Garnet Valley comeback against Central York falls short
CONCORD » Gifted in the art of the comeback, Garnet Valley made a second-half move to gild their never-say-die persona Saturday in their first home game of the postseason.
The team that went from a 14 seed to District 1 Class 6A finalist before finally bowing to top-seeded Lower Merion found itself debuting in the state tournament down again against a good Central York team disguised as a low seed out of District 3.
Down seven at the intermission, the Jaguars posted another second-half run, only this time, the other guys had the stamina to withstand it, then collect themselves. Central York proved to be the better, calmer team in the fourth quarter en route to a 69-60 victory over the Jaguars in the PIAA Class 6A tourney.
So ends a somewhat memorable postseason for the Jaguars (19-9) consisting largely of heroic comebacks, even if they felt it ended too early.
“Honestly, we played our hearts out, but the shots weren’t falling,” Quinn O’Hara, just one of two starting seniors for Garnet Valley, said of the fourth quarter. “All we could is play as hard as we could and we did and it just didn’t go our way. It was definitely hard to get our shots off with how big they were.
“They put it away, and did a great job. It just happened so quick. It’s a bummer.”
Though both teams start their share of underclassmen, Central York was well balanced with size, skill and speed. It was all the Jaguars could do to keep up in an active first half, and the Panthers, who were the fifth seed out of District 3 yet now sport a 22-3 season record, stayed steady for a 34-27 lead at intermission.
“They’re a good team. They were mis-seeded because they got upset (in the District 3 tournament), and they were the No. 1 team from their district,” Garnet Valley coach Mike Brown said. “So we knew we were going to have a hard time. But you need a good shooting percentage against a team like that and I don’t think we did. Mediocre at best.”
That wasn’t the case in the third quarter, which essentially opened with a smart series of passes to give the Jags’ Grayson Golek a layup. Central York’s Ben Natal canned a three-pointer to extend it to 37-29, but Garnet countered with a Jack Krautzel basket, then consecutive three-pointers by O’Hara, quickly tying the game at 39 and staggering Central York.
“At this point of the season, everybody you see is a contender,” said Central York’s 6-foot-7 wing player Greg Guidinger, the school’s all-time leading scorer and son of former NBA player Jay Guidinger. “Everybody can make big shots. They did a heck of a job shooting threes. Kudos to them for being able to light it up and get themselves back in the game. But from a game-plan standpoint I think we really buckled down and we did a good job.
“The game isn’t going to be perfect for all 32 minutes. It’s how you respond. Basketball is a game of runs.”
A Grayson Golek basket followed by a tough, threepoint play completed by Brady Krautzel put Garnet Valley up 42-39 with 3:58 left in the third. But that 13-2 run in the third quarter would prove to be the Jaguars’ zenith. What cooled them off quickly were three straight fouls late in the quarter, two of them of the needless and hyper variety.
“We’re used to being behind early, but not necessarily (behind) late,” Brown said. “We’ve been down almost every game in the postseason. But when we got down today late, we rushed some shots and fouled way too early. Just panic-type stuff that we talk about all the time.”
If anything, their fouls slowed GV’s momentum. The Jaguars were still up 46-45 entering the fourth, but offensively they had slipped out of synch. When Central York’s Ryan Jackson knocked a ball free, picked it up and went in for a layup, the Panthers forged a 47-46 lead a minute into the fourth quarter. The Jaguars would never get their lead back.
Ben Rill hit a pair of gifted free throws, Saxton Suchanic batted a missed shot back in for a 51-46 lead, and the Panthers were on their way. The Jaguars showed some life when Jack Krautzel hit a shot to close it to 55-50, then a Garnet press turned the ball over, and Brady Krautzel hit a 3-pointer.
But before the cheers died down on that shot, Natal countered with a 3 of his own, then Jackson broke free and put in a beauty of a scoop shot for a 60-53 lead. Before long, both Brady Krautzel and Jake Sniras would foul out and the Panthers were in command.
Sniras had 13 points for Garnet Valley, Brady Krautzel adding 12 while Jack Krautzel and O’Hara scored 11 each.
For the Panthers, who play the winner of Red Lion and Emmaus in the second round Wednesday, Natal had 17 points, Jackson scored 12 and Guidinger added 11.
“At the end of the day, I think it just came down to how bad we wanted it,” Guidinger said. “It was nothing to do with our skill, nothing to do with our talent. It was about how hard we wanted to work. We threw everything out the window and we just said, we’re going out there and play as hard as we can.”