Mirror images: Similarities exist between Peters Township and Garnet Valley
Courtesy of The Delaware County Daily Times
Garnet Valley’s Jillian Nagy shoots a three-pointer in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament against Cedar Crest.
If a giant mirror was placed on the middle of the court at the Giant Center, then the girls basketball teams meeting for the PIAA Class 6A championship, Peters Township and Garnet Valley, would look a lot alike. They are mirror images.
Neither program has played for a state title but will at 6 p.m. Friday night in Hershey. Each are in search of a 30-win season.
“I think we expected to do well, and our goals have been to just improve every day,” Garnet Valley coach Joe Woods said. “It’s about not being satisfied. I knew we were going to be pretty good.”
But pretty good has only left Woods and Garnet Valley (29-1) watching other teams from District 1 raise the state championship trophy. In each of the last two years, the Jaguars had their season end in the second round to the eventual state champion – Boyertown in 2017 and Upper Dublin last season. This is the Jaguars’ seventh consecutive season qualifying for the state tournament but the only time they’ve advanced past the quarterfinals.
Garnet Valley has tournament wins over Cedar Crest, Bethlehem Freedom, Council Rock North and Neshaminy, the latter in the semifinals Monday night.
“There wasn’t a sour taste at all but it definitely provided more motivation,” Woods said of second-round losses the past two seasons. “My players have been in a lot of tough games and have made it pretty far. This senior class is battled-tested, motivated and mature. They have been through tough games and have learned from them.”
Playing for a state championship is just the tip of the iceberg when comparing the two teams.
Both Peters Township (29-0) and Garnet Valley won district titles for the first time this year.
Each has at least three players taller than 5-11.
Similar to Peters Township’s Mackenzie Lehman, who is a Liberty University lacrosse recruit, Jaguars forward Madison McKee’s primary sport is lacrosse. She has signed with La Salle University.
Makenna Marisa isn’t the only Division I basketball recruit in the game as Garnet Valley has Loyola of Maryland recruit Emily McAteer, the school’s all time-leading scorer, and Drexel recruit Brianne Borcky. Each has scored more than 1,000 career points.
All five starters for Garnet Valley are seniors.
“A lot of them have played together starting at the youth level,” Woods said. “I’ve never had a team in 16 years, and coaching boys basketball before that, where all five starters were seniors. We have a balanced group that can score, play defense and is unselfish, which goes back to the senior leadership.”
The other similarities show how equally dominant these teams have been this season. Garnet Valley has 22 wins by double digits, is shooting 47 percent from the field and averaging 35.7 rebounds per game. Peters Township has 25 double-digit victories, is shooting 48 percent and pulls down 33.4 rebounds per game.
“Peters Township is an outstanding team with great balance and a premiere player,” Woods said, referring to Marisa. “They have good size, focus on defense and can put the ball in the basket. They absolutely present a great challenge. Any team that gets to this point is excellent.”