One minute to glory leads Pirates to win over Tigers
Under the watchful eye of both head coaches and a referee, Strasburg's Dylan Walker tries to grind his way through Garaway defenders Jaret Wallick, left, and Jenson Garber. Garber was whistled for a foul here, but Garaway's defensive effort early in the fourth quarter was the turning point in the Pirates' win over the Tigers.
For most of the Inter-Valley Conference Showcase showdown between the Garaway Pirates (15-4) and Strasburg Tigers (13-7) Saturday, Feb. 12 at Claymont High School, the Tigers had the Pirates on the ropes.
However, in a one-minute span to begin the fourth quarter Garaway turned up its defensive pressure about 80 degrees, creating a red-hot oven the Tigers struggled to deal with. That defensive effort led Garaway to a 49-43 win that was far closer than the final six-point spread would indicate.
“We don’t normally like to extend our defense out that far,” said Garaway head coach Terry Rowe. “We were left with no choice. Strasburg was doing a great job of spreading the floor and they have some great ball-handlers and three or four really good shooters. But I thought at that point Sam Page brought some real energy to the game when we needed it most and we got after it.”
The two teams were pitted against one another thanks to each finishing runner-up in their respective IVC North and South divisions, and this particular matchup didn’t disappoint.
The teams banged away at each other to the tune of an 11-all tie through one quarter, and Strasburg held a slight 21-19 advantage at the half.
Strasburg’s unique floor-spreading offense that relies heavily on its talented crew to handle the ball well was creating issues for Garaway, and in the third period the Tigers pushed out to a 29-23 lead on the shoulders of Landon Potopsky, who sat out most of the second quarter in foul trouble.
“We wanted to slow the pace down to our style, which I think we did a good job of,” said Strasburg coach Adam Hall.
Potopsky started using his length and athleticism to get to the rim, with his four straight points helping Strasburg build its lead to 29-23. Garaway answered on a beautiful Jenson Garber and-one and Sam Page’s score inside around a Potopsky drive, and the Tigers led 32-27 heading into the final period.
That was when Rowe’s crew came out with a defensive intensity it had not exhibited throughout the first three quarters, and they made their stops pay off by converting quickly on the other end.
“They had a few possessions late in the third quarter where they didn’t score but gained some momentum and confidence,” Hall said. “Then they came out and scored seven straight on us and we had to abandon what we were doing.”
Logan Yoder started the run with a 3-pointer to begin the period to trim the deficit to one. Brady Roden made a steal and from the seat of his shorts made a perfect pass to a streaking Alex Roden for a lay-in and the lead. A stop and an Alex Roden drive pushed Garaway’s lead to 34-31, forcing Hall to call a timeout.
Cole Hutchinson hit two free throws for the Tigers to get them back to within a point, and Jarret Wallick and Potopsky traded two-pointers to keep Garaway’s lead at one.
Garaway’s ferocious defense started taking a toll again, and Yoder fed Page for an easy score inside and Page made a steal and converted one of two free throws to move the Pirates’ lead to 39-35. Potopsky’s two free throws kept the Tigers close, but Brady Roden fed Alex Roden again for a score. With 1:54 left, Matt Stevens dropped a huge trey for Strasburg to get the Tigers back within one point at 41-40, but Alex Roden, who would score 10 huge points in the final period, scored on a put-back to extend the Garaway lead to 43-40. Strasburg turned it over with 1:17 to play, and Alex Roden would tack on two free throws with 55 seconds left to make it 45-40.
Strasburg wouldn’t back down, and Elijah Firebaugh connected on a monster triple to make it 45-43.
With time now a real concern, Rowe said there was one objective. Knowing the Tigers wanted to foul to stop the clock, the goal was to get the ball to Drew Mullet. The high-scoring guard had been held scoreless on the evening, but he did get the ball and was fouled, and his two free throws found nothing but net. With 18 seconds to play, Brendan Chapman came up with his biggest play of the evening, getting a steal and calling timeout. Again, the Pirates got the ball to Mullet, whom the Tigers didn’t wasn’t to foul but had to due to the time left. Just as before, Mullet’s aim was true, neither free throw touching the rim and Garaway held a 49-43 lead with 12 seconds to play. After the Tigers failed to connect on a 3-pointer and Garaway grabbed the board with three seconds left, Strasburg chose not to foul, giving the Pirates a big win.
Potopsky led the Tigers with 15 points, while Cole Hutchison added eight and Andrew Harvey, Matt Stevens and Firebaugh added six apiece. The balanced Pirates were led by Alex Roden’s 12, with Yoder adding nine, Brady Roden and Wallick scoring six apiece, Page and Garber each tacking on five and Mullet hitting four huge late free throws for his total.
While Rowe liked his starting five’s effort, he heaped praise on his bench crew of Garber, Chapman and Page for their contributions.
“Our last there, four games our bench has brought a ton of energy into the game and have been a difference-maker,” Rowe said. “Chapman, Garber and Page have given us a dimension that a lot of other teams don’t have in terms of energy and we are so grateful to those guys.”
The loss was heartbreaking for Hall and the Tigers, who led much of the way, one positive is that the team is finally healthy again, something that bodes well for tournament play.
“It was nice to get Andrew (Harvey) and Cole (Hutchison) back,” Hall said. “That’s the first minutes Andrew has played since he was first injured, and Cole played just a few minutes against Conotton Valley. Getting them back, especially at this time of the year, is huge for us.”