EDINBORO, Pa. – Forget 1999, Girard is going to party like it’s the year 2000.
The Yellow Jackets swarmed three-time defending champion Franklin, 60-50 to capture their first District 10 title in 24 years in the Class 3A championship.
“It wasn’t just a couple of players, it was the whole team,” said Girard standout Nate Edwards. “Everyone came up big when they needed to.”
See Edwards’ full interview:
Trailing 19-10 after a dunk from Franklin’s Cole Buckley early in the second quarter and again, 24-17 after a Damon Curry layup, the No. 2 Yellow Jackets (23-2) closed the half on a 13-0 run.
Kenny Godoy scored six points in the run, Edwards four and Geremia Dell’omo hit a 3-pointer to help Girard take a 30-24 halftime lead.
They led the entire second half.
“The message was don’t get too high or get too low,” Godoy said. “They’re going to go on runs, we’re going to go on runs and we turned it around after that.”
See Godoy’s full interview:
The win also prevented Franklin from a fourth consecutive D10 championship.
“This has been a four-year process for us,” said Girard coach Mark Schrier. “It took the buy-in from the kids. Every year, they’ve adjusted to the things we’ve asked them to do. They just give maximum effort, they work their tails off every day and all the credit goes to them.”
See Schrier’s full interview:
Edwards, Godoy, and Dell’omo were the catalyst, scoring 18, 18 and 15 points respectively for the Yellow Jackets.
Girard came out and scored the first four points of the second half on buckets from Dell’omo and Edwards to take a 44-34 lead, but Franklin responded, getting back to within five after the third quarter after a Dreyden Payne layup.
The No. 1 Knights (20-5) cut it to one, 43-42 after a Damarco Payne 3-pointer and a Curry layup, but Girard answered with a 3-pointer by Zack Kelley and an Edwards jumper to go up 48-42 with 4:37 to play.
Girard’s Kenny Godoy looks for room to operate while being guarded by Franklins’ Jalen Wood (left) and Damon Curry (right) during Friday’s District 10 Class 3A championship game at McComb Fieldhouse. Photo by Tammy Curry.
Damarco Payne led Franklin with 18 points, while Jalen Wood had 12 and Dreyden Payne eight for Franklin.
Franklin got as close as four, 50-46, but Girard closed the game on a 10-4 run to secure the championship.
Girard will host WPIAL No. 6 Derry in the first round of the state playoffs on Saturday, March 8. Franklin, meanwhile, will also host a state playoff game against WPIAL No. 4 Neshannock.
“If we stick together we can do great things,” Edwards said.
