Barnes is MVP as Garnet wins fifth straight Varsity Club title
Nicole Barnes scored all of two points in the Garnet Valley Varsity Club Holiday Invitational. That’s in the entire tournament, not just Garnet Valley’s 48-36 triumph over Great Valley in the championship game Thursday night.
Yet her floor play not only was enough to carry the host Jaguars to their fifth straight title, but enough to convince the tournament committee to select her as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Barnes did not score, but she handed out six assists and made five steals to help the Jags improve to 7-0. Brianne Borcky scored 11 points to join Barnes on the all-tournament team. Emily McAteer also scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
In the third-place game: ARCHMERE ACADEMY 49, CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 24 » Grace Gormley made the all-tournament team for the Crusaders.
In the Ridley Tournament: PERKIOMEN VALLEY 63, RIDLEY 34 » The Indians turned up the defensive pressure to roll over the host Green Raiders in the championship game. Perkiomen Valley limited Ridley to single digits in each quarter.
Point guard Dana D’Ambrosio and Lindsay Boyd led Ridley with 10 points each.
In the Downingtown Tournament: CHESTER 36, DOWNINGTOWN WEST 35 » A layup by Shaymoni DeShields in the final seconds enabled the Clippers to finish in third place.
DeShields also had nine rebounds and eight steals. Manija Ash shot 5-for-8 for a teamhigh 11 points for the Clippers (2-3). Destiny Gibson had eight points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Monique Colbert contributed five points and 14 rebounds.
In the Cardinal O’Hara Tournament: GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 74, NOTRE West DAME 52 » The Rams put up 48 points in the second and third quarters to pull away from the Irish.
Notre Dame had a 13-11 lead after one period, but GC put 26 points on the board in the second period to open up a 3725 advantage at halftime. That lead grew to 59-36 after three periods. Junior Azana Baines led the Rams with a game-high 23 points. Sophomore Bella Steidle pitched in with 20 points.
Mandy McGurk had teamhigh honors for the Irish (4-3) with 17 points. Emma Kichula added 14 points. Notre Dame plays Archbishop Carroll at 7:30 Friday, while Gloucester Catholic takes on Villa Maria Academy at 4:30. BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 61, SPRINGFIELD 39 » Beca High jumped out early to hand the Cougars (5-1) their first loss of the season. The Golden Hawks opened up an 18-10 lead after one quarter and had a 38-18 advantage at halftime.
Alexa Abbonizio did her best to bring the Cougars back with 15 points. Jordan D’Ambrosio added seven points and three assists. Alyssa Long also scored seven points for Springfield. CARDINAL O’HARA 50, EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 47 » The Lions were a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line including 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter. Molly Paolino made four of those free throws.
Kenzi Gardler tallied 11 of her game-high 24 points in the final quarter to helpo the Lions erase a 37-34 deficit. Luca Mamula led EA with 18 points.
In the Marple Newtown Holiday Tournament: MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 66, PENN WOOD 55 » Carle Andrews had a monster game with 21 points, five rebounds, six assists, one block and one steals, but it wasn’t enough to get the Patriots into Friday’s championship game.
Penn Wood takes on host Marple Newtown in the thirdplace game at 2:30 p.m.. Mount St. Joseph meets Owen J. Roberts for the title at 6 p.m.
Jada Hutt pitched in with eight points, 10 rebounds and one steal for Penn Wood.
In the Penncrest Tournament: SPRING-FORD 51, PENNCREST 32 » The Rams’ defensive forced the host Lions to settle for second place. Spring-Ford held Penncrest to single digits in every quarter and also controlled the boards.
Grace Harding led the Lions with 11 points. Kat Mullaney backed her with 10 points.
In the Robert Hopf Memorial Tournament: JENKINTOWN 52, SACRED HEART 44» The Kremp sisters lit it up from 3-point range to lead the host Drakes to the team title.
The two had seven of Jenkintown’s eight 3-point field goals. Jennifer Kremp had four en route to a game-high 14 points. Ashley Kremp had three triples and finished with 13 points for the undefeated Drakes (11-0). Jennifer Kremp was named the tournament’s MVP.
Eileen Piombino scored 13 points to lead the Lions (56) and earn a spot on the alltournament team. Sacred Heart never got closer than 48-44 with two minutes left in the game.
In the Boardwalk Basketball Classic: RADNOR 40, PENNSBURY 18 » Defense and the 3-point shooting of freshman Brienne Williams helped the Raiders take third place in the Frank McAlamen Memorial bracket.
Radnor scored 21 points off of 24 Pennsbury turnovers and held the Falcons to two baskets inside the 3-point arc and 13.5 percent shooting from the field (5-for-37) overall.
Williams connected on 3 of 6 from deep to lead the Raiders with 9 points. Missy Massimino added six points and four steals, while Ellie Mueller contributed four points, boards and four steals.
In the Carolina Invitational: BONNER & PRENDERGAST 52, MADISON (VA.) 44 » Dakota McCaughan shot 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help the Pandas secure a spot in the semifinals.
MBAP takes on Goose Creek (Va.), a 66-42 winner over Concord First Assembly Academy (NC) at 6:30 Friday.
McCaughan finished with 16 points to lead three Pandas in double figures. Nyah Garrison added 12 points and Alexis seven Gleason pitched MBAP (6-2).
In the Unionville Tournament: ACADEMY PARK 55, HAVERFORD HIGH 51 » Shantalay Hightower and Mahya Woodton were too much for the Fords. Hightower tallied 19 points and Woodton added 16 before fouling out to pace the Knights. Woodton has 1,019 points in her career, which leaves her 164 shy of the school record of 1,181 career points.
Sophomore Lindsay Lane the Fords with 11 points. in with 11 form Holiday led