Garnet Valley’s Jack Krautzel tries to finish at the basket against Spring-Ford’s Jacob Nguyen during a DIstrict 1-6A boys basketball quarterfinal on Feb. 24 at Spring-Ford. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
The word that came to mind when watching Jacob Nguyen Friday night was control.
Control for the 6-4 Spring-Ford guard to get shots up over the zone defense that Garnet Valley started with in a District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal. Control to see a GV defender trying to run him off the line, pump-fake and dribble into the lane for a silky jumper. Control to help the Rams come close to shutting out Garnet Valley’s leading scorer, Jake Sniras.
It was part of a thorough controlling of the No. 8 Jaguars, Spring-Ford into the district semifinals with a 56-38 win.
Nguyen supplied 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-6 from inside the arc, deploying his array of floaters and his uncanny length around the goal.
But more impressive may have been his shadowing of his close friend Sniras. His fellow sophomore entered the game as the Jags’ leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, including four massive points in the second overtime of the Jags’ states-qualifying second-round win over Methacton Tuesday.