Spring-Ford stays alive in playbacks
It got extended to double-overtime Friday.
But the Spring-Ford boys basketball team handled the situation well in its game with Garnet Valley ... well enough, in fact, to get added time to its post-season life.
The Rams went on a big scoring tear in the extra periods, enough to come away with a 9385 victory over the Jaguars in their District 1-6A 9-10 playback game. They moved one win away from state play as one of the district’s 10 qualifiers, pending the outcome of Tuesday’s game with Downingtown West.
Ninth-seeded Spring-Ford and 16th seed Garnet Valley played all even in regulation at 72-72, and 77-77 after the first OT. But the Rams’ 16-point tear in the “sixth period” was more than GV could keep pace.
Austin Hokanson and Adam Geremski each scored five in the second OT to lead the locals, with
Noah Baker contributing another four.
Baker had 25 points to lead a quartet of Rams scoring in double figures. Baker’s total was one more than the 24 of Hokanson, which he bolstered with a 6-for-10 at the foul line.
Nestor Diaz chipped in with 13, and Chucky Drummond added another 10 to the Spring-Ford total. The Rams were a solid 22-for-27 from the foul line, Diaz going 4-for-4 and Hokanson 3-for-4 in the fourth.
Wrestling
NATIONAL PREPS >> Kyle Gorant and Will Hare remained in the gold-medal chase through the first day of national-level action at Lehigh University.
Gorant and Hare both went 3-0 at 132 and 285, respectively. Teammates Devin Calhoun bowed out at 160 with successive losses in the quarterfinal and second consolation rounds, and Dymir Davis-Carruth went a similar route at 220.
Gorant started out with a 47-second pin of Metrolina’s Jacob Hattaway, following it with a 6-0 decision of St. Christophers’ Seth Wagner and a 4-3 decision of St. Benedict’s DeShawn Herbert. The bracket’s third seed will meet Wyoming Seminary second seed Jake Riegel in Saturday’s semifinal round.
Hare, the sixth seed at 285, scored a third-period pin of Phillips’ John O’Brien, a 3-0 decision of John Carroll’s Adam Berg and a 3-2 decision of Peddie’s Thomas Rayam. His semifinal opponent will be second-seeded River Henry of McCallie.
At 195, Pottstown resident Michael Beard reached the tournament’s semifinal round. The top seed in his weight class, the junior from Malvern Prep pinned his three opponents — Zac Venos of Canon, Carter Johnson of Landon, Jeffrey Thompson of Trinity-Pawling — in a combined 2:48 to set up a semifinal-round matchup with fourth seed Nick Mosco of Blair.
Austin Hallman (West-Mont Christian Academy) went 0-2 at 160. The Wings junior was edged by Dani Yan of St. John’s Houston in the consolation bracket, after sustaining a technical fall in the opening round against Benedictine’s Christos Avgeros.
Hallman had placed sixth at the Pa. Independent Schools Wrestling Tournament last weekend at Malvern Prep.
SOUTHCENTRAL AAA >> Daniel Boone’s Jesse Enck will be going for gold Saturday after winning his semifinal-round bout from the regional tournament at Hershey’s Giant Center.
The Blazer senior advanced in the 220-pound weight class with a 4-2 decision of Dallastown’s Bryce Shields. He will face Cedar Cliff’s Francis Dugan, who pinned Spring Grove’s Nathan Young in the other semi, for the gold medal.
Enck also maintained his unbeaten record for the winner, extending it to 33-0. He’s qualified for the PIAA Class AAA Championships the weekend of March 9-11, looking to improve on last year’s seventhplace showing.
Co-Ed swimming
EASTERNS >> Alberto Mestre highlighted The Hill School’s showing on the first day of action at Franklin & Marshall.
Mestre won the 50 free, beating his meet record from the preliminaries with a 20.00. The boys’ and girls’ 200 free relays both scored sixth-place finishes in their finals.