By Bruce Adams
As if to satisfy the standing-room-only crowd Friday evening, host Haverford School and Malvern Prep treated the fans to, not four – but five – quarters of fast-paced, high-octane basketball.And when the final buzzer sounded, Haverford School (17-0, 5-0) gutted out a 93-90 overtime win against Malvern Prep (12-6, 4-1) in a battle of Inter-Ac powers.
Haverford’s 6-foot-6 senior guard Christian Ray, who scored 36 points despite picking up three first-quarter fouls, said, “This was the fastest game we’ve played this season, by far. I knew Malvern was going to play fast, run a lot up and down the court. Malvern shoots the ball a lot, and we had to match it.
“When the game ended, my first thought was, ‘Thank God it’s over.’ My legs had started cramping and I was getting really tired.
We just played tough – we never mentally checked out, never got too high or too low. We were trailing by seven, then we were up by seven with five minutes left and [Malvern’s] Deuce Turner hits a three from 30 feet away to give them momentum.”