Marple Newtown’s Ryan Keating goes up for a layup in a game against Garnet Valley last season. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
Ryan Keating has played with Matt Gardler long enough to know when the time is coming.
Much as Gardler, the 1,000-point scoring guard, finds getting his teammates involved to be his primary role, there are games that demand he call his own number and simply be the best basketball player on the floor. Keating can sense when those stretches are about to arrive, and he knows what he and his Marple teammates must do to complement Gardler’s star turns.
In Friday’s District 1 Class 5A opener, the time dawned in the third quarter, Gardler pouring in 12 of his game-high 23 points to put away No. 12 Strath Haven, 64-40.
“He just starts hitting shots, and you can tell he’s in rhythm,” Keating said of Gardler. “So, you know, give him the ball if he’s open, just help him do what he does.”
The win sends fifth-seeded Marple (18-7) into next Wednesday’s quarterfinals at No. 4 Upper Moreland, with a states berth on the line.
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