Germantown Academy beats Malvern, stays tied for first
It didn't take long to realize that Germantown Academy junior Kyle McCloskey would be a thorn in the side of Malvern Prep.
It didn't take long to realize that Germantown Academy junior Kyle McCloskey would be a thorn in the side of Malvern Prep.
"McCloskey is single-handedly kicking our butt," Malvern Prep coach John Harmatuk told his players in the first quarter of Friday's pre-snowstorm Inter-Ac matchup.
McCloskey scored a game-high 28 points, with 21 coming in the first half of the Patriots' 88-84 triumph that was moved up to 4:30 p.m. to avoid the storm.
The victory keeps the three-time defending league champion Patriots (15-5, 4-1) tied atop the standings with Episcopal, which beat GA on Tuesday. Episcopal's game on Friday at Springside Chestnut Hill was postponed.
"This was huge," McCloskey said. "On Tuesday, we came out really slow and didn't play well."
In the first quarter against Malvern, McCloskey scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. He finished 10 of 16 overall with 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.
"The game was coming to me," he said. "Whenever I make my first couple shots I get confident. When Devon [Goodman] had to go out with foul trouble and they tried to take him and Evan-Eric [Longino] out of the game, I knew I had to step up."
Despite early foul trouble, Goodman, who has committed to Penn, finished with 24 points, including his 1,000th on a driving layup that gave GA a 55-54 lead with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
Longino finished with 14 points and eight rebounds before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent lower-leg injury. He did not return.
Malvern (11-8, 3-2) was led by Will Powers, who finished with 26 points while shooting 6 of 11 from three-point territory. O'Shaan Allison and Mike Hollingsworth each added 14 points.
Cole Storm (10 points) hit two critical free throws for GA after Powers drained a three to pull the Friars within, 86-84, with 9.9 seconds remaining.
A loss certainly would have dimmed the Patriots' chances for a fourth consecutive league title, but McCloskey remains optimistic.
"I think there's pressure, but we lost to Episcopal last year in our first go-round," McCloskey said. "I think we really come together as a team after losses like that. I don't think any of us is thinking about being the team that lets [the streak] down. We're really thinking about being our own team, staying together and fighting because we know we can still win this."
Germantown Acad. 22 19 23 24 - 88
Malvern Prep 18 27 18 21 - 84
GA: Devon Goodman 24, Kyle McCloskey 28, Evan-Eric Longino 14, Gabe Alter 9, Cole Storm 10, Ben Garcia 1, Bailey Whitman 2.
M: Mike Narzikul 5, Will Powers 26, Mike Hollingsworth 14, Brady Devereaux 12, O'Shaan Allison 14, Tommy Wolfe 7, Ray Baran 1, Billy Corcoran 5.
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