Athletic teams that know how to apply a press have given Germantown Academy problems this season, and it looked like the girls of Shipley School were aware of that.

In a Pa. Independent School quarterfinal game at GA last Tuesday, the visiting Gators pressured the fourth-seeded Patriots from the get-go. During one stretch during the first quarter, number five Shipley forced numerous turnovers and scored 19 straight points.

Recovering somewhat to trail by nine points at the end of the quarter and also at halftime, the Pats approached within seven points of the visitors during the third period but got no closer. Shipley (19-8 overall) won 65-53 and moved on to a semifinal bout against top-seeded Westtown School, which eliminated eighth-ranked Penn Charter in another Tuesday quarterfinal, 86-26.

The other quarterfinal contests resulted in a semifinal pitting second-seeded Friends Central, the Friends Schools League runner-up, against the three-seed, Inter-Ac League champ Academy of Notre Dame. Germantown Academy, which placed second within the Inter-Ac this winter, wrapped up its season with an overall record of 21-6.

On Tuesday, GA got out to an early lead with layups by freshman Taylor Williams and junior Jennifer Fox. In the second minute, a short jumper by junior Gabby Vaughn got the Gators going, and back-to-back layups by junior Rikai Williford and eighth-grader Melody Vaughn earned the visitors a lead they never lost.

Forcing the Patriots to cough up turnover after turnover, Shipley had senior Anna Pascale join in the scoring as they romped off toward the horizon. Germantown called time-out with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter, trailing 19-4.

Back on the court, the Pats turned the ball over two more times, but at least this time the Gators didn't score off of these miscues. Sophomore Jo Owens hit a layup to wake up the GA offense, and with other scores from the paint by senior Gabby Bowes and Williams, the hosts were in better shape at the end of the period, down 19-10.

However, the Patriots would never completely recover from the early onslaught orchestrated by Shipley.

GA's offense was more productive in the second period, with Bowes nailing three three-pointers and sophomore forward Claire McKee depositing three baskets from the paint. Owens added two free throws and a baseline jumper for the Patriots, with her field goal getting GA back within two points (28-26) of the leaders with more than three minutes left in the first half.

The Gators then shut down the GA rally by ending the half with a 12-5 surge. The second period ended up in a 21-21 draw, setting the score at 40-31 for halftime.

Seeing the court and their teammates well and connecting with crisp passes, the Gators could score bunches of points in a hurry when they needed to.

Germantown had its deficit down to seven points twice during the third period, but trailed by 10 at the three-quarter mark, 52-42. The Patriots approached within eight points in the middle of the fourth round, but later the Gators were up by 14 before GA eighth-grader Azzure O'Connor made a transition layup with four seconds to go.

GA's Bowes shared the game-high scoring performance of 15 points with Melody Vaughn of Shipley. O'Connor scored all of her nine points for the Patriots during the second half, while McKee and Owens each finished with eight points and Kolecki had seven. Shipley received 12 points apiece from Pascale and Cidney Stanfield, and Gabby Vaughn scored 11.

Germantown Academy did not lack talent on the roster this year but seemed to miss the stability that had been provided by four four-year varsity players the season before. The Patriots will have a lot of new players coming in for next season, and the question once more will be how quickly and how well they gel as an effective unit.