Chestnut Hill Academy, Philadelphia PA – It’s not how you start, but how you finish.  That may be the mantra in the minds of the Germantown Academy Patriots, as they continued their hot streak after an up and down start to the season.  The Patriots won their sixth straight game by defeating Inter-Ac foe Chestnut Hill Academy 59-54 Friday night at Chestnut Hill. 

“We came together as a family…and now we’re starting to win some games,” said sophomore Cameron Ayers of Germantown Academy after the game.

Playing like a family was especially key for the Patriots in this game, as they were playing in front of a hostile Chestnut Hill Academy crowd, and were playing against the team with the best overall record in the league.  The Blue Devils were primed for the challenge of a hot opponent, shooting terrifically in the first quarter and giving the Patriots fits on the inside with great interior defense.  Jr. Mike Rhoads of the Blue Devils was especially game, coming out strong with points and a nice assist to Soph. Todd Cramer en route to 21 total points.  The Blue Devils ended the first quarter leading 16-11.

Chestnut Hill continued their great shooting in the second quarter and increased their lead to 24-15.  At this critical point of the game, we saw Ayers begin to step up with key shots that helped the Patriots outscore the Blue Devils 13-5 to end the quarter.

The Patriots continued their roll by getting out to a 32-29 lead in the third quarter (completing an 11-0 run), and did not allow Chestnut Hill to score until the 3:57 mark.  At the 1:52 point, the Patriots led 37-33 and seemingly had all of the momentum as their fans that came cheered them on.  The Blue Devils would not go down easily however, and thanks to a buzzer beating layup by Rhoads, the Patriots only held a 38-36 lead going into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, Chestnut Hill kept knocking on Germantown Academy’s door, but the Patriots managed to make enough plays to keep the lead.  This included more tough shots by Ayers, but Sr. Joe Hill managed to make a huge impact as well.  He got a huge steal and converted it into a layup to make it 51-45.  Then he drained a tough jump shot from the right side to make it 53-45 with 57.6 seconds left and seemingly put the game away.   “The defender on Chestnut Hill overplayed on the wing, Cam (Cameron Ayers) got me the ball, I just took a dribble in, took the pull up and made it” Hill said after the game.  He also made two free throws at the end that helped the cause.

After a 5-7 start, the Patriots are now 11-7 and are putting the rest of the Inter-Ac league on notice.  Chestnut Hill dropped to 12-5, but rebounded with a 73-35 victory over GAMP Saturday night.  Chestnut Hill certainly has the talent and skill to grab the league title if they can learn from Friday's loss.  We’ve already circled January 29^th, when Chestnut Hill go into Patriot territory to play Germantown Academy again.  We will see which family will be able to win this feud on that day.