Marple Newtown’s Matt Gardler, right, seems a little excited after hitting a three-point shot in the second half against Mastery Charter North Friday night, amid a 56-48 Tigers’ victory in a PIAA Class 5A second-round game. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group).
By Matthew DeGeorge
Marple Newtown can tell the tale of the third states win in program history in three 3s.
There was the triple from PJ Esposito, the sophomore wing, in the second quarter to get Marple’s offense untracked against a stingy Mastery Charter North Friday night. There was the one that Justin DiBona nailed late in the third quarter to give the Tigers their first lead since the first quarter, a four-point play falling into the Marple bench.
And then there was Matt Gardler, whose first high school game at the familiar family haunt of Cardinal O’Hara was one to remember.
Gardler beat the third-quarter buzzer with a desperation 32-footer, one of four 3-pointers he canned in the second half as Marple’s run in the PIAA Class 5A tournament soldiers on, with a 56-48 win over Mastery Charter North.
The Tigers (18-10) will take on Imhotep Charter, which defeated Radnor in a late game Friday, in a PIAA quarterfinal match Tuesday.