone on Garnet Valley likes to run. 

As the point guard, she does her job. Lead. As a freshman, Mulholland was a major contributor to Garnet Valley’s 2022 Central League championship team. She led her sophomore season; her first year as a starter. She keeps everyone in check. She leads by scoring and getting her teammates involved, while also going up strong for a rebound or poking a ball loose on defense. 

Mulholland (12) poses with her teammates while friends and family hold posters in the stands. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Every year, Mulholland has increased her scoring. From freshman to sophomore year, Mulholland more than doubled her points per game, going from 4.9 to 10.7. During her junior season she increased her scoring to 11.8 points per game. And senior year, Mulholland’s scoring has increased to over 12 points per game. In her 108 games in which Mulholland participated on the varsity team, Garnet Valley has a 73% winning percentage.

Monday’s win improves Garnet Valley to 15-1 this season. They are currently 9-1 in the Central League. After losing to Haverford in mid-December, Garnet Valley has ripped off 10 wins in a row. Garnet Valley will get another crack at Haverford on Jan. 30. 

While Garnet Valley does not have the deepest unit, they have experience. Three of their five starters are seniors, including Mulholland.

“We don’t give up and this is a special team,” Garnet Valley head coach Joe Woods said. “The game was slipping away on us a little bit, but we just kept battling. We got it to a reasonable amount, and we held on.” 

While the senior point guard still has a few more weeks left in the season, her time at Garnet Valley is coming to a close. In terms of playing at the next level, that is still up in the air. Mulholland wants to go to school to become a nurse, and many basketball programs that reached out to her did not have the nursing program she was looking for. 

Ursinus reached out. So did Scranton. But without a nursing program, they did not fit Mulholland’s academic and professional plan. 

In recent weeks, Jefferson University reached out to Mulholland. They were also in attendance to watch Mulholland against Notre Dame. 

Mulholland would probably admit it was not her best game shooting. She shot 2-7 from beyond the arc. But even when the shot is not falling, her stat line and overall play does not suffer. She just finds other ways to get involved and contribute. 

Against Notre Dame, it was inside the arc and at the free throw line. It worked. 

“Kylie was clutch,” Woods said. “Six for six from the free throw line is not easy to do. She’s a good free throw shooter but with that pressure, games on the line… she swished all six. Year to year, she has been a leader.” 

By Quarter
Garnet Valley   8   |  13  |  21  |  20  ||  62
Notre Dame    10  |  17  |  17  |  13  ||  57

Shooting
Garnet Valley:  21-45 (8-19 3PT) 12-14 FT
Notre Dame: 23-50 (5-23 3PT) 6-12 FT

Scoring
Garnet Valley: Haylie Adamski 23, Kylie Mulholland 18, Addison Adamski 15, Kylie Adamski 6.

Notre Dame: Emma Anthony 14, Grace Nasr 13, Catie Kelly 9, Maddie DeFranzo 6, Alex Gillin 6, Sophie Hall 5, Riley Davis 4