By Jack McCaffery
If a career in and around high school basketball coaching has taught Mike Brown anything, it is that plans can be fuzzy but adjustments can always provide clarity.
The stunning 48-46 victory that he guided 24th-seeded Garnet Valley to Friday night at No. 9-seed Upper Dublin in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class 6A tournament only fortified that belief.
Concerned about the Cardinals’ speed and the films having shown them to occasionally struggle from deep, Brown ordered an old-fashioned, one-foot-in-the-lane, hands-up 3-2 zone for most of the first three quarters.
“Then, they lit us up,” he shrugged. “So much for my scouting report.”
That, Upper Dublin did, going over the top for five first-half three-pointers and building a 30-14 lead on a Colin O’Sullivan triple early in the third. That’s when the Cardinals chose to go four corners.
The idea was to shorten the game. The effect was to widen the defense, the Jaguars springing both into a man-to-man and a frenzied effort to prove they were better than their seeding reflected. With Upper Dublin turning cold, Garnet Valley sizzled … and every role was reversed.