LOWER MERION — Garnet Valley’s Haley Warden, Maddie “Mini’ Ireland, Jordan Ireland, Macy Goldbach, Sam Tomasetti and Katie Stec answered questions after capturing the Central league girls basketball championship Tuesday night.
Why six of them? Because there’s never any one player that shines above the rest, which again was the case in Garnet Valley’s 55-27 rout of Ridley.
At the risk of sounding cliche, the Jaguars are truly a team whose sum is greater than its parts. It’s apropos that six players would speak on behalf of a team as balanced as any in District One Class AAAA. The Jaguars put the finishing touches on a perfect 17-0 Central League campaign by winning their first league basketball title (for boys or girls) in school history.
Not bad for a school that never was really known for its prowess in the sport of basketball. But things are changing.
The Jaguars are on a nice run over the last two seasons, which should extend into next year and beyond.
“As Mr. (Joe) Woods always says, ‘ Play for the team, not for yourself,” said junior Jordan Ireland, quoting her head coach. “That’s just who we are as a team.’
The Jaguars took down the Green Raiders for the third time this season. They dominated in a second half, that included a 21-2 run in the fourth quarter. The Jags (22-1 overall) wore down the Green Raiders (18-6) with sharp shooting from long distance and a suffocating full-court press that created points off turnovers.
It was close for a little while, but the Jags eventually pulled away.
“We just had to get in sync,’ said Warden, a senior forward. “At first, we weren’t making many of our shots. Nothing was really working for us (in the first quarter).’
It was a one-point game after the opening eight minutes and three-point Garnet Valley lead at intermission. And then everything changed.
In the second half, Garnet Valley shot 52.3 percent (11-for-21). That was a nice rebound from the opening half, when the Jags hit only 34.6 percent (9-for-26) of their field goals. The turning point came late in the second quarter when Mini Ireland converted a three-point play to break a 19-19 deadlock.
“I was more in rhythm in the second half,’ she said. “(The three-point play) really gave us a lot of energy.’
The Jags came out of the locker room nursing that same three-point advantage, and jumped on the Green Raiders in a hurry. Ireland reeled off 13 straight Garnet Valley points en route to scoring a game-high 15 points.
The Irelands, Warden (11 points, six rebounds, three steals) and Tomasetti (13 points, seven rebounds) all scored in double figures.
It became apparent Ridley couldn’t get anything going on offense beyond the exploits of combo guard Bree Mulhern, who had 10 of her team’s 19 points at halftime and finished with a team-high 14 points to go with four assists and six rebounds. Meanwhile, Marykate Rumbaugh, who was averaging double digits, was limited to only six points.
“If we were going to stop their offense, I would have to face-guard (Bree Mulhern) and stop her from scoring,’ said Jordan Ireland, who netted 10 points and supplied five assists. “Once I was able to face-guard her, Haley did a good job on the big girl (freshman Isabella Hamlin), Mini took the other twin and everyone else was just fine.’
It was a case of deja vu all over again for the Green Raiders, who started strong but floundered down the stretch.
“They’re a good team and outworked us in the fourth quarter,’ guard Taylor Mulhern said.
“We gave them a game again and we let it slip away in the fourth,’ added Bree. “Honestly, they’re a well-put-together team. We just fell apart and we didn’t do the little things, which really hurt us. We didn’t do what we did in the first half, either. So, it all went away for us fast.’
After that and-1 play by Mini Ireland, the Jags took off. They would go on to outscore the Green Raiders, 36-8, in the second half.
“You’ve got to come to play against them every single time,’ Taylor Mulhern said.
Garnet Valley’s average margin of victory against Ridley this season was 14.6 points. And who knows, maybe they’ll meet again in the district playoffs.
“Basically, we have to go into practice (today) and forget about this game,’ Bree Mulhern said. “Getting beat three times, and being embarrassed over and over again, is very difficult to take. But hopefully we’ll see them in districts.’
Ridley's Marykate Rumbaugh, right, tries to push a shot past Garnet Valley's Macy Goldbach. (Robert J Gurecki)
From left, Garnet Valley's Sam Tomasetti and Haley Warden battle with Ridley's Isabella Hamlin, center, and Kristin Saraceni. (Robert J Gurecki)
Garnet Valley's Maddie Ireland drives ahead of her Ridley opponents. (Robert J Gurecki)
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