Garnet Valley Girls Basketball Recap

By Alec Eskin

The start to the girls basketball season so far has been outstanding. They are on a roll right now as they head into the new year. So far, on the road, they have faced St. Georges Technical High School and Lower Merion. At home, they have faced Conestoga, Ridley, Bayard Rustin, and Great Valley. They have beaten all of those teams by more than 10 points. 3-0 in Central League play, 3-0 in Non-Central League play, and are 6-0 in total. With being undefeated, the Garnet Valley Girls Basketball team is atop the Central League. As of now, this start of the season is everything that the Jaguars could have wanted and more. Let’s journey into a recap of each of the games this season
The first game of the season was a dominating performance by the Jaguars winning against St. Georges Technical School by a final score of 62-25. In this game, GV shot 40% from three; this is well above average and the highest they have shot all year from outside the arc. Then they shot 67% from inside the arc. Also, in this game they had six steals and created a lot of turnovers. Additionally, the Jaguars allowed less than 10 points in every quarter. Overall, Garnet Valley dominated on both ends of the floor and had an “A” game.
The second game was similar in many ways. Garnet Valley dominated on the offensive end of the floor. They won by an outstanding score of 47-8. This game was great in two ways. First, this was the home opener for the girls basketball team, and also, this victory was a historic accomplishment: Emily McAteer became the all time leading scorer for the Garnet Valley Girls Basketball team. For any fan, it is always really fun to see history being created, and this basketball team certainly has gone above and beyond, setting amazing, new standards. This record was previously held by Christy Yarnell with 1,304 and was set in 1995. The overall record for Garnet Valley basketball is held by Austin Laughlin with 1,477 points and was set just last year. On the defensive side, Garnet Valley did everything accurately. First, Garnet Valley forced a astronomical 27 turnovers. In 12 minute quarters in the NBA, most teams fail to even force 25 turnovers. So, for Garnet Valley to force that many turnovers in a game shows that they are very skilled on the defensive end of the court. Conestoga made only three field goals the entire game. Lastly, Garnet Valley only allowed eight points. This was an incredible job, an “A+++” game on defense. On offense Garnet Valley also did what they needed to do. They shot 37 percent from the field. They made their shots and ran down the clock. This wasn’t an astounding offensive outburst, but the players did what was needed and won the game.
Next, the Jaguars played their division rival in Ridley. Garnet Valley took care of business and won 65-22, being the exact same score as the first game played. Garnet Valley on offense had a very good night beyond the arc and shot 42% from three. Also, Garnet Valley had 19 assists on 57 shots taken. What I also noticed is that Garnet Valley did a nice job of passing the rock in this game as well. On defense, the Jaguars only allowed 22 points and had 4 blocks and 3 steals. One again, the Jaguars stifled the opponent’s offense.
On the second leg of a back-to-back for the Jaguars, they faced Bayard Rustin. This, so far has been their closest game of the year, winning by a final score of 61-50. A difference in this game was that the Jaguars did not get as many points from beyond the arc as they usually do. They shot 19% from three but shot 64% from inside the arc. This shows that offense is able to operate both from in the paint and outside the arc. Garnet Valley had seven blocks and three steals as well. When playing back-to-backs, it is always hard on the second leg to be able to have a good performance, but nevertheless, Garnet Valley did a very nice job.
The next game was an away game for the first time in a while against Lower Merion. Garnet Valley continued to make impressive maneuvers and won by another amazing final score of 71-26, outscoring Lower Merion in every quarter. Garnet Valley had a very good day shooting from beyond the arc at 38% and shot 57% from inside the arc. In basketball those are above average. On defense, Garnet Valley got 6 steals and 1 block.
The next game for the Garnet Valley Girls Basketball team was in the holiday tournament against Great Valley. These holiday tournament games do count toward a team’s record as non-league games. If Garnet Valley won, they would be in the holiday tournament championship. If Garnet Valley lost, they would play in a consolation game. However, Garnet Valley dominated Great Valley and won 52-14. On offense, McAteer had ten points, Borcky had seven, and Falcone had nine, so it was a very good day on offense for the Jaguars. On defense, the Jaguars had an outstanding game and only allowed 18 points, which was a very accomplished opener for the holiday tournament for the Jaguars.
This game was the second game of the holiday tournament as well as the championship game against Central Bucks East. Both holiday tournament games were very similar in score for the Jaguars as they beat Central Bucks East 57-23. Garnet Valley was rolling on offense once again as they scored 57 points. In the girls holiday tournament, MVP Morgan Falcone had nine points and four assists. Also, McAteer had twelve points and four assists to go along with Anderson’s ten points. On defense, there was an abundance of blocks and steals which lead the Garnet Valley Jaguars to have a great night on defense and allow only 23 points.