(Photos / Videos by: Mark Zimmaro, Colleen Claggett & Kathy Leister)
By Marc Narducci
Top two seeds squaring in both Friends League championship game:
At least as far as the seedings go, there are no surprises as to the participants in the Friends League girls’ and boys’ basketball championship games.
La Salle University will host the championship doubleheader on Friday.
In the 6 p.m. girls’ championship game, it will be (2) Germantown Friends School vs. (1) Westtown School
In the 8 p.m. boys’ title matchup, it is (2) Academy of the New Church vs. (1) Westtown School.
In each instance, top seeded Westtown will be the favorite, but both No. 2 seeds refuse to concede anything.
Here is a look at the title games.
Girls' Championship
Germantown Friends School (20-4) vs. Westtown School (19-4).
Germantown Friends advanced with Tuesday’s 33-27 win over Friends Central School.
One of the most dominant players in the league, 6-3 Dartmouth-bound senior Clare Meyer, came up big again with 14 points. Senior Martina Kiewek and junior Ndaia Blakney each had eight points.
“It was a rock fight, a grind it out type of game and suited us well,” Germantown Friends coach Mike Lintulahti said.
Germantown Friends vs. Friends Central in Semifinal Game.(highlights by Mark Zimmaro)
No, it wasn’t big on style points, but the idea is to advance and Germantown Friends has thrived on winning these tight defensive struggles.
This is the first team in school history to win 20 games.
Winning No. 21 won’t be an easy task.
Germantown Friends senior Clare Meyer talks about the second half shift. (Video/ Mark Zimmaro)
Germantown Friends junior ndaia blakney hits two 3-pointers in win vs. Friends Central. (video/ Mark ZImmaro)
In the regular season, Westtown won by a 48-19 decision, but after three quarters, Germantown Friends was in the game, trailing 31-17. Westtown would pull away with a 17-2 fourth quarter.
“We played them tough the first time and we will go in and they will respect us,” Lintulahti said.
That is certainly the case.
“They are a veteran team and Clare is really a good player,” Westtown coach Fran Burbridge said. “She is a Division I kid and they have some talented kids around her who can really play.”
Burbridge wasn’t finished.
“They have good size and Mike does a terrific job coaching them,” Burbridge said.
Westtown vs. Shipley (semifinal game highlights by Kathy Leister for PSD)
westtown senior guard Meliah Van-Otoo talks about how defense was key. (Video/Kathy Leister for PSD)
“They are definitely a formidable opponent and somebody we know we have to play our best against.
Westtown cruised in the semifinal, defeating Shipley, 77–31.
(A young Shipley team with three eighth graders playing prominent roles, will be heard from in the future).
In the semifinal win, all 10 players who suited up, scored for Westtown, led by 6-1 Rutgers-bound Kaylene Smikle, who had 24 points. Sophomore Zahra King had 17 points and junior Grace Sundback scored 14.
This season against Friends League competition, Westtown has had no letdown, never acting like a big favorite, but more like a hungry underdog.
“The girls have done a good job each game competing and it is a credit to the way they practice,” Burbridge said.
“They show up each day and compete against each other and it translates to the games.”
For Germantown Friends, reaching the final is a big deal, but Lintulahti and the Tigers are entering the game as if they have some unfinished business to take care of.
“We are not just happy to be here,” he said. “We are coming in to compete and fight against a great team and put our program on full display.”
Westtown vs Shipley in semifinal game. (photo gallery by Kathy Leister for PSD)
Boys' Championship
Academy of the New Church (16-5) vs. Westtown School (23-7), 8 p.m. at La Salle.
ANC survived an expected tough semifinal with a 58-55 win over No. 3 seeded George School.
It was the second classic matchup between these two this season, with ANC earning a 72-69 regular season win.
Academy of The New Church vs. George School semifinal game (Highlights by Colleen Claggett for PSD)
ANC senior forward Anthony McCall discusses the familiarity of getting to the final. (video by Colleen Claggett for PSD)
While happy to advance to the final, ANC coach Kevin Givens feels there is a lot his team has to clean up.
“We didn’t play our brand of basketball and we didn’t shoot fouls and that almost cost us the game,” Given said.
The stats backed that up.
In the semifinal win, ANC shot just 11 for 22 from the foul line.
To be able to win against a quality team like the George School and not shoot well from the line, says something about ANC.
Junior point guard Elmarko Jackson led the way with 17 points. He was 2 for 4 from three-point range. As a team, ANC wasn’t bad from beyond the arc – 5 for 12 (41.6 percent).
ANC leading scorer, 6-4 senior Anthony McCall, had 11 points and six rebounds.
Academy of The New Church vs. George School. (photos/ Colleen Claggett for PSD)
One of the unsung heroes was Jarell Keel, a 6-2 junior, who had nine points, four assists and three rebounds.
“Jarell Keel played his best game of the season,” Givens said.
Senior guard Isaiah Milien had eight points and hit two crucial free throws down the stretch.
In the regular season, ANC was more than competitive against Westtown in a 77-68 loss.
Westtown jumped to a nine-point lead at halftime and the teams were even, 38-38 in the second half.
McCall had 26 points, shooting 9 for 14 from the field.
Westtown was challenged by Shipley, which really played well down the stretch under first-year coach Alvin Williams, the former Germantown Academy, Villanova and long-time NBA player.
The Moose prevailed with a 60-45 semifinal win.
“As expected, Shipley and Coach Williams made tonight's game a much closer contest than the final score indicated,” Westtown coach Seth Berger said.
“Our kids hung tough on defense and really grinded out a very tough win.”
Dereck Lively II, the 7-1 Duke commit and No. 1 player in the country, had 13 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.
Jameel Brown, the 6-5 Penn State commit contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Junior guard Seyphon Triplett, who has really been coming on, had 15 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Yet another junior, 6-5 Matt Mayock, provided 13 points and three rebounds.
And did we mention Quin Berger?
A 6-2 senior combo guard, Berger will be a key against ANC. In the first meeting he scored a career-high 38 points, hit five three-pointers and shot 14 for 16 from the foul line.
Westtown vs. Shipley boys' semifinal game (highlights by Kathy Leister for PSD)
Westtown senior guard Dereck Lively talks about how emotional control was crucial to their victory. (Video/Kathy Leister for PSD)
Westtown vs. Shipley Boys' semifinal game (photo gallery by Kathy Leister for PSD)
The bottom line is both teams have several players capable of taking over a game, one reason that makes this matchup so fascinating.
“The final against ANC is going to be one heck of a game,” Seth Berger said.
“The fans are going to see a really close contest, no doubt."