Saunders’ D helps GV’s scorers overcome North Penn
BENSALEM » The members of the Garnet Valley girls basketball team are enjoying every moment of their run — many would call it an unlikely run — in the PIAA Class 6A tournament.
The Jaguars pulled off another shocker Friday night at Bensalem High. Their big three of Haylie Adamski, Kylie Mulholland and Emily Olsen combined for the lion’s share of offense in a 58-51 triumph over North Penn in the state quarterfinal round.
One player who didn’t score a single point but made the biggest impact was Savannah Saunders, the Jags’ defensive ace.
Saunders is always told ahead of time that her No. 1 job is to guard the opposing team’s best player. It’s a test she has passed many times over this season. She faced perhaps her toughest challenge Friday against Caleigh Sperling, North Penn’s dynamic senior guard who dropped 30 points in the District 1 playbacks against Haverford last month.
Saunders, a junior small forward/ guard, delivered. She came away with three steals in the first quarter and made life difficult for the superstar Sperling, who managed only three made baskets and 11 points on the night. Thanks to Saunders, Garnet Valley’s biggest concern was a nonfactor.
“We knew she was one of the best players on their team, so we had to stop her somehow,” Saunders said. “We went back and forth with our zone and man, but we thought our man defense would stop her the best.”
Nobody on the Jaguars roster was shocked to see Saunders excel against one of the best all-around players remaining in the 6A tournament.
“We put her on the best kid every game and she comes through for us all the time,” Mulholland said.
Garnet Valley coach Joe Woods knows he can count on Saunders to cause havoc with her defense. He made sure Saunders knew that everyone believed in her Friday.
“I do take a lot of pride in it and
it’s a really good feeling when he says that,” Saunders said
GV raced out to leads of 7-0 and 16-6 in the first period due to sensational team defense spearheaded by Saunders.
“She’s our defensive stopper,” Woods said. “It doesn’t matter their size, either, and she’s always matched up against the team’s top scorer. We knew that (Sperling) scored 30 against Haverford and we knew we would put Savannah on her. Savannah’s not the most outstanding offensive player, but we’ll take that defense every night. She could’ve had two or three offensive charges on that girl tonight. We have trust in Savannah, like with all of our girls, and they trust each other.”
Mulholland hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter and Olsen provided seven points, three rebounds and two steals as the Jags started hot from the floor (8-for-13). The Knights stumbled out of the gates shooting 2-for-13.
North Penn chipped away at its largest deficit of 14 points in the second quarter and went into the locker room trailing by eight points at the half. In the third quarter Cameron Crowley, Olivia Stone and Leah Mikulski each buried a 3-pointer to pull the Knights within four points. A Mikulski putback and two Lily Brown free throws tied the score at
41 before Olsen hit a jump shot inside the paint to give Garnet Valley a 43-41 advantage after three.
The Knights grabbed their first lead when Mikulski hit a triple early in the final stanza. Mulholland drove to the hoop to put the Jags back in front. Crowley scored to put the Knights back ahead by one, but Adamski answered with a 3-pointer. The Jags would not relinquish their lead again.
Olsen controlled the low post and converted three free-throw attempts late in the fourth quarter, helping the Jags seal the win. She finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
“Last game I was more of a shooter, so if they watched that film I knew they would come out more. So that made it easier to use my physicality to drive and battle inside,” Olsen said.
Mulholland had an outstanding game running the point and scored seven of her game-high 21 points in the fourth. Adamski added 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Garnet Valley takes on SpringFord in the state semifinal round Monday night at a neutral site.
“We’re the underdogs again,” Olsen said. “We keep beating all of these good teams, so why not us? Why not just go out there, give it our all and win the game.”