By Bob Grotz
The Garnet Valley girls got a royal sendoff Friday on their way to the PIAA Class 6A championship game at the Giant Center.
There were students at the high school waving good luck signs, teachers clapping and what’s this, a police and fire escort, sirens blaring to edge of Concord Township?
“It was great,” Jaguars senior Emily McAteer said. “It was nice to know everybody at Garnet Valley was behind us and rooting for us. The driver came a little late, so a bunch of students were waiting there for like 20 minutes. There were a bunch of kids outside, teachers. And then finally we got the escort. It was fun. It was great.”
The Jaguars deserved the VIP treatment. Deserving, on the other hand, had nothing to do with their 62-49 loss Friday to Peters Twp., a game in which they started slowly, fought to stay alive and just couldn’t get over the hump.
The 6A final matching two boundary teams was a rarity because the non-boundary teams – read, non-public school teams – basically can recruit because of relaxed open enrollment policies. Thus, the non-boundaries are killing it these days in district and state tournaments to the point where at least one state legislator wants changes. In the girls’ bracket, DeLone Catholic won the girls’ 3A championship. In 4A, it’s going to be Bethlehem Catholic or North Catholic. In 5A, Archbishop Carroll takes on Chartiers Valley. All non-boundary teams.
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