City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@owen.mccue)
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BERWYN —It would be an understatement to call the Conestoga and Haverford girls basketball teams familiar foes.

The Pioneers and Fords met up for the ninth time in three seasons on Friday night in the Central League semifinals as the matchup that decided the league champion in both of the past two seasons took place a round earlier.

After falling to Haverford in the league title game in each of the past two seasons, second-seed Conestoga broke through for a grind-it-out 28-23 win over the third-seed Fords to book a third straight trip to the Central League title game. Conestoga will face top seed Garnet Valley on Monday at Marple Newtown.

“It’s definitely really exciting because they’ve beat us in the championship twice and we wanted to get our revenge, and we’re not done yet,” Conestoga junior Ryann Jennings said. “We still have the championship Monday, and we’re still going to be prepping for that.”

Conestoga (18-5) entered the season with one win in its last seven games against the Fords (18-5). The Pioneers won both regular season meetings, starting the new year with a 38-32 win on Jan. 3 and closing the regular season with a 36-32 victory on Tuesday.

The squads were tied 8-8 after one on Friday night and the Pioneers held a 17-14 advantage at halftime. 

“I feel like we’ve played them so much that we know they’re stuff, they know ours,” Conestoga senior Janie Preston said. “It’s just a battle to win it, and it’s always going to be a close game. It’s hard to pull away.”

Neither team scored for the first six and a half minutes of the second half until a pair of Jennings free throws. A turnaround by Preston a few moments later marked the only field goal of the third quarter as the Pioneers held the Fords scoreless in the period to go up 21-14 heading into the fourth.

Conestoga grew its lead up to eight before freshman Grace Maloney hit a three for Haverford’s first points of the second half with 6:06 to play.

“Part of it is we’ve played them so many times, but also our man-to-man defense is really good and that’s what helps us get away with it,” Preston said. “We’re good at getting the rebounds and playing against those tough teams.”

Maloney scored the game’s next points with 3:20 to play. Fords senior Mya Foley made it a one point game, 22-21, with 1:50 left.

The Pioneers ticked the clock down and held on and held on until Jennings hit a pair of free throws with 13.5 seconds left to put her team ahead 24-21. Preston fouled Maloney beyond the arc with 3.5 seconds to go. The freshman made two of three and Preston countered with a pair to finish off an unaesthetic semifinal victory.

“We knew we had to come up clutch for the team with those free throws,” Jennings said. “We just walked up to the line and we just took deep breaths.”

It’s been 17 years since Conestoga claimed a girls basketball title. Though they’ve knocked out the squad that’s denied their past two attempts, the Pioneers have an even tougher test lying ahead on Monday in a Garnet Valley squad that defeated them in both regular season matchups.

“We haven’t gotten one since 2008,” Preston said. “I think that’s a legacy we want to leave and I’m excited for it.”

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1) Garnet Valley 59, 4) Lower Merion 40

The top seed Jaguars took care of business to book their first Central League title game appearance since winning the championships in 2022.

Garnet Valley (22-1) rode its standout seniors to the semifinal win. Haylie Adamski poured in 23 points, while Kylie Mulholland added another 16. Addie Adamski chipped in another 10 points for the Jags, while Savannah Saunders piled up six assists.

Freshman Natalie Kasmer led Lower Merion with 10 points, while classmate Clara Rendle added nine.

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Boys

1) Penncrest 61, 6) Marple Newtown 56

The top seed Lions booked their first championship game appearance since 2019 behind 21 points from Sean Benson and 19 from Theo Gladue.

Penncrest led 46-37 after three quarters before junior Jack Dean and senior Matt Gardler rallied Marple in the fourth. Gardler had 10 of his game-high 26 in the fourth, while Dean had eight of his 14 in the period.

Lions junior forward Mikey Mita finished with 16 points and came up with a big block late that helped Penncrest get back to the Central League finals

"Gardler's an amazing player and it's really tough to beat a team of that caliber three times, so we hung on," Penncrest coach Mike Doyle said.

"I've won a couple district and the Central League before, but they're the most talented," Doyle added on his team. "But they're as close as any team I've ever had. When they're on the floor, they play with a motto of good to great ... which is unbelievably refreshing in this day and age."

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 2) Lower Merion 49, 5) Springfield 43