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MIDDLETOWN — Much as Penncrest senior Patrick Garrison respects defending District 1 Class 5A champion Radnor, he was tired of watching them celebrate.
That changed Thursday night when Garrison scored a dozen points and contributed a handful of clutch steals, and sophomore Mikey Mita added 12 points to lift the Lions to a 41-37 win over the Raptors snapping a five-game losing skid in the series.
“It was a long time coming,” Garrison said. “Year after year, we were getting beat by them. It finally feels good to get one back. You always think about what you’ve done in the past and of them taking us down. We wanted to change the narrative.”
The Lions (2-0, 1-0) fell behind early in a mistake-filled first quarter, but thanks to a three-pointer from Garrison, salvaged a 6-6 stalemate entering the second frame. Neither team was knocking down shots, and the Lions were having a tough time dealing with the tight defense of the Raptors (2-1, 0-1). Radnor was playing with attitude thanks to Henry Pierce, who finished with 15 points, and Michael Savadove (seven points), who played huge roles for last year’s team.
The Lions stretched their opponent out in the second quarter and worked the ball to Mita, who deposited a spinning pull-up in the low post that got the attention of everybody at Kaufman Gymnasium.
Lions coach Mike Doyle described Mita as “a tremendous talent” that he hopes will evoke memories Tyler Norwood, a Daily Times Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
What Doyle truly appreciated was his young team battling the aggressive defense of the Raptors, who won 29 straight games last year before their run ended in the quarterfinals of states.
“I said to the guys, you just won your first street fight,” Doyle said. “(Radnor) is a scrappy, very athletic and talented team that just grinds. For us to have to grind out a win in that style is a really nice win for us.”
The Raptors didn’t go quietly. They trailed by six points two minutes into the fourth quarter, which was the largest lead of the evening.
The pressure was on when Kessy Cox scored inside, and Pierce added a three to get the Raptors within one point with 2:23 remaining.
That’s when Garrison intercepted an inbounds pass off a designed play, Mita posted up and the Lions began nailing free throws the rest of the way.
“We left a lot of points on the board, missed a lot of free throws,” first-year Raptors coach Timothy Smallwood said. “They got to more 50-50 balls than we did. We missed a lot of opportunities for steals and defensive and offensive rebounds. We need to execute better offensively and defensively.”
The Raptors missed six free throws and a ton of jump shots against a Lions defense that played well.
“Credit to Penncrest,” Savadove said. “They came out firing, and we came into the gym flat. They had the energy, we didn’t. They wanted it more. It was just as simple as that. We’ve got to get to practice and work harder. This is a good learning experience. We’ve just got to move forward. We’ve got to go 1-0 every day from now on.”
Powerful as the wakeup call was for the defending district champs, it was the ultimate learning experience for the Lions, who once dominated this matchup.
“This is a massive win,” Garrison said. “We didn’t have our point guard (Will Stanton). They’re going to go on to win many games. Every battle matters. I’m going to remember this one.”
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