Bolen falls, then GA rises to overcome Episcopal

Posted 1/31/17

GA freshmen Elle Stauffer (left) and Maddie Burns (right) perform a little basketball ballet as they try for a rebound. (Photo by Tom Utescher) by Tom Utescher When a popular and respected team …

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Bolen falls, then GA rises to overcome Episcopal

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GA freshmen Elle Stauffer (left) and Maddie Burns (right) perform a little basketball ballet as they try for a rebound. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

When a popular and respected team leader is injured at the outset of a big game, her colleagues can react in several ways. They can become disheartened and convince themselves that their cause is lost, or they can experience an adrenalin bump and rally together to raise their game in honor of their sidelined teammate.

The Germantown Academy girls took the latter course in last Tuesday's key Inter-Ac League basketball match-up against visiting Episcopal Academy.

Looking to avenge an earlier loss at Episcopal and put themselves in position to capture at least a share of the 2017 league title, the Patriots saw junior center Alexa Naessens direct the opening tip to senior forward Lilly Bolen. Bolen broke downcourt, then collided with a pursuing Episcopal defender as she lifted off for a lay-up. The GA co-captain tumbled to the floor and across the baseline, clutching her knee in pain. Just four seconds had run off the clock.

The Pats had been missing the 6'1" Naessens due to concussion protocol when they lost at Episcopal, 56-49, back on December 13. Now Germantown would have to play the rematch against the Churchwomen without their other, even more experienced big girl.

GA head coach Sherri Retif watched over Bolen as she lay on the deck, up against the padding on the gym wall a few feet from the baseline. The other players, meanwhile, huddled with the assistant coaches over by the team bench. Eventually, Bolen was helped to her feet, and when Retif returned to the GA sideline, Naessens assured her, "Coach, we've got this."

And the Patriots did.

Keeping close in the first quarter, they quickly made up a one-point shortfall at the beginning of a 21-5 second period that included three three-pointers and a shorter field goal by sophomore shooting guard Rachel Balzer.

GA led 30-15 at the half and although the Churchwomen closed with nine points early in the third quarter and within seven several times late in the fourth, the Patriots remained in command at the end, winning 52-42. They emerged with a record of 6-1 in league play and 13-8 overall, while EA left with a 7-1 mark in the Inter-Ac and an overall record of 10-7.

Balzer finished with five three-pointers and a team-high 25 points. Naessens came away with eight points and a team-leading seven rebounds, and Germantown's other 19 points were all furnished by the freshman class. Jaye Haynes was the game's third-leading scorer with 11 points, while point guard Maddie Vizza scored six and forward Elle Stauffer added a field goal.

"The freshmen have been working very hard to get better, and everyone pushes each other at practice," Balzer noted.

Her coach, Sherri Retif, concurred, observing "Our freshmen aren't playing like freshmen anymore. They understand the sets, they understand the angles. Today they set good screens and they had good timing on the passes, as well."

It might have been a truly disastrous day for Episcopal if not for the play of their 6'2" center, Elodie Furey. It was money in the bank for the Churchwomen if she got the ball where she wanted it in the paint, and the Cornell-bound senior produced a game-high 29 points along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

From there, though, EA's output dropped to a pair of five-point performances from juniors Seanna McNamara and Luca Mamula and a three-point afternoon for senior Reilly Wright.

Bolen's mishap at the outset was the second injury in two days for a GA senior; reserve guard Jess Sheridan had twisted an ankle in practice the day before. Of course, the Patriots had been playing all season without projected starting guard Cat Polisano. A junior who has made a verbal commitment to Fordham University, Polisano went down with a knee injury during pre-season practice.

Odds are that last Tuesday's outcome will eventually result in GA and Episcopal becoming Inter-Ac co-champions for 2017. Two days later, Penn Charter slipped from third place outright into a tie for third (in the loss column) with the Academy of Notre Dame, which avenged a December road loss to the Quakers by winning the rematch, 60-48.

GA faces Notre Dame for the second time this season in a home game on February 10, then plays at Penn Charter on February 14. First time out, GA topped Notre Dame, 41-30, after leading the Irish by 18 points at the three-quarter mark. On January 20, the Patriots made a big fourth quarter push to pull away from PC for a comfortable 47-33 win. However, Bolen had been a huge factor in that contest, filling the stat sheet with a dozen points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, and four assists.

Last Tuesday at GA, the team introductions had barely faded from the P.A. speakers when Bolen was lying on the court in agony. The home crowd was stunned and deeply concerned for the welfare of a young woman who is not only a team figurehead, but a highly regarded school leader.

"After Lilly fell, we just wanted to come back out and win it for her," Balzer said. "It was a big loss, because Lilly's a core player, but Jaye came in and played well and Elle played well when she was in, so it was a team effort all around."

Coach Retif noted, "Lilly's a quality person and so many times she's put the team on her back. She's a model for how to be a leader."

Now, GA would have to try to replace her, literally if not figuratively.

It was decided to move guard Abby Starzecky, the only remaining senior starter, lower on the court to help guard EA's Mamula, a mobile forward who can power through the paint and also shoot from farther out. Haynes, part of the Patriots' talented group of freshmen, would enter the game.

"Jaye's usually the first player off the bench," Retif explained, "so we moved Abby and put Jaye in and she answered the call."

Balzer scored off a steal at the outset and hit her first three-pointer a little later, but Episcopal received two lay-ups and two free throws from Furey. The EA post had been fouled by Starzecky, who also sent Mamula to the line for two successful foul shots. The Churchwomen led 10-7 late in the first frame, but Naessens' second lay-up of the period closed it out with GA just one point behind.

Over the first five minutes of the second quarter, Balzer bagged three-pointers from the left side, the right side, and the top of the key, as well as nailing a shorter jump shot.

"Alexa was a tremendous leader, and Rachel is just a pure shooter and so focused," Retif remarked. "When she gets in that zone, she's pretty much unstoppable."

Vizza, the freshman running the point, popped in a "three" of her own to keep the defense a little off-balance, while Haynes scored in transition and sank two free throws. Stauffer also came in to score from the paint, and the Patriots came off the floor at halftime with a 30-15 lead that included 16 from Balzer.

Furey had netted Episcopal's last two points of the half, and she would go on to score 21 after the intermission. She kept the hosts from running away with the game, providing all but six of her team's points in the last two quarters.

"In the second half, clearly, she was exceptional," GA's Retif commented.

"We had to make a decision on defense, and we gave up the scoring on the inside to stop their offense on the outside, especially the three-point shot. The last time we played them, we tried to help inside and we didn't do a good job of covering outside."

With Naessens not playing in that December set-to, GA had still been able to limit Furey to five points, but McNamara had combined with Wright and Mamula to pour in 47 points for Episcopal.

Although the Patriots knew they had to live with the fact that they couldn't shut down EA's offense entirely, their fans had some cause for concern in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter, when a lone free throw by GA's Haynes was overbalanced by two early field goals from the paint by Furey and a McNamara three-pointer.

Haynes drove the lane to boost GA's lead back into double digits (33-22) and later on Balzer fired a jumper from each baseline and then flung in her fourth "three" of the day. The sophomore has worked hard to fine-tune her outside shooting and bring it up another notch from last season.

"I tried to get in as many shots as I could over the summer," she said. "I'd be in the gym every day. I think my confidence has definitely improved, and today the screens my teammates set to get me open were the best I've had all year."

After Balzer's fifth triple spread the score to 40-26, Episcopal called time-out with 1:22 remaining in the third round. As the players left the floor, Bolen crossed it on crutches, returning to the team bench with her injured knee encased in ice. She would be cheering her team on throughout the fourth quarter, which began with the count still at 40-26.

Like the third period, the fourth began with another rocky 90-second ride for Germantown fans, as six straight points from Furey got the visitors back within single digits of the leaders, 40-32. GA, with three freshmen on the floor, tightened up its defense and called time-out and didn't let the Episcopal center score more than two points at a time the rest of the way. The Pats restarted their own offense with a free throw by Haynes, a drive by Naessens, and a flawless one-and-one by Balzer.

Naessens and Starzecky had picked up two personal fouls apiece in the first half and each had four in the book before the middle of the fourth quarter. The two experienced starters eventually fouled out, but not until very late in the contest after providing a full game of service. Episcopal would see foul trouble sideline Mamula and sixth man Olivia Dirks, a sophomore whose fourth-quarter task was to keep GA from running time off the clock.

These efforts by EA bore some fruit as the Patriots shot a modest 10-for-18 from the line, but the Churchwomen couldn't generate enough points at the other end to really make that matter. After Furey put in her final field goal with three minutes left, Mamula made a "three" from near the top of the key for a 46-39 tally with 2:12 remaining. However, EA only collected three points after that, all on Furey free throws.

With a share of the Inter-Ac title most likely on the line, the game had been a trial by fire for Germantown Academy's freshman class.

The Patriots had three ninth graders in the game at the same time for extended periods, and as Coach Retif pointed out, "After Alexa and Abby fouled out, I think we finished with four freshmen and a sophomore on the court."

But as GA's longtime mentor had already noted, the newest members of the Patriots' varsity line-up no longer looked like ninth-graders out there.

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