GA steals one from Haverford School

There is still more work to be done, but Germantown Academy coach Jim Fenerty's heart-to-heart chats with James Drury about bearing down on defense have been hitting home.

On Tuesday at Haverford School, the scoring-minded junior wing guard turned an open-court theft into the deciding points as the Patriots, overcoming a 10-point deficit, nipped the Fords, 56-54, in a taut Inter-Ac League basketball contest.

With 13 seconds to play in a 54-54 deadlock, Drury picked off a pass near the halfcourt stripe. Fouled on the play, he sank both ends of a one-and-one.

"The way they were passing the ball around up top, I knew they were going to go back to No. 3 [Zach Thomas]," Drury said. "I jumped the pass and tipped the ball away."

It was Drury's first steal of the afternoon.

"He's a very good offensive player, but he could be a good overall player," Fenerty said. "You have to do it on both ends of the floor."

GA, down by 43-33 in the third quarter, improved to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in the league. Haverford, hurt by 18 turnovers, slipped to 12-5 and 2-2.

After Drury hit the free throws, Thomas' top-of-the-arc trey was off the mark. Then, after an inbounds pass that was too high for 7-foot center Tao Xu, Thomas missed a hurried left-wing jumper.

The 6-foot-2, 160-pound Drury, a first-year starter from Jenkintown, shot 7 for 14 from the field (2 for 6 on three-pointers) and 2 for 2 from the line en route to 18 points. He added four rebounds (two on offense) and two assists.

"I've always been able to shoot and get to the basket," the 17-year-old said. "I'm working to get better as a defender. In practice, that's pretty much what I concentrate on."

The Patriots were led on offense by Greg Dotson, a 6-5 junior who had 25 points, six boards (five on offense), and four steals.

Even though five of GA's top six players are juniors, Drury said the squad is not looking ahead to 2012-13.

"We have high hopes for this year," he said. "We want to win now. And we think we have enough to win the league."

Julian Moore, a 6-9 junior, guarded Xu most of the way. The junior from China finished with 17 points, nine boards, five blocks, and two assists.

Xu is receiving interest from Drexel, Penn, Connecticut, Georgetown, Temple, Penn State, and Virginia. Penn assistant coach Dan Leibovitz was among the spectators Tuesday.

"He's progressed a lot," Fords coach Henry Fairfax said of Xu. "This is the first time where he actually put four good quarters together. If he plays like that, he's a high-level recruit."

Germantown Academy   18 11 11 16 – 56

Haverford School   15 21 9 9 – 54

GA: Nick Linder 9, Greg Dotson 25, Julian Moore 4, James Drury 18.

HS: Ray Holloman 3, Levan Austin 7, Tao Xu 17, Semaj Reed 6, Eric Anderson 6, Sammy Foreman 4, Zach Thomas 11.