FORT WASHINGTON — Becca Booth and her Germantown Academy teammates don’t shy away from the fact that there is a basketball-sized target on all of their backs.
In fact, they relish it.
Success around these parts is nothing new for Booth and the Patriots. After all, they are a season removed from posting a 30-1 record and have won 59 of their last 61 Inter-Ac games over the past five years. Entering Tuesday evening’s home tilt with archrival Penn Charter, GA held an 11-3 overall record while winning its first league game last week.
However, there is no greater reminder of the Patriots’ role as the Inter-Ac’s hunted than when they play Penn Charter. To magnify matters, the Quakers came to GA having won 11 straight games, including a 65-28 drubbing of SCH Academy on Friday to open league play. In that game, PC senior guards Carmen Williams and Kait Carter each hit 1,000 points for their careers, and afterward, the duo spoke of one final goal they share: beat GA for the first time in four years and win the Inter-Ac.
It’s a solid goal to have, but here’s the thing: The Patriots still wear the crown, and judging by Tuesday’s effort, they are in no hurry to give it up to the challengers.
Senior guard Jaye Haynes scored a game-high 21 points, while fellow senior captain Maddie Vizza added 15 points and four three-pointers. The fact that Haynes and Vizza stepped up was no surprise, as the two will be playing Division-I ball at La Salle and Northeastern next year. However, with the Patriots down starters Caitlyn Priore (a Harvard recruit, out with an illness) and Elle Stauffer (Gettysburg, Achilles tendinitis) and a determined Quakers squad on the prowl, someone else would have to step up in a big way.
Game Highlights: Germantown Academy vs. Penn Charter
Enter Booth, a 6-foot-3 junior center, who came into the game averaging seven points and six rebounds. Using her size and strength down low, Booth fought her way to 11 points and 13 rebounds, many of which came on the offensive end, leading to second-chance opportunities in GA’s ultimate 61-47 victory.
“Throughout the season, I’ve been using my height more and more to my advantage,” Booth said. “I wasn’t scoring as much as I am now earlier in the season, but now I’m going in with the mindset that if I’m down in the block, I’m going to score because nobody can stop me down there.”
This one was never much of a game, as Haynes swiftly scored the game’s first six points and GA tallied 13 of the game’s first 15 points as a team en route to a 16-5 lead after one and a 36-17 advantage at halftime. The advantage swelled to as many as 22 in the second half, and PC (11-2, 2-1) never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
The Patriots (12-3, 2-0) also played exceptional defense on Penn Charter’s best two players. Carter and Williams scored 11 and 8 points, respectively, but neither got into a rhythm and were left frustrated with GA’s defensive intensity. Freshman Aleah Snead led the Quakers with 18 points, while fellow freshman Kelsey Bess added 10.
“I need to put us in a better position when we start the game,” PC head coach Joe Maguire said. “We cannot get down double digits to a team of that quality. We need to be more efficient on offense. We’ll bounce back from this and get better.”
With GA missing Priore and Stauffer, Penn Charter sensed a golden opportunity, but the Patriots are deep, balanced and experienced. The team has six seniors who will play sports in college (also Maddie Burns, who will play lacrosse at Michigan, and Sarah Dilello, heading to Ursinus for softball), so even the role players are supremely athletic.
“One of the things we talk about is making sure everyone is ready to play,” Patriots assistant coach Andre Strothers said. “Certain players have certain roles, but everyone is included as part of the team. This is the kind of game where non-starters and role players were very instrumental in getting us some good play.”
Strothers is a North Carolina native, and before the game he reminded his players that Penn Charter was the Duke to the Patriots’ UNC. It’s the oldest high school rivalry in the country, and with both teams playing at such a high level, even more juice was injected into the intensity of the stakes at hand.
He expected Haynes and Vizza to carry most of the water, but it was Booth’s emergence that has really tipped the scales.
“Over the last four games, Becca has really come on after a bit of a slow start attributed to rust from playing a fall sport,” Strothers said. “She’s spent extra time in the gym the last couple weeks, and it’s showing in games. We’re a pretty good outside shooting team most days, but when you have someone with Becca’s size and ability to rebound and put the ball in the basket, it behooves us to take advantage of that when it’s there. She is a key part of our offense, and we don’t want to just rely on perimeter play when we have a legitimate post player who can be a force.”
GA's assistant coach Andre Strothers instructs team during halftime (photo Ed Morrone)
The two teams will meet again soon, with the next battle scheduled for Jan. 30 at Penn Charter. With the way each has been playing, it would be no surprise if the game had even bigger league implications attached to it than this one.
GA scored the first blow; one the Quakers won’t soon forget
“I think we’ll bounce back and be fine,” Williams said. “We know what we need to do now based off what they did. Just need to keep the defense up, play smarter and match their intensity. The Inter-Ac will be close, but if we adjust, we believe we can definitely beat them the next time we play.”
As Strothers acknowledged after the game, there’s a lot more basketball to be played between now and Jan. 30 but make no mistake about it: when that date arrives, Booth and the defending champions will be ready once more.
“It’s always fun to play them and it’s even more fun when we win,” Booth said. “We’ve been looking forward to this game, and we just wanted to go out and prove GA could do it. Our goal hasn’t changed, and that’s to win the Inter-Ac and states again.
Germantown Academy vs. Penn Charter (gameday photos by Ed Morrone)
“We’re going to keep pushing. No slowing down. We’re defending our title. We know we have a target on our backs, and we are going to work hard to protect what’s ours.”