Girls Basketball: Fail’s success at line lifts Garnet Valley to win

CONCORD >> Garnet Valley’s Sydney Fail likes shooting free throws so much that she is always the first one to volunteer in practice. “I love foul shots,” Fail said. “They’re kind of my thing.” Fail’s teammates depend on her to come through. Coach Joe Woods does a drill in practice where the team is asked to run after every missed foul shot. Fail usually saves them from running for too long.

“Coach Woods will ask who wants to do them and I’m always the first one to raise my hand,” said Fail, an Ursinus commit. “We’ll run if we miss. He usually picks on someone, but if he asks I’m always the one raising my hand.”

Fail put her skills on display Tuesday night in Garnet Valley’s season opener against Springfield. The senior forward shot 9-for-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and scored a team-high 14 points to help the Jaguars claim a 42-34 decision.

“It works out for times like this when they’re obviously needed,” Fail said. After sophomore Morgan Falcone converted a pair of freebies to tie the game at 28-all, Fail netted her team’s next seven points. Fail drained a 3-pointer with five minutes to go to put the Jaguars ahead to stay, 31-28.

“Sydney came up huge for us,” said sophomore forward Brianne Borcky, who had six points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots. “We needed her to make those foul shots.”

After her triple, Fail went to the charity stripe on each of GV’s next two possessions. Unrattled, she calmly sank four freebies to extend the Jags’ lead to seven.

“They’re important to have,” Fail said of her foul shots. “(Coach Woods) talks all the time about how foul shots win games.”

In a rematch of last winter’s Central League championship game, the Jaguars handed the Cougars (2-1) their first defeat of the season. The Jags bounced back from a listless first half (6-for-23 shooting with seven turnovers) and kept senior guard Maggie O’Connell and the Cougars at bay.