Author: delcohoops

By Ari Glazier

Archbishop Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk had a clear strategy going into Sunday’s matchup against Archbishop Ryan.

Get the ball to Keyon Butler.

“We already knew coming into the game that we had a size advantage,” Butler said, “so coach made it an option to get it into me early, and my teammates helped him on that.”

Butler made his presence felt early, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, using his size and power to bully his way to baskets in traffic, and his speed and athleticism to get out in transition.

The senior forward didn’t take his foot off the gas pedal, finishing with 26 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two assists in Carroll’s 68-55 win.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Bonner & Prendergast ceded the high ground in the race for the Philadelphia Catholic League regular-season title with Wednesday’s loss to La Salle.

Sunday, it wrestled it back.

Isaiah Wong scored 26 points, and Tariq Ingraham and Ajiri Johnson dominated in the post to help Bonner & Prendergast hand Neumann-Goretti its first Catholic League loss, 73-70, Sunday.

Ingraham scored 16 points, and Johnson scored 13 points. Donovan Rodriguez added 10 points for the Friars (15-3, 8-1), who are now even with the Saints with one loss in the league each.

Also in the Catholic League:

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

By Matthew DeGeorge

The brief scouting report on Chester Charter School for the Arts, in its first season of PIAA competition, centers on two names. There’s leading scorer Akeem Taylor, who proved why against Interboro. And there’s 6-8 sophomore Tyler Howard.But when Howard left Saturday’s game after the first quarter and departed the gym by halftime with an apparent upper-body injury, something in the Sabers’ approach would have to change. And freshman Timmy Evans knew it.

“I just had to step up because our big man was hurt, I guess,” Evans said. “So I just had to step up and help the team out.”

The forward promptly scored four of his eight points in a big fourth quarter to go with 12 rebounds as the Sabers held off the Bucs, 53-47, to sweep the teams’ home-and-home series this week.

The final edge on the glass was a slight 37-36 for Chester Charter, but it seemed more lopsided, thanks to the efforts of Evans and company stretching possessions and creating second chances. It was particularly beneficial given a ghastly shooting night at the free-throw line, the Sabers clanging together a 3-for-16 effort.

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: The West Philadelphia vs Chester Charter game this coming Monday night, January 29th at 6:30 PM is our Game-of-the-Week.  Simply come on line and click on the player that appears on our home page. Listen to the whole game LIVE! 

By Matthew DeGeorge

Two of the top offenses in Delaware County lived up to expectations Saturday afternoon.

Austin Laughlin poured in 36 points, and Greg Vlassopoulos added 19 as Garnet Valley overpowered Chichester, 93-82, in a nonleague contest.

Connor O’Brien added 17 points, and Cade Brennan chipped in 15 for the Jaguars (14-4), who broke open a 77-all tie for their fourth straight win. It’s Garnet Valley’s third 90-point game in its last four outings and fifth of the season.

DaQuan Granberry led Chichester with a season-high 34 points, including six 3-pointers, and 13 rebounds. Amiri Stewart contributed 13 points, and James Hendricks and D’Nadre Morgan supplied a dozen apiece for the Eagles (11-6).

In other nonleague action:

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

By Matthew DeGeorge

Marple Newtown 61, Strath Haven 50 >> Tommy Gardler scored 16 points, Anthony Paoletti added 13 and Mike May chipped in 11 for the Tigers (9-8, 6-6), who’ve won four straight, including this clash between District 1 Class 5A hopefuls.

Ryan Morris led Strath Haven (7-9, 4-8) with 13 points, while Cooper Driscoll supplied 10.

Webmaster’s note: The Marple Newtown vs Strath Haven game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard on our Archives link by clicking on the player below

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By Josh Verlin

Heading into this season, Upper Darby coach Bob Miller was confident his Royals would be able to turn it around after winning only six games a year ago. If only for one simple reason: he had his team coming back.

“We had two straight years where I had a lot of turnover; kids in, kids out, kids getting in trouble, stuff like that,” he said. “It was nice this year to come back to the court and basically know who my team was.”

After 17 years on the UD sidelines — and an earlier five-year run at Interboro — Miller was onto something.

Despite taking a 55-44 loss at the hands of Central League co-leader Lower Merion on Friday night, Upper Darby has already more than doubled its win total from a year ago, standing at 13-4 on the season, 8-4 in Central League play.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Scoring average

Mike Webb, Springfield 23.7
Vinny DeAngelo, Sun Valley 22.4
Tyler Norwood, Penncrest 22.3
Austin Laughlin, Garnet Valley 21.1
Isaiah Wong, Bonner & Prendergast 20.1
DaQuan Granberry, Chichester 20.0
Alex Capitano, Episcopal Academy 19.9
Christian Ray, Haverford School 19.1
Matt Dade, Episcopal Academy 18.4
Antwaun Butler, Cardinal O’Hara 18.3
Connor O’Brien, Garnet Valley 17.4
Michael Smith, Chester 16.2
Cooper Driscoll, Strath Haven 15.6
Carley Jones, Interboro 15.5
Kharon Randolph, Haverford School 15.3
Mike May, Marple Newtown 15.1
AJ Hoggard, Archbishop Carroll 15.0
Chris Nash, Penn Wood 15.0

(click on this link for all the Stat Leaders)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Call it learning from past mistakes, since Haverford School was just about spotless Friday night.

The Fords led by 18 points at halftime and were 22-for-27 from the line as the Fords remained on top of the Inter-Ac League with a 69-53 handling of rival Episcopal Academy.

Christian Ray led the way with 21 points, and Kharon Randolph was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line to tally 21 points for the Fords (15-5, 6-0). Haverford led 34-16 at half and gave almost none of the ground back after the break.

The Fords won their first five league games last year as well but then faltered in the next two, including a loss on home court. They’ve now swept the season series over their rivals. That was in spite of Matt Dade’s career-high 30 points for Episcopal. Alex Capitano added 12 points for the Churchmen (9-12, 1-5).

In the Central League:

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

By Matthew DeGeorge

The watch word uttered Friday from the Archbishop Carroll huddle, and reiterated by Luke House after the game, was “resilient.”

For most of the game, save for a slice of the end of the second quarter and start of the third, the Patriots played catch-up against Roman Catholic. But when Carroll fell behind by six in the fourth quarter on two different occasions, it twice summoned the resilience to get back on level terms.

In that department, however, Roman Catholic fared just a little better on the evening.

Lynn Greer III’s running layup with 37 seconds left was the final say in a 70-66 Catholic League thriller, one where Roman executed just one play more than the hosts.

The reason, by and large, was Seth Lundy. The junior wing scored a season-high 30 points, needing just 15 field goal attempts. He was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line on an evening where the Cahillites (10-5, 5-2) were a perfect 17-for-17 at the charity stripe.

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

By Matthew DeGeorge

There are plenty of reasons why Garnet Valley sits at 12-4 and is projected as one of the eight teams to receive byes in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs. And among the most understated yet valuable is Greg Vlassopoulos.

Yes, Austin Laughlin is the team’s most prolific, most explosive scorer, averaging 21.1 points per game. And yes, Connor O’Brien’s long-range shooting makes him apt to go off at any time, while he’s also the only player on the team to have scored in double-figures each game this season.

But those two are granted the space to operate because of a dangerous tertiary threat like Vlassopoulos. And with Vlassopoulos contributing much more than just on the offensive end, he provides just enough rebounding and defense to allow Garnet Valley to outscore opponents in their free-wheeling style.

“He’s critical in a lot of ways,” coach Mike Brown said after last week’s win over Strath Haven. “He’s averaging over 12 points per game and as consistent as can be — probably the most consistent scorer on the team — but he’s also our second-leading rebounder. He rebounds a lot; he gets double-figure rebounds almost every game.

(click on this link for the full story)