GA's Evan-Eric Longino (left) and Kyle McCloskey

By Jonathan Vander Lugt

Just seven days prior to its matchup with longtime rival Penn Charter, Germantown Academy looked out of sorts in a season-opening loss to the Haverford School.

Evan-Eric Longino scored just seven points. No one, other than Kyle McCloskey, scored more than four. It was the first time that GA had lost a conference season opener in more than a half-decade.

A different team matched up against the Quakers, though. Since that loss, the Pats have rolled to four straight wins, including their 71-47 whooping of PC Friday night.

“I don’t think that we played as well as we could have,” said GA head coach Jim Fenerty. “I felt like the seniors were putting too much pressure on themselves.”

So, he started a pair of sophomores against PC, Brian Basile and Kahlil Ashley-Diarrah. Ashley-Diarrah was held quiet, but Basile chipped in, offering eight points throughout the night. The support to Longino and McCloskey was welcome—as the lack thereof was what put the nails in the coffin in the loss against the Fords.

“Brian especially got a lot of key putbacks,” Fenerty said. The support wasn’t only from him—Cole Storm let loose for 10, more than doubling his conference season total.

“He’s got bigger kids to pass to,” Fenerty said, of Storm, “so that helps.”

“It was a good win,” he said. “Any time we beat Penn Charter, my job is guaranteed for at least one more game.”

It was a close one for a while, though. The Patriots led just 10-9 through the first quarter, and found themselves down in the second.

In a display of their youth, Basile, not long into the quarter, handled the ball at the top of the key. Ashley-Diarrah, his passing target, wasn’t aware. Basile’s pass caromed off of the side of Ashley-Diarrah’s face, into Penn Charter’s hands.

Mason Williams took the ball down the court for the Quakers and sunk an easy layup. Down 18-14, Fenerty called a timeout.

“This was the first time that they’ve started at a home game,” Fenerty said, “and I think that they were starry-eyed.”

“Unless you’ve experienced that, it’s a whole different thing,” he went on. So, he subbed in seniors Josh Brownstein and Andrew Towne, and the Patriots got rolling.

By the halftime buzzer, GA was up 29-22. By the end of the third, the margin was 50-35. The game wasn’t close from that point forward.

“Sometimes you forget you’re dealing with high school kids,” Fenerty said. “Now, it’s a little bit easier.”

It’s not going to be that way for Penn Charter. The Quakers are now 0-3 in the conference, with any hopes at more than a multi-way tie for a championship likely dashed. They lost a 60-58 heartbreaker to Malvern Prep Tuesday before dropping this one to the Pats.

“Once again, we showed that we can play with the best, and get blown out by the best,” Phillips said. “We have to be more disciplined to be able to do it over longer stretches.”

“The beauty of our league is that there’s a second go-round,” he went on. “Hopefully we can get it trending in the right direction.”

Up next for PC was a Tuesday matchup against Springside Chestnut Hill. The Blue Devils are also 0-3 in the conference—so something had to break.

“I don’t think it’s over yet,” Phillips said. “I don’t think we’ve lost them.”

“Hopefully we can figure out the second half and salvage something,” he went on. “There’s still fight, and there’s still grit.”

Back to GA: it would be a shame not to devote more words to the Pats’ standout senior duo: Longino and McCloskey. The former scored 25, helped by a 9-of-10 clinic from the charity stripe. McCloskey scored 22, buoyed by a magnificent display of athleticism in the second half.

Four times did he get loose on a fast break, and three times—very nearly four—did he slam the ball through the basket for gym-igniting dunks.

The pair did more of the same in GA’s 79-42 nonconference romp of Friends Central Saturday before a Tuesday home date against the Episcopal Academy.

“I think we’re getting better,” Fenerty said. “but we can’t look past Episcopal on Tuesday.”

That game will help clarify the Fords’ main conference challenger.

“Our main two guys are starting to get some support,” Fenerty said. If that holds, the Inter-Ac better look out.

“When that happens,” Fenerty said, “w e’re pretty good.”

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Jonathan Vander Lugt can be reached at vanderlugt.chlocal@gmail.com