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By Corey Sharp

Chester went into Lower Merion on fire, having won 14 straight games.

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By Owen McCue

It won’t be too long until Jameer Nelson Jr. and Christian Ray are rivals, not teammates.

After this season, Ray is headed to La Salle, while Nelson will take a prep year before joining him in the Big 5 at St. Joe’s, where his father starred.

With an 84-58 victory over Phelps School Friday in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association semifinals at Montgomery County Community College, in which Ray and Nelson combined for 48 points, the two friends postponed the rivalry for at least one more game.

 The Fords (27-0) will play Westtown School Saturday at Jefferson University for the PAISAA title. They lost in the final last year, and rectifying that is the final jewel in a crown that includes the last two outright Inter-Ac titles.“Jameer’s going to be my rival soon,” said Ray, who led the Fords with 28 points. “I’m always at his house. We’re always together. It’s going to be hard playing for the last time. We’re going to have one last ride together. We’re going to have fun. All the seniors included.”

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The tactics for Shad Kyem were pretty simple Thursday night, no halftime session with the dry erase board needed.

The Penn Wood guard had Academy Park’s Naseim Harley shadowing him in their District 1 Class 5A first-round contest. Harley had three points, three fouls and six missed shots in the first half. So Kyem resolved to take the game to a player already on his heels, figuring that getting the best of one of the Knights’ leaders would bring the rest of the team down with him.

Kyem did just that, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the third quarter and keying a 73-48 runaway win for the eighth-seeded Patriots.

Penn Wood (15-8) advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals, where it will visit top-seeded West Chester East with a spot in the state tournament on the line. The seventh win in Penn Wood’s last nine outings ends the season of No. 9 AP (15-8). Thursday served as the rubber match between the Del Val rivals, with Penn Wood winning by seven points at home Jan. 10 and AP taking the return meeting by eight Jan. 29.

This one didn’t remain that close for very long. Kyem set the tone.

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Webmaster’s note: The PIAA first round 5A District One game between Academy Park and Penn Wood was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard in its entirety below or on our Archived Broadcasts link listed in the menu at the top of our page.

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By Christopher Vito

Shane Cohen admits he floats comfortably between two roles for Lower Moreland, scorer and facilitator. He also might just very well float.

The senior collected a fourth-quarter pass on the baseline, took a single dribble, and double-clutched a lay-up. Cohen hung in the air long enough to convert the shot and draw a foul. The old-fashioned 3-point play helped Cohen cross the 1,000-point, career-scoring threshold, and served as the offensive highlight in a game loaded with them.

Cohen’s 26 points, six assists, and four rebounds boosted the top-seeded Lions to a 76-46 rout of fourth-seeded Glen Mills in a District 1 Class 4A semifinal. Lower Moreland (21-3) will face Pope John Paul II in Saturday’s district championship game.

“He’s the (Bicentennial Athletic League) MVP. He goes as we go, in many ways,” Lower Moreland coach Seth Baron said of Cohen, his top scorer. “That being said, we’re very talented. We have 12 seniors. We’ve been building toward this season.”

The Lions shot 29-for-52 overall, good for 56 percent. From beyond the arc, they were nearly as efficient. They made 45 percent of their 3-pointers, connecting on 10 of 22 attempts. And they didn’t miss from the foul line, knocking down all eight free throws.

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By Bruce Adams

Sun Valley’s four senior starters stood tall in the Vanguards’ 82-65 win over Phoenixville Thursday night in the opening round of the District 1 Class 5A boys basketball tournament.

Vinny DeAngelo lit up the scoreboard with 31 points, and fellow seniors Isaac Kennon and Marvin Freeman chipped in with 14 each. The trio was tough on the boards Thursday night, too.

“DeAngelo, Freeman and Kennon have been our top rebounders for the last three years, but our unsung rebounding hero is Lance Stone,” Sun Valley head coach Steve Maloney said. “He’s barely 6-foot, and he pulled down some big ones in the second half tonight.”

Sun Valley (16-7) maintained a small lead against Phoenixville (11-12) most of the night, then exploded for 31 points in the final quarter.

“We’ve scored the ball pretty well this season, but we spent the last two weeks working on defensive assignments,” Maloney said. “I thought our defense was good tonight. Dom Valente had a good defensive game, he’s taken about 20 charges for us this year.”

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By Peter Sena

Unionville has had plenty of leading men in big games this season, usually Bo Furey-Bastian or Wyatt Hockenberry.Thursday night, it was Drew Lenkaitis’ turn to lead the Indians to victory.

The Unionville senior scored 21 points on the night — including 17 in the first half — as the Indians rolled over Radnor, 60-46, in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.

The third-seeded Indians will host a familiar foe in No. 6 Sun Valley in Saturday’s quarterfinals, after the Vanguards beat Phoenixville. A win on Saturday would secure a state tournament berth.

“We played really hard, it’s just a byproduct of how hard we’ve worked,” Lenkaitis said. “We just got to play hard and keep things going. Our coach (Chris Cowles) told the seniors today could be our last game. If there’s anything you need to do, it’s ‘no regret’ effort and just leave it all out on the court. The game was all about trusting my teammates and trusting what our coaches taught us to do.”

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