Author: delcohoops

By Michael Bullock

Lonnie Walker certainly saved the best for last.

Not only for himself, mind you, but also for his school and the basketball-happy community that he happily calls home.

Capping a tremendous career, the 6-5 Walker put an exclamation point on his four-year career last month by leading the Red Knights (30-3) to their first PIAA Class 6A championship before a record crowd at Hershey’s Giant Center.

As a result of that win in the 6A final and an assortment of other individual accolades — Reading defeated Pine-Richland 64-60 in the Class 6A championship game on March 25 — Walker has been chosen the Class 6A player of the year by the panel of Pennsylvania sports writers that selected the all-state teams.

Rick Perez, who piloted Reading to its elusive first state championship, was tagged the Class 6A coach of the year.

(click on this link for the full article and a complete list of All-State players)

 

    

By Matthew De George

As his Penncrest teammates formed the chaotic beginnings of a receiving line at the Pavilion, Tyler Norwood had just one thing on his mind.

He’d just been tugged out of the stands, choosing a different celebratory tack than his mates at the horn of the District 1 Class 5A final. While they poured into the student section at the far end of Villanova’s arena, coach Mike Doyle included, Norwood peeled off, squeezed through a gap in the media tables along the sideline and ascended 10 rows to the waiting arms of his family.

Back on the floor, as Upper Merion lamentingly awaited silver medals, Norwood did what he always does on the hardwood. He found a basketball, and in the moment of uncertainty where fans milled about waiting for an announcement of what would occur next, Norwood followed his usual compass, practicing a few underhanded layups.

“It is my happy place,” Norwood said this week. “I practice what I love to do best: Shoot. And I shoot and I shoot and I shoot.”

You get the sense Norwood would go on … if there wasn’t a basket somewhere calling his name. That Norwood scored 26 points in his team’s 39-37, come-from-behind win for the program’s first district title since 1969 didn’t tire him in the least. Instead, with a larger audience than usual, the junior guard did what he seems innately programmed to in front of a hoop.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

  

By Matthew De George

In addition to Daily Times Player of the Year Tyler Norwood, the rest of the All-Delco team includes:

Conner Delaney, Episcopal Academy

A.J. Hoggard, Archbishop Carroll

Jamar Sudan, Chester

Nick Alikakos, Episcopal Academy

John Harrar, Strath Haven

(click on this link for the bios and photos on all these players)

 

 

By Matthew De George

First Team

Tyler Norwood, Jr. G, Penncrest
Conner Delaney, Sr. G, Episcopal Academy
A.J. Hoggard, Fr. G, Arch. Carroll
Jamar Sudan, Sr. F, Chester
Nick Alikakos, Sr. F, Episcopal Academy
John Harrar, Sr. F, Strath Haven

Second Team

Ahrod Carter, Sr. G, Chester
Austin Laughlin, Jr. G, Garnet Valley
Kharon Randolph, Jr. G, Haverford School
Christian Ray, So. F, Haverford School
Pernell Ghee, Sr. F, Penn Wood
Ajiri Johnson, Jr. F, Bonner & Prendergast

(click on this link for the Third Team and Honorable Mention listings)

 

By Mike Mayer, Webmaster

Another season has come and gone for us here at Delcohoops.com.

Unfortunately none of the 23 high school teams we cover made it to Hershey this year but that is the unknown nature of sports. We followed all the boys’ teams (and occasionally girls’ team as well) for almost four months, over 400 games and we broadcast 20 games this year including the Central League Championship games (boys and girls). We covered the PIAA District One playoffs including the finals and got deep into the PIAA state playoffs despite snow postponements.

Over 150,000 people checked our pages during the season and more than 15,000 of you tuned into our weekly LIVE audio game broadcasts (or listened to the archived version).

By any standard it has been an outstanding year for our little project we call Delcohoops.com. The positive responses we get from players, coaches, friends and family as well as the fans make our efforts all the more worthwhile.  We know what we do is appreciated but it’s always nice to hear it from our viewers and listeners.

A big thank-you to our sponsors who are listed on the right side of this page. A special thanks to Burman Medical Supplies who steps up every year and underwrites these pages and broadcasts to guarantee that we can afford to do what we do and make sure we are able to cover the playoffs as deep as our teams compete.  Please patronize all our sponsors whenever possible.  It cost several thousand dollars to do everything we do and you reap the benefit of their generosity.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

  

By Michael Bullock

Finally …

Back in a state championship setting for the first time in 44 seasons, when a one-point reversal at Harrisburg’s Farm Show Arena spoiled a celebration, Reading’s Red Knights took the Giant Center floor Saturday night hoping to erase those lingering memories.

And with a huge crowd offering all sorts of high-decibel support throughout — many of them fittingly decked out in red — let’s just say those pulling for the Berks Countians were not disappointed when they hopped in their cars and headed for home.

Lonnie Walker was not about to let that happen.

Not to his team.

And certainly not to those who call Reading home.

Stuffing the stat sheet in the final game of his splendid high school career, Walker scored 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists and registered four steals as Reading downed Pine-Richland 64-60 in the PIAA’s Class 6A championship game before a record crowd that spent the night hooting and hollering.

“We finally did it,” a grinning Walker cracked. “This is just for the city of Reading. There’s nothing I can really explain that’s going through my head, but I finally got that ring. I finally brought that state ‘chip to the city of Reading.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

  

By Josh Verlin

For anything to happen other than Archbishop Wood hoisting the PIAA Class 5A trophy at the conclusion of Friday night would mean Meadville would have managed to find a way to get one of the most confident and most consistent teams in the state off its game.

It didn’t happen.

Not even for a minute.

A Vikings squad that set sky-high expectations with impressive early-season play lived up to them through the final game of the year, putting on a dominant performance against the Bulldogs, capturing the program’s first state championship with a 73-40 win.

“It’s crazy, it’s always a dream of every kid playing high school basketball, especially in Pennsylvania, to get here and win on the biggest stage there is, and we did it,” senior Matt Cerruti said afterwards. “Pretty good feeling to go out, last game for our four seniors of our career, to win the state championship, you can’t really describe that.”

“We worked hard for this all summer, all year, and it just feels good to go out on top,” senior Collin Gillespie, the Vikings’ stalwart Villanova commit, said with his typical stone-faced expression.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

  

By Tom Nash

Her teammates were out of control.

The moment was just too much for them.

“Guys! We haven’t even gotten the trophy yet,” said Abby Kapp with a bright smile pointing to the shining trophy still yet to be presented at midcourt.

Behind Kapp, Boyertown overcame a slow start Friday night and claimed the program’s first PIAA Class 6A Championship with a 46-35 win over North Allegheny at the Giant Center in Hershey.

“No one could contain their excitement,” said Kapp with a laugh of the postgame celebration. “That was such a special moment.”

Similar to the postgame festivities, Kapp kept the Lady Bears level throughout the early goings of the game Friday night, scoring 10 of her team’s 14 first-half points as Boyertown took a five-point deficit into the locker rooms. North Allegheny, the District 7 champion, was hardly dominant, but looked plenty in control early on.

That all changed during the second half. Boyertown, the sixth seed out of District 1, utilized an eight-minute, 18-2 advantage between the third and fourth quarters to ultimately seal it.

The opening 16 minutes looked to be anything but the team that played its way through the district and state playoffs earlier this month. Boyertown committed 13 turnovers and shot just 4-for-18 from the field in the first half, that effort polished a bit by Kylie Webb’s 3-pointer a minute before the halftime buzzer sounded.

(click on this link for the full article)

By Will Slover

The PIAA 6A state tournament has been anything but easy for the Rams of Pine-Richland.

From their 83-82 win in the opening round over Latrobe back on March 11, to their 65-60 semifinal win over Carlisle on March 21, the last couple week of basketball have been constant battles for the Gibsonia-based squad.

Pine-Richland’s road to a PIAA 6A state title will certainly not get any easier, as after winning four games in 10 days to get to the championship game, the Rams will be paired up with the Red Knights of Reading High School on Saturday night at Hershey’s Giant Center to see who will take hoisting the ultimate prize from Pennsylvania’s largest classification.

Rick Perez’s Red Knights are led by Miami (Fl.) commit Lonnie Walker, who poured in 35 points in Reading’s 57-51 triumph over Archbishop Ryan in the semifinals.

The 6-foot-5 super-athletic Walker presents a problem for every team he plays against, as his great success in his senior season has earned him the right to play in both the McDonald’s All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic once the season concludes, but Pine-Richland plans on being ready for everything the five-star recruit and the rest of his talented teammates bring to the table.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Matt Smith

Boyertown’s Abby Kapp knew the shot was in the moment it left her fingertips.

It was a beauty of a basket — the game-winner, of course — and the last ride for an awesome Cardinal O’Hara team that was a heavy favorite to return to Hershey’s Giant Center for a second straight season.

And yet, every once in a while, there’s a team that comes along and rewrites the script. It was District 1’s sixth-place finisher, one of 11 teams from the district to qualify for states, that gave O’Hara the fight of its life and proved deserving of a spot in Friday’s state final game against North Allegheny.

In the end, it was all about Abby Kapp, the best player on the floor Monday night at Spring-Ford High. Kapp’s 15-foot jumper sailed over the reach of Mary Sheehan and was deposited for the deciding two points in Boyertown’s stunning 39-37 defeat of O’Hara in the PIAA Class 6A state semifinal.

The game clock expired, and teammates rushed on the floor to congratulate Kapp, but officials put 1.1 seconds back on the scoreboard. Alas, O’Hara’s desperate, full-court heave as time expired didn’t come close to falling in.

(Webmaster’s note: The Cardinal O’Hara vs Boyertown game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard on our Archives link on the left hand side of the page.)

(click on this link for the full article)