By CoBL Staff
Some great high school basketball through-out the greater Philly area. City of Basketball Love has previews of many of the games. Pick one and go to the game. High school basketball is one of the great entertainment values available. Tickets are usually around $5 each, parking is usually free and concession prices are very reasonable. Two people can usually go to a high school basketball game for less than what it would cost you to park your car at a college or pro game!
By Matthew De George
The proximal goal for Haverford School Thursday afternoon obviously involved a higher scoreboard total than visiting Phelps School.But on the macro scale, the encounter represented one of 13 prep sessions before the 10-game examination that is the Inter-Ac schedule, a rigorous set of problems that the Fords haven’t solved with distinction since 1999.
So being down four points after a woeful shooting first half … or stagnating against a 2-3 zone defense … or merely the banal challenge of bringing the intensity for an afternoon game (the likes of which dot the league slate) in a mostly empty gym, all those challenges assumed a dual meaning, with ramifications that extended well beyond 32 minutes.
The Fords used a steady second half, highlighted by a 17-for-18 fourth quarter at the free throw line, to outlast Phelps, 71-66. In the process, they further armed themselves for the Inter-Ac challenge ahead.
“That’s what they all are,” senior guard Kharon Randolph said. “All nonleague games are tests to prepare us for all those things that can happen and will happen in the Inter-Ac.”
By PAPrepLIVE
Justin Anderson flirted with a triple-double in Archbishop Carroll’s 76-62 nonleague victory against Cheltenham Wednesday.
Anderson scored a game-high 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists for the Patriots (3-0). Keyon Butler added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Devon Ferrero had 13 points and seven boards. Luke House chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds.
In other nonleague action:
By Matthew DeGeorge
The scouting report on Chichester, coming into a game and certainly in a do-or-die out-of-bounds play with 4.2 seconds left, usually has DaQuan Granberry’s name circled in bold ink, and for good reason.
But the evolving identity to which Chichester aspires, in Clyde Jones’ first season in charge, is to be much more than just one highpowered scorer. It showed when Granberry sat for a breather late in the third quarter against Sun Valley Tuesday night, only to watch the Eagles nudge their way back ahead.
And with Granberry marooned in the corner by Sun Valley’s defensive design late in regulation, someone had to step up. Amiri Stewart gladly obliged.
Stewart canned the gametying triple to send the game to overtime, then the Eagles outlasted Sun Valley in a sloppy extra session, 7271, for a nonleague win between two teams dreaming of inclusion in the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.
Granberry provided three of the Eagles’ four points in overtime from the line, two on offsetting technical fouls, befitting the contentiousness of the night. He finished with 20 points — leaving him three shy of 1,000 for his career — and 12 rebounds. While he hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3s to reply to Sun Valley’s bids to capture momentum, he wasn’t the default option in isolation situations as he was last year.
By Matt De George
It took all of two games for Chester Charter School for the Arts to notch the program’s first win, with a big help from Akeem Taylor.
Taylor scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, hitting a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left to send CCSA to a 50-47 win over Springside Chestnut Hill Tuesday in the first game at the campus gym and the program’s second as high school program.
Devante Morris added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Tim Evans contributed nine points and five rebounds for the Sabers (1-1).
In other nonleague action:
By PAPrepLIVE
Brian Randolph had 15 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three assists and Chester notched its first win of the season with a 78-56 rout of J.P. McCaskey.
Michael Smith also scored a game-high 15 points for the Clippers (1-1), who pulled away from the Red Tornado (0-1) with a 27-12 run in the third quarter.
Timothy Johnston added 13 points, eight boards, two blocks, one steal and one assist. Rahmaad Dejarnette finished with nine points and Zahmir Carroll had eight for the Clippers.
By Ed Morlock
Dana “Binky” Johnson is a name synonymous with winning when it comes to Norristown basketball.He played varsity point guard for four years for the Eagles and started three years. He won league championships in 1989 and 1990 and a District 1 title in 1990.
He tallied another win Monday night.
In Johnson’s first home game as head coach, he led Norristown to a 53-41 win over Academy Park to improve their record to 2-1 early on in his first season at the helm.
Johnson, who graduated from Norristown in 1990 before playing college ball at Canisius College, preaches hard work and the five-P philosophy to his players.
“Our core values are play hard, play smart, play together,” he said. “They’re our core court values. We base that upon the five-P philosophy — our philosophy is proper preparation prevents poor performance. What we believe in is the fact that preparation builds confidence. With confidence, the sky is the limit.”
By Matt De George
The plan Sunday afternoon was equally clear for Bonner & Prendergast and Malvern Prep.With its twin big men, Ajiri Johnson and Tariq Ingraham, presiding over the lane, Bonner’s advantage would reside in the half-court offense. Malvern’s hopes rested on tiring out those big legs by pushing the tempo and running the court.
No matter how much Malvern ran, though, they couldn’t escape the instant offense created by Bonner’s towering duo, which combined for 34 points and 19 rebounds in an 83-65 thrashing at the Performance Refinement West Chester Showcase.
By turns, the pair divvied up the domination duties. Ingraham poured in eight of his 10 points in the first half. He added nine boards and three assists with his exemplary low-post passing vision.
By Matt De George
There was a little smirk and a lot of hedging from AJ Hoggard Sunday evening.For the Archbishop Carroll sophomore, playing against his hometown of Coatesville was just another game … but one where the layers tacked on made it not exactly just another game. The familiarity with friends and former teammates like Dapree Bryant and Jahmir Brickus (the latter of whom Hoggard carpooled home from their respective games) added something unique.
On the court, Hoggard didn’t try to do too much, and as the All-Delco point guard usually does, he discovered the right balance.
Hoggard took control early with Carroll flailing to sort out its halfcourt offense, then deferred late as others stepped up in a 70-55 win at the Performance Refinement West Chester Showcase.
Keyon Butler (above) stepped up in the fourth quarter to help Carroll beat Coatesville in the third of three games at WCU on Sunday. (Photo: Tommy Smith/CoBL)
By Josh Verlin
Archbishop Carroll head coach Paul Romanczuk has been waiting all offseason to see who will step up in the scoring column for his Patriots alongside impressive sophomore A.J. Hoggard.
With his Patriots locked in a dead-even matchup with Coatesville at West Chester University’s Hollinger Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon, Hoggard needed some help.
Keyon Butler, Luke House and Devon Ferrero answered the call.
Though Hoggard led the way with 19 points, it was 21 fourth-quarter points from Butler, House and Ferrero that proved to be the difference-maker in a 70-55 Carroll win.
(click on this link for the full article including the Bonner-Prendie game)
