By Matt Smith
Delaware County’s basketball teams were slapped with three losses at the PIAA Championships.
Bonner & Prendergast boys, Garnet Valley girls and Archbishop Carroll girls all left Chocolate-town with nothing more than tummy aches and runners-up trophies.
The Friars had city title bragging rights over Imhotep Charter stripped away in a fight for the Class 4A state boys crown. Imhotep won the foul-infested final, a highly-anticipated rematch that simply didn’t live up to the hype. Overall, though, the Friars had a great run, with 2018 Daily Times Player of the Year Isaiah Wong leading the way. Bonner & Prendie became the first team in school history to advance to the state final.
Garnet Valley’s girls won 30 games, which was the most by a Delco public school team in 33 years. The Jags captured the Central League title for the third time in four years, and won the program’s first District 1 championship. Alas, they were no match for District 7 juggernaut Peters Township Friday night. But the Jags had nothing to frown about. They were the No. 1 team in the county and district all season and made school history with five senior starters in Emily McAteer, Brianne Borcky, Madi McKee, Morgan Falcone and Jill Nagy.
The Carroll girls were Delco’s last chance to salvage a victory and state bragging rights, but they met a District 7 beast by the name of Chartiers Valley Saturday night. While the Patriots hung around for three quarters, they couldn’t match up with Chartiers’ impressive combination of size and skill.
Chartiers Valley and Peters Township actually looked a lot alike. Both the Class 6A and 5A champions on the girls side come from the Pittsburgh area. And, quite frankly, they outplayed Delco’s best.