Academy Park’s Nick Simmons, right, hangs in the air to deny Malvern Prep’s Quinn McCahon Monday. McCahon hit a big 3-pointer in double overtime to lead Malvern to a 98-92 win at the Steve Juenger Classic. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
By Matthew De George
The first words out of Will Powers’ mouth Monday evening spoke volumes.
“I’m definitely tired,” the Malvern Prep guard said. “We fought long. Double overtime, it’s hard.”
The final score didn’t conceal the details of a scintillating affair — a 98-92 win for the Friars over Academy Park in double overtime in the opener of the Steve Juenger Classic at Haverford High School. But that eye-popping scoreboard declaration somehow undervalues the excitement that helped assemble this classic. The pace of the game was what you’d expect if the managers filled the Gatorade buckets with rocket fuel. And between two teams that like to push the tempo like few in the region, the craziness of the game seemed to be in the offing as soon as both teams showed up for warmups in nearly-matching blue jerseys.