Baker reaches grand total as O’Hara leaves Carroll behind
Last week Amaris Baker became the 15th player in the storied history of Cardinal O’Hara girls basketball to score her 1,000th career point.
Baker has spent three years as a Lion after transferring from Baldwin School of the Inter-Ac League.
The future Kennesaw State (Ga.) Owl wasn’t acutely aware of the approaching milestone prior to her senior year. She scored her 1,000th point in a win over St. Hubert on Feb. 21.
“I didn’t know about it until the second game in, and that’s kind of when everything started, like the countdown going on in my head,” she said. “It was great to get 1,000 points.”
All Baker needed to score Saturday was 11 points to have a huge impact on O’Hara’s 55-37 victory over Archbishop Carroll.
The Lions (6-3) avenged an an early season loss to the Patriots. O’Hara’s three setbacks against Carroll, Archbishop Wood and West Catholic have been by a combined six points.
“The first time we played them, we played slow,” Baker said. “We played their game and that was just not our game, but it was also early in the season. As the season went on, we used our speed more and tried to get as much (offense) in transition as we could, and that’s what helped us win the game today.”
O’Hara ran the open floor with precision Saturday. Baker drilled a
3-pointer right before the horn at the end of the first quarter to put the Lions ahead, 15-5. Overall, the Lions used a 15-0 run in the first half to pull away from the Patriots. By halftime, O’Hara was comfortably in front of the Patriots, 28-11.
Baker and junior Sydni Scott set the tone offensively with their strong guard play. Senior wing Siobhan Boylan was excellent on defense and converted some tough baskets inside the paint. Baker produced 11 points and three assists, Scott had 13 points and three steals, and Boylan posted
10 points and a pair of dimes.
Annie Welde and Maggie Doogan were low-post forces for the Lions. Each player finished with nine points, eight rebounds and a blocked shot.
“The biggest thing is, in practice we have fun, obviously, but we beat each other,” Welde, a sophomore, said of her competitive relationship with the junior Doogan. “You know, we push each other to be better every day, so that when we go up against other people, it’s kind of exciting and we are ready for it.”
O’Hara led by as many as 26 points in the second half. The Patriots failed to establish any sort of rhythm on offense and were stymied by O’Hara’s zone and man-to-man defense. AllDelco guard Grace O’Neill drilled two 3s, but shot just 2-for-10 from the field. Meg Sheridan tallied 13 points and freshman Brooke Wilson recorded eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. But the Patriots shot 3-for-18 in the first half and 11-for-36 (30.5 percent) for the game. O’Hara hit on 42.2 percent (19-for-45) of its shots.
“We have a lot of confidence in each other,” Baker said. “We are all working to get better.”
The win keeps O’Hara in the hunt in the Catholic League Red Division. O’Hara and Carroll are tied for third place, one loss behind second-place West Catholic. The top two finishers in the Red Division will play for the Catholic League title next month.
Matthew Hurford’s pre-race routine took a bit of a hit Saturday at the District 1 Class 3A championship.
As in a tumble down some stairs at York YMCA just before the 200 freestyle, leaving him with a scratch on his arm, the meet briefly delayed and the Garnet Valley senior in a little bit of a different headspace than usual on the block.
All things considered for Hurford, finishing eighth in 1:44.31, only six hundredths of a second slower than his time at Centrals, wasn’t that bad.
“I feel like it kind of took me out of the moment for a minute, and I only got into racing the 200 after the first hundred,” Hurford said by phone. “But I’m still OK with the time because of what happened.”
Judging by what he did later in the 100 free, it’s pretty clear how much the fall took out of him.
Hurford earned silver in the 100 in a time of 47.11 seconds. Even more impressive is that Hurford is usually a distance specialist, who swam the 500 at states last year.
But at Centrals last week, Hurford called an audible. He didn’t feel comfortable with his 500 there, and given training disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic reducing the yards he can put in, he opted for the shorter option.
The work he’s been doing on his start and breakouts paid off, Hurford the clear second-place finisher behind North Penn’s Max Bachman.
Normally, a bad first swim would be followed by a night to sleep on it. But with social-distancing considerations jamming the district meet into one day, Hurford had a couple of hours. So he channeled the setting, knowing he could either lick his wounds and accept this as the last meet as a Garnet Valley swimmer or go after it. He chose the latter.
While he’s not guaranteed a spot at states, he’s in good position. Only district champs, instead of the usual five, are automatic qualifiers, along with eight at-larges (instead of 16) statewide. Hurford’s time has him in the hunt.
“It’s going to be pretty nervewracking,” Hurford said. ‘But I talked to Clark (Bickling, GV’s coach) after it and we’re just going to go back at it normally and we’re going to look forward to Y Nationals. And if I make states, that’s great and I can focus on that.”
The more pressing question is whether he’s willing to shed the distance label and be recognized as a sprinter.
“I’m not sure I know the answer to that,” he said. “Probably a mix of all three, to be honest.”
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Rhett Cosgrove wasn’t happy with the fourth place finish he got at Centrals last week in the 200 free. Saturday, he channeled that disappointment into a bronze medal in the 200 free with a time of 1:42.36.
“I like to race, so at Centrals when we had the tri-meet, no one was really pushing me all that much,” Cosgrove said. “To have great competitors, it really helps a lot . ... I just wanted to beat those guys. The time wasn’t awesome but I’m happy with third place any day.”
Cosgrove was also third in the
500 free in 4:37.32. He earned a medal in fourth place in the medley relay with Jack Undercofler (seventh in the 100 butterfly, fourth in the 100 backstroke), Nathan Kellerman and Chase Bentley. That foursome was eighth in the 200 free relay.
Jake Kennedy continued to drop time in the 50 free, the Springfield freshman going 21.20 to take the bronze medal. His brother Luke Kennedy was 16th. The Kennedys teamed with Brandon Decker and Jacob Johnson (eighth in the 100 fly) to medal in the 200 free relay in sixth. Michael Huegel took eighth in the 500 free for Springfield.
Marple Newtown’s Matthew Gray was 13th in the 200 individual medley and 16th in the 100 backstroke. Kyle Given of Haverford finished
13th in the 100 fly.
Ridley’s 200 free relay of Eric Boeckx, Brandon Redkar, Eric Tanzosh and Wyatt Shanks re-set their school record of 1:29.86 to garner
11th.