Sun Valley Spring League Notebook: Tuesday May 4

Sun Valley guard Chris Kwadeah drives and kicks against the Chester Charter defense.

The Sun Valley Spring League has returned for Spring 2021 after a pandemic forced off year. Tuesday night was the first night of action. With seven of the eight participatng teams playing, the first night was a good introduction on what to expect and follow throughout the spring. Garnet Valley joins in on Thursday night.

Here's a notebook from Tuesday evening:

Kwadeah's scoring starts Sun Valley off on the right foot.

Now two years removed from their 2019 District 1 championship, the host Sun Valley Vanguards feature a strong group of rising juniors that head coach Steve Maloney hopes can lead them back toward the top of the Ches-Mont and the district. One of the emerging guards from this group is Chris Kwadeah, who led the Vanguards with 21 points. Displaying the ability to get by defenders with ease, finish with either hand and score from all three levels, Kwadeah, along with the Vanguards defense pulled away from a very young Chester Charter squad in the first half, not looking back resulting in a 31-18 victory over the Sabres. Also 6-8 from the line and dishing two assists, while he is a 3 level scorer I will be curious to see if Kwadeah can utilize his mid range game more and continue to gain confidence from beyond the arc. The Vanguards also deployed a new pressure package that picked up throughout the game, forcing a few turnovers in the second half.

A Del Val track meet never gets old-even in the spring!

Anyone who knows the Del-Val league knows the up-tempo and aggressive style of play that the league is known for on a nightly basis. Other than the fact that it was significantly warmer outside than it is in January, there wasn't much of a difference in the up-tempo game between Chichester boss Clyde Jones and his former disciple in Penn Wood head coach Matt Lindeman, with Chichester pulling out a 41-34 win. Unlike the teams of the past two years that have had a zone pressure identity, the Eagles deployed an aggressive full court man to man trap to force turnovers, turning defense into offense. The Eagles also featured a smaller lineup, missing big men Vince Wildrick and DJ Anderson due to baseball commitments. Rising senior forward Isaiah Diggs led the Eagles with 10 as he begins his transition from the inside to the wing and rising junior point guard Mazen Sayed chipped in with nine points and a couple of assists to help generate offense. For the usually aggressive Penn Wood, Evan Borward led the way with nine points. The Patriots defense matched the Eagles, turning defense into offense on multiple occasions, and the Patriots were within one possession on several occasions but unable to convert from the free throw line shooting 10-17 (58%) from the free throw line.

Ball movement moves Penncrest past Kennett

In what was the highest scoring contest of the night, Mike Doyle's Penncrest Lions (coached by interim head coach and lead assistant Billy Cassidy) played a sound game on both ends of the floor, beating Kennett 87-34. In the middle of the first half, the Lions went on an 11-0 run that was engineered by their shooting from beyond the arc, coming from their willingness to share the ball and also get paint touches. Junior guard Garrett Whitfield came off the bench for 24 points leading all scorers on the night with eight made threes, including four makes within less than three minutes. "We've never seen him shoot like that before." said Cassidy. "If we can get that out of him during the season, we'll be in good shape." In the second half, the Lions displayed their connectedness on the defensive end of the floor, forcing four straight turnovers to start the half. Junior point guard Saahir Lee, a crafty left handed-finisher, also added 10 points.

Marple grinds it out, with a little help from the inside

Beating Kennett 45-35, the Tigers grinded out a hard fought win on both ends of the floor. With both teams settling for shots early, the Tigers turned to their defense to keep the Blue Demons at bay. Midway through the first half, the Tigers found their offense from rising freshman guard Matt Gardler, and big man Matt Cantwell. With a slightly-smaller Kennett playing a much better defensive game than they did in the first-closing out better on shooters, the Tigers offense went inside to Cantwell who led them with 10 points. Cantwell appears to have some good characteristics that I want to see more of (remember-never fall in love with a player after one sighting, that's what Joe Dumars did with Darko.). Cantwell also finished with double digits rebounds, showed good touch around the rim, ran the floor well, and showed good insticts in ball screen situations; utilizing short rolls against hard shows and slipping on the blitz. Gardler finished with nine, all of it coming from three. He showed good off the ball insticts, always in front in transtion, and relocated properly in dribble drive situations; shaking up in pick and rolls to force a tag which led to throwbacks, and shaking down to the corner on a baseline drive for a catch and shoot opportunity.

The Blue Demons showed improvement in this one, primarily on the defensive end of the floor closing out on shooters and forcing Marple into some tough shots. They also did a much better job of jumping to the ball, being close on the catch to cut off penetration, and took three charges. Zach Lauer and Luke Augustine found their touch from downtown combining for 23 points (Lauer leading both teams with 13 and Augustine with 10). Lauer in particular, displayed his range hitting three treys from approximately pro range and demonstrating good footwork off of pin downs in their 5 out motion offense, which they get a lot of good action out of. There were several times that the Blue Demons were within anywhere from 7-9 points in the second half but the Tigers answered with a bucket in each instance. Turnovers down the stretch also hampered the Blue Demons comeback effort. What I will be watching for with the Blue Demons is if they can build on the defensive discipline they displayed in the second game and how the decision making of their guards progresses throughout the spring.