Author: delcohoops

Keita’s hot hand helps Upper Darby rally past Ridley

By PAPrepLive

Diby Keita scored 15 points and Upper Darby recovered from an insipid first half to upend Ridley, 58-36.

With the win, the Royals (16-6) have clinched a spot in the Central League playoffs, which begin Sunday at Marple Newtown.
UD outscored the Green Raiders 39-14 after halftime. Keita scored all of his points from beyond the arc. Magd Abdelwahab paced the Royals with 16 points.

Enoch Clark led Ridley with 15 points.

Calvary Christian 61, Christian Academy 53 >> Tehron Phillips paced the Crusaders with 13 points. Grant Sareyka and Brandon Rochester chipped in with 11 points apiece.

Nwobodo takes over, lifts Delco Christian

(Digital First Media/Pete Bannan)

By Matthew DeGeorge

The conversations in the Delco Christian locker room at halftime Tuesday night weren’t overly pleasant. Not after a second quarter in which the Knights scored just six points and surrendered the final six of the half to visiting Morrisville.But the message that emerged from the summit was well imparted.

“Effort was the main key of our success in the second half because the first half was very sloppy,” DC forward Obinna Nwobodo said. “I think that we all just needed to give effort and it had to come from someone, so I thought, why not me?”

At times in the second half, Morrisville was probably thinking, how about someone — anyone — other than Nwobodo for a change?

He scored 15 of his 16 points after the break and added 13 rebounds as the Knights dominated the boards in a 59-50 Bicentennial League win, their fourth straight victory.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

Eagle Parade postpones Game-of-the-Week

By Delcohoops.com Staff

This week’s Game-of-the-Week is between the Chester Clippers and the Chichester Eagles. It was originally scheduled for Thursday night, February 8th.  Both school districts have decided to close for the Eagle Super Bowl parade which also cancels extra curricular activities including our Game-of-the-Week.  The game has been moved to the next day, Friday, February 9th. 

We will still be broadcasting the game as planned this Friday. Our broadcast will begin at 4:45 and tip-off is scheduled at 5 PM.

Chester, Haverford School clinch league titles

(Digital First Media/Pete Bannan)

By Matthew DeGeorge

The heavy lifting for the titles had been already taken care of, but Tuesday marked a chance for celebration for both Chester and Haverford School.

The two schools wrapped up their respective outright league titles Tuesday – Chester with a 44-33 win over Del Val foe Penn Wood; Haverford School by trouncing Springside Chestnut Hill, 62-43, to finish off the Inter-Ac.

Brian Randolph hit three 3-pointers to lead Chester with 18 points in a rare offense-starved game that entered the fourth quarter in the 20s. Eleven of Randolph’s points came in the final frame where Chester held a 19-5 edge. Randolph added 10 rebounds.

Michael Smith supplied nine points on three triples, and Karell Watkins paired six points with seven rebounds and four blocks for the Clippers (15-6, 9-0 Del Val). The Clippers had mathematically clinched the outright title Monday when Academy Park beat second-place Chichester.

The Fords cut down the nets on their home court Tuesday for their first league title since 1999. But details of the game were not reported.

Also in the Del Val:

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

Upper Darby beats ‘Stoga, stays alive in Central race

By Zach Drapkin

Coming into Conestoga on Monday night, Upper Darby’s situation was simple: win, or you’re out of the Central League playoffs.

No pressure, right?

Actually, that’s exactly what Royals head coach Bob Miller told his team.

“Believe it or not, I told them tonight that the pressure is on Conestoga,” Miller said. “I told my guys just play loose because we’ve got nothing to lose tonight. It seemed to work.”

Upper Darby marched into Conestoga’s gym and executed the fast-paced, loose style of basketball Miller wanted to see, thoroughly outplaying the Pioneers for a 52-39 victory.

(click on this link for the full story)

Roe helps Haverford go a long way in tipping Garnet Valley

By PAPrepLive

Danny Roe scored 20 points Monday, including a critical late 3-pointer, lifting Haverford to a come-from-behind, 63-62 victory over Garnet Valley to introduce a little chaos into the Central League standings.

Roe drained four 3-point shots. J.T. Smyth added 17 points, including three 3-pointers. The Fords (8-12, 6-9) made 11 3-pointers and outscored the Jags, 22-14, in the fourth quarter. Garnet Valley shot 1-for-4 from the line in the final eight minutes.

Austin Laughlin tabbed 34 points for Garnet Valley, which fell to 16-6, 10-5 in the Central League and a three-way tie for third place with Upper Darby and Conestoga. The Jags play Conestoga Wednesday.

Greg Vlassopoulos added 14 points, and Cade Brennan provided 11 for Garnet Valley.

Also in the Central League:

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

Bullock’s PIAA Rankings: Feb. 5, 2018

By Michael Bullock

Appearing below are all six of our top 10s, with PIAA district and this season’s record displayed in parentheses. Only those schools competing for PIAA state championships are eligible for ranking purposes.

CITY OF BASKETBALL LOVE STATE BASKETBALL RANKINGS

(records through games of Feb. 4/OW-others to watch/NR-not ranked)

CLASS 6A

Plymouth-Whitemarsh captured the long-awaited matchup between No. 1s on Saturday at Harriton, popping four players into double figures in a 66-57 conquest of Class 3A power Neumann-Goretti. Ahmin Williams paced the Colonials with 22 points, while Ish Horn (19), Alan Glover (12) and Naheem McLeod (10) joined the 6-3 senior by scoring 10 points or more. … With a handful of players reaching double digits, then-No. 5 St. Joseph’s Prep drummed then-No. 4 La Salle College 88-53 on Friday at home. Kyle Thompson (23), Darius Kinnel (22), Ed Croswell (14), Gabe Arizin (13) and Trevor Wall (10) shared 82 of Prep’s 88 points

No.  School                                              Rec    Pvs
1.     Plymouth-Whitemarsh (1)          20-0       1
2.     Abington (1)                               15-4       2
3.     Roman Catholic (12)                  13-5       3
4.     St. Joseph’s Prep (12)               15-4        5
5.     State College (6)                        18-1       7
6.     Hazleton (2)                                16-1        8
7.     La Salle College (12)                  12-7       4
8.     Reading (3)                                 18-3        6
9.     Allderdice (8)                              16-2       9
10.   Canon-McMillan (7)                    18-1     10

(click on this link for Mike’s rankings of all six PIAA classifications at City of Basketball Love)

Haverford School bounces back to stretch winning streak

By Matthew DeGeorge

A day after clinching a share of a first Inter-Ac title in 19 years, there was no hangover for Haverford School, which used 23 Christian Ray points to steamroll Peddie School, 75-54, in nonleague action.

Kharon Randolph scored 17 points, and Nasir Smith and Gavin Burke contributed 10 apiece for the Fords (18-5). Haverford flashed its roster depth barely 12 hours after routing Malvern Prep, 83-58, Friday to move to 8-0 in the Inter-Ac.

In the Ches-Mont league:

Sun Valley 74, W.C. Henderson 61 >> Vinny DeAngelo scored a game-high 25 points, and Isaac Kennon followed him with 20 as the Vanguards won their third straight game. Shahir Brown-Morris added 11 points for Sun Valley (13-6).

In nonleague action:

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

Delco Boys Basketball Notebook: Elder Taylor happy to watch Akeem’s dream

By Matthew DeGeorge

There are two high school programs in Chester once again this season, and both prominently bear the name Taylor.

Keith Taylor is in his first season as the head coach of his alma mater, Chester High, which clinched at least a share of a Del Val title Thursday night with its 12th consecutive win. Taylor’s nephew, Akeem, is the leading scorer at Chester Charter School for the Arts, which in its first season of PIAA competition has a chance of qualifying for the District 1 Class A playoffs with an 8-12 record and two games left.

Both say that the prospects of those two uniting at Chester High, though, is slim.

“It was crazy,” Akeem said after a win over Interboro Jan. 27. “A lot of people expected me to go there, but I decided to stay here.”

Akeem, a sophomore guard who is averaging more than 20 points per game this season, was drawn to the challenge at CCSA, part of the first generation of players on the Sabers team. The program, which played as an independent outside the PIAA last year, has grown from the elementary ranks up. As such, coach Donnie Dodds’ roster has no seniors this season, relying on the cohort of underclassmen that has grown up with the school.

(click on this link for more stories)

Rustin ends Chester’s win streak at unlucky 13

By Matthew DeGeorge

Chester had the ball, down two, but still with a chance to keep its winning streak alive.

It was not meant to be.

A turnover by the Clippers led to a breakaway dunk by West Chester Rustin’s Jake Nelson that sealed a 64-58 win by the Knights that brought Chester’s 13-game winning streak to an end. It was Chester’s first loss since a 58-47 setback to Penncrest Dec. 30.

Brice Barrouk tallied seven of his 13 points in the third quarter and Brice Pew had five of his seven in the frame to help Rustin open up a 51-43 lead. The Clippers (14-6) fought back to make it a see-saw battle in the fourth quarter before Nelson’s dunk sealed it for the Knights. Nelson finished with 19 points.

Brian Randolph scored 19 points and Michale Smith added 16 to lead Chester.

In other nonleague action:

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)