Episcopal’s Timmy Dennis takes a three-point shot against Haverford School in the first half Wednesday. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
Episcopal Academy’s plan Wednesday afternoon was clear from the start.
Haverford School would likely come out in a 3-2 zone defense to try to take away EA’s outside shooters. The Churchmen would have to counter by moving the ball quickly, hitting the extra man and knocking down any opportunities that opened.
When a 10-point first-half edge vanished into a tie game at the break, the answer was to double down on what had worked so well early. EA’s 8-0 run to start the second half created separation on the way to a 60-49 Inter-Ac victory. It was the same recipe that had led to a 14-4 start to the game.
“At halftime, it was all, ‘we need to do what we were doing in the first quarter,’” wing Timmy Dennis said. “We got off to a hot start. … We just needed to keep pushing. At halftime, we were talking about getting it to the middle.”
What worked for EA early was still effective late. The Churchmen got six quality looks from 3-point range on their first six possessions of the game. It yielded 14 points, with four makes and one in which Kevin McCarthy was fouled and hit two at the line.
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