By: Alec Eskin

The Garnet Valley girls basketball team had been on a run coming into the Central League playoff game vs Harriton. They had just recently beaten a 19th ranked Conestoga team at Conestoga by a final score of 61-35. They were ranked number five overall in the Central League which resulted in Garnet Valley not getting a home game and having to travel to Harriton. Nevertheless, Garnet Valley was able to take care of business in a big way, with one of their best performances of the year, beating them by a final score of 47-30. 

The first quarter was a defensive struggle for both teams. Harriton started off the game on a 6-2 run thanks to a quick start from star point guard Annie Aspesi, who was honored earlier before the game after scoring her 1000th point on Tuesday. She is the 5th Harriton girls basketball player to do so. Then, Garnet Valley’s offense started to get in gear thanks to a multitude of players in Haylie Adamski, Savannah Saunders, and Ava Possenti contributing a 11-0 run for Garnet Valley. 

However, Harriton was not going to go away easily as they were able to make inroads and were only down by two 19-17 at the half. Both Felicity McFillin and Olivia Kanzinger  were able to hit a few threes along with some other shots falling for them to out score Garnet Valley 11-6 for the final 5:11 of the second quarter. Turnovers in the second quarter hurt both teams from being able to establish momentum and sustain it for a long period of time. 

The third quarter is where Garnet Valley started to really get their offense going and keep harriton at arms length. Haylie Adamski went on a personal 9-0 run, hitting three straight three pointers and going five of eight from beyond for the game. Garnet Valley was able to outscore Harriton by ten as the third quarter ended with Garnet Valley leading 34-22. 

The fourth quarter has the Jaguars playing strong defense and not letting Harriton get many open shots. The Rams were able to get to within seven in the fourth quarter, but the Jaguars were able to stop the run thanks to an Ava Possenti three pointer to put the Jaguars up by ten. This extinguished any momentum that harrition may have had and Garnet Valley was able to outscore them the rest of the way by ten and by five total points in the fourth. 

Overall, the Lady Jaguars were able to beat one of the better teams in 5A and the Central League in many different ways. One constant throughout the entire game was Ava Possenti who registered five steals and was affecting the passing of whoever the ball handler may have been. She was able to significantly contain Aspeci which allowed the Jaguars to outscore Harriton. Also, Emily Olsen was huge for the defense as well, securing many of Garnet Valley’s rebounds as well as getting a block. On offense, she was great with getting the boards there too and getting points in the paint. Lastly, Savannah Saunders and Kylie Mulholland off the bench were able to combine for eight points.

The Garnet Valley girls basketball team will play number one ranked Haverford for a third time this year at Haverford at 12:00 PM on Saturday. They have beaten Garnet Valley in their previous two matchups in close fashion. Garnet Valley will be tasked with containing Sky Newman and Caroline Dotsey as well as a multitude of Haverford players.