Garnet Valley’s Kylie Mulholland tries a shot in the first half of the District 1 Class 6A championship game at St. Joseph’s University Friday night. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matt Smith
For 16 minutes Friday, Garnet Valley executed its game plan to near perfection. The Jaguars dictated the tempo, kept Perkiomen Valley’s potent offense in check, and capped an impressive first half with a strong drive and finish from Savannah Saunders at the buzzer, sending them into the break with a four-point lead.
But after halftime, the Vikings made one big adjustment. They decided to start feeding their 6-3 Navy commit, Quinn Boettinger.
Garnet Valley, which prides itself for battling against bigger teams despite not having overwhelming size, had done the unthinkable in the first half: holding the top-seeded Vikings to just 16 points. The same Vikings team that scored 90-plus on multiple occasions. But Perkiomen Valley wasn’t going to settle for questionable outside shots any longer. It went back to basics, working the ball inside and letting Boettinger take over.
No. 2 Garnet Valley was the better team throughout the first half of the District 1 Class 6A championship at Hagan Arena, but the Jags couldn’t contain a resurgent Perkiomen Valley after the break. The Vikings flipped the script with a dominant second half to claim their third straight district title with a 43-30 victory.
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