Delcohoops.com

By Matthew DeGeorge

Based on games reported to the Daily Times through Feb. 17; Minimum half team games played.

Points

Christian Ray, Haverford School 23.3
Isaiah Wong, Bonner & Prendergast 23.0
Vinny DeAngelo, Sun Valley 22.3
Matt Dade, Episcopal Academy 20.4
Karell Watkins, Chester 20.2
Malcolm Williams, Penncrest 17.5
Aaron Thompson, Glen Mills 17.4
Enoch Clark, Ridley 17.3
Tommy Gardler, Marple Newtown 17.2
Alex Capitano, Episcopal Academy 16.4

(click on this link for the full stat listing)

By Bob Grotz

The snapshot Garnet Valley can hold onto until next year is of point guard Carl Schaller.

He scored a game-high 22 points Friday night while wearing a mask protecting the nose he cracked a few weeks ago playing defense, not taking the ball to the rack or slamming on the brakes before knocking down pull-up jumpers. The 5-foot-7 penetrator is a big part of the team’s future.

Entertaining as it was, it still wasn’t nearly enough for the 14th seeded Jaguars, who were outmuscled 61-48 by a Downingtown East squad that also will have a height advantage over second-seeded Coatesville when they meet in the second round of the District 1 Class 6A tournament.

What would be interesting, if we may play devil’s advocate, is a guy with Schaller’s skills getting the ball to Downingtown East bigs Andrew King (6-6), Dylan Rowe (6-5) and Tariq Kalim (6-4) say, next Tuesday at Coatesville.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Ed Morlock

Plymouth Whitemarsh had its full compliment of starters on the court for the first time this season in Friday night’s playoff opener.The Colonials looked like they’ve been playing together for years.

Each member of the starting five made a meaningful impact in a 62-37 win over Haverford in the first round of the District 1-6A playoffs at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School’s Gym West.

Senior guard Anthony Straface was the missing piece for most of the season, dealing with a Grade 3 high ankle sprain. He knocked down his first three-pointer of the game and hit three total from beyond the arc, posting 13 points in his first action in a few weeks.

“I had all the confidence in the world,” Straface, who returned for four games a month ago before needing to sit out again, said. “I work on my game all the time.”

“Injuries can obviously alter things,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “A season is a season — take what it gives you — but in many ways the younger guys have benefitted from all the opportunities, but you can see when a guy who’s a pretty good high school basketball player can put the ball in the basket. There’s a lot of kids who can play the game, work hard at the game, play well but there’s only so many guys that can actually put the ball in the basket consistently. When you lose that kind of guy on a team that was in a rebuild anyway — it’s been that much more of a challenge to try to figure out pieces.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Jack McCaffery

For almost a year, Kevin Funston had a fear. By Friday night, it would become real.

The first-year basketball coach at Bonner & Prendie, Funston was an assistant last year to Jack Concannon. So that was him on the bench at the Palestra last February, watching a last-half-second opportunity fail, watching Roman Catholic celebrate a two-point victory in the Catholic League championship game, and watching the looks on the younger Friars’ faces.

He knew they were kids.

They would be back. Soon.

“Yeah,” Funston half-sighed, almost a year later. “And I think it kind of hurt us this year. I think our guys forgot how hard the journey was.”

There will be no journey back to the Palestra this year. That was decided in the Friars’ 73-62 playoff loss Friday at Neumann-Goretti. There will be opportunities in the District 12 playoffs, and then in the PIAA state tournament. But, at Bonner, at any Catholic League school, there is only one real goal: Get to 33rd Street and scissor those nets. In that order.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Rich Flanagan

The looks on the faces of Isaiah Wong and his Bonner & Prendergast teammates were unfazed but aware.

Still fresh in their minds was the loss to Roman Catholic in the closing seconds of the Philadelphia Catholic League championship game last season. With a core group back aside from Ajiri Johnson (Rider), the Friars had all the pieces in place for another run at a league title.

By the end of the night Friday, the focused looks turned to disappointed glares.

Isaiah Wong had 23 points, seven rebounds and three steals and Donovan Rodriguez chipped in a career-high 19, but it was not enough as Neumann-Goretti’s swarming zone defense limited the Friars offensive attack in the second half on its way to a 73-62 victory in the Catholic League quarterfinals.

Wong scored 14 of the Friars’ 28 points in the opening half, including a basket off an inbounds play to give his team a 28-27 advantage with under 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Ja’Cor Smith (17 points) dropped in one of his three 3-pointers to end the half, and the Saints led by two going into the break.

(click on this link for the full story)

By PAPrepLIVE

The Haverford School drew closer to completing a perfect season Saturday.

Christian Ray poured in a team-high 20 points in leading the No. 1 Fords to the semifinal round of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament with a 67-59 decision over eighth-seeded Academy of the New Church.

Haverford School (26-0) clinged to a one-point lead through two quarters, but caught fire in the third period and outscored ANC by nine points, 22-13. In the quarter, Ray tallied six of his points and Jameer Nelson netted seven of his 14. Jameel Brown also helped the cause with six of his 16 points coming in the third stanza.

(click on this link for the full story)