By Joseph Santoliquito
For someone who had about 90 minutes of sleep over two days, Sun Valley coach Steve Maloney looked pretty good Friday night. He was riding an adrenaline rush after his wife Amanda gave birth to their second child, a 6-pound, 14-ounce baby girl named Raelynn at 3:40 a.m. Friday morning.
Maloney wanted to stay by his wife’s side and had no intention of coaching the Vanguards on Fright night in their opening-round PIAA District 1 Class 5A playoff game against visiting Holy Ghost Prep and legendary coach Tony Chapman.
But in a scene stolen straight out of Rocky II, Amanda whispered to Steve at bedside, “Just win, and come back at 9:30.”
That’s what Sun Valley did, 54-45, behind some clutch shooting from junior Chris Kwaidah, dropping in a game-high 17, and some big plays by Todd Harper, Noah Griffin and Nick Gianakopoulos, one the Sun Valley’s two seniors.