Month: January 2017

By Matthew De George

Kyle Long surveyed the options before Tuesday night’s game with Marple Newtown and understood what his Springfield team could draw on.

If the game called for it, the Cougars were ready to speed Marple up. Or they could drag out possessions and screen for jump shots. Or they could dump the ball inside and use Great Orjih’s height advantage.

At the controls of those options is Long.

Where the Tigers were overly reliant on one mode of attack, Springfield’s improvisation allowed it to coast to a 62-49 Central League victory.

“I think we have guys that can play fast, and then we go four corners and play slow,” Long said. “We pick and choose when we can do that. The third quarter, we started running, we got up. The fourth quarter — we had too many turnovers and I think if we can clean that up — we went a little slower, four corners and if we make our foul shots, we’re a tough team to come back against.”

Strath Haven 46, Penncrest 38 >> Cooper Driscoll, who was injured in pregame warmups before a 24-point shellacking by the Lions in December, scored seven of his 10 points in the third quarter as Strath Haven scored a measure of retribution.

John Harrar scored 13 points to go with 14 rebounds and four assists for Haven (11-5, 8-3). Chris Rosini was the catalyst with two first-quarter 3-pointers to set the tone. He finished with 11 points.

The Panthers did the job defensively on Tyler Norwood, who made just one basket over the first three quarters on a rough shooting night. He finished with 17 points. Justin Ross added eight for Penncrest (13-4, 9-2).

(click on this link for the full article and more game stories and scores)

By Will Slover

Bonner-Prendergast held just a nine-point lead over the host West Catholic with 3:45 to go in the third quarter and it looked like the Friars might fall victim to upset in front of a heavy Burrs’ crowd on Monday night.

That is, until a technical foul called on West Catholic bench sparked a quick run for the Friars to close the quarter, and Bonner-Prendie never looked back.

B-P used the run to spark a late push and the Friars went on to beat West Catholic by a score of 64-45 and maintain their spot as one of the top four teams in the Catholic League.

Highlighting the late Bonner-Prendie (13-3, 5-2 PCL) push was the effort of junior forward Ajiri Johnson, as the 6-foot-8 big man scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. The Putnam Science (Conn.) transfer also grabbed a game-high of 11 rebounds in the double-double performance.

After moving to America from his native Nigeria at age 15 and transferring to Bonner-Prendie this offseason, the big man has seen his game grow leaps and bounds in his short time as a Friar.

“He had a great game. He’s very athletic,” Bonner-Prendie head coach Jack Concannon said. “He’s getting better every day, he’s still a work in progress but he’s got a bright future.”

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Rick O’Brien

Penncrest, with an undersize but gritty lineup, is bidding to make its ninth consecutive appearance in the PIAA District 1 boys’ basketball playoffs.

Odds are that the Lions will achieve that goal as they were 12-2 overall and 8-0 in the Central League entering Wednesday night’s contest against Marple Newtown.

Mike Doyle’s squad was riding a 12-game winning streak entering its contest against the Tigers. It opened the season with taut nonleague losses against Phoenixville and Academy Park.

“The kids have done a nice job of buying into our offensive style,” Doyle said. “We do a lot of off-the-ball screening to get good looks at the basket.”

Junior point guard Tyler Norwood is shooting 53 percent from the field while averaging 24.5 points per game.

“He has an unbelievable shooting stroke. He keeps the ball on a string, and he’s a great finisher,” Doyle said.

(click on this link for the full article)

Webmaster’s note:  Next week’s Game-of-the-Week features Penncrest and Lower Merion!

 

By Matthew De George

 Kharon Randolph looks over his shoulder and offers a sheepish apology for the answer he is about to give.

For two years, the junior guard has grown close to Jameer Nelson Jr. as a teammate and a friend at The Haverford School. They’ve developed a connection on and off the court as basketball-loving teens, irrespective of one possessing a famous basketball moniker.

When it comes to appraising Nelson on the basketball court, though, Randolph can’t help but fall back on a ready-made explanation.

“It sounds cliché,” Randolph starts hesitantly, “but he plays like his dad.”

There’s no avoiding the prestige that the name Jameer Nelson connotes on basketball courts around Philadelphia. But make no mistake: Jameer Nelson Jr. isn’t the second coming of his father, the Daily Times Player of the Year from Chester, the Wooden Award winner at Saint Joseph’s and the 13-year NBA veteran. He’s charting his own course, and he has no more vocal supporter than his namesake.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

St. Joseph’s Prep didn’t need many 2-point field goals Sunday. Not when the Hawklets were shooting so proficiently from beyond the arc.

Prep hit a dozen 3-pointers, but it was a pair of free throws from Darius Kinnel with 3.4 seconds left that sealed a 52-50 victory over Archbishop Carroll.

A.J. Hoggard did all he could to keep Carroll (12-4 overall, 4-3 Catholic League) in the game with 25 points and three assists. The freshman point guard had a hand in 14 of the Patriots’ 19 made baskets.

Justin Anderson added eight points and Keyon Butler supplied seven points and 11 rebounds.

Brian Griffin led Prep with 15 points and four treys as Prep shot 12-for-15 from deep. Kyle Thompson and Gabe Arizin both made three triples for 11 points. Kinnell drained 13 points for Prep, which made just five two-point buckets.

By Aaron Carter

Thomas “Hockey Puck” McKenna furrowed his brow before Roman Catholic took on host Bonner-Prendergast in Catholic League action Friday night.

The longtime Roman assistant was reminded that the host Friars hadn’t beaten the Cahillites since 2002 when he squinted behind black-framed glasses.

“You got to remind me of that right now?!” McKenna said with a scowl.

By Matthew De George

As Radnor regrouped at halftime Friday, Mason Ressler knew the assessment forthcoming from coach Jamie Chadwin.

Against Haverford, the Raiders needed to be more aggressive. And with Ressler regularly attended to by defenders four or five inches shorter, the senior forward would have to lead the way.

Ressler responded with 14 of his 16 points in the second half as the Raiders came from behind for a 46-40 win over Haverford.

“I try to be as aggressive as I can and try to get shots for my teammates and look to score when I can,” Ressler said. “But I really try to use my matchup.”

He and the rest of his Radnor teammates endured a sleepy first half, staggered by an 11-2 run by the Fords out of the gates. The Fords led by nine with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in the half and by five at the break, only that close when Jack Thompson was shoved on a desperation half-court heave with 0.1 seconds showing and made two free throws.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Bruce Adams

Facing a red-hot Penncrest team that entered Friday night’s contest on a 13-game winning streak and sporting a 9-0 Central League record, the host Pioneers survived a late Lion scare to win, 52-47, in a battle of Central League unbeatens.
Conestoga senior guard Scott Shapiro’s sharpshooting from the perimeter gave the hosts a 16-8 first-quarter lead, and the Pioneers (13-2, 10-0) held the lead for nearly the entire game. However, late in the fourth quarter the Lions (13-3, 9-1) went on a 10-0 run to take a 42-41 lead with 2:19 left. It was the first time Conestoga trailed since the beginning of the first quarter.

“When we fell behind, we were patient, we didn’t rush our shots,” said Conestoga Mike Troy. “There were a couple of possessions [early in the fourth quarter] that I wish we could have taken back, but late in the game, we waited for our shots – we weren’t having possessions where it was one pass and a wild shot.”
Just 29 seconds after Conestoga fell behind 42-41, Pioneer sophomore guard Milton Robinson made a play that put the hosts ahead – for good. Robinson, who had not scored a point since the first minute of the opening quarter, drove to the baseline for a basket, drew a foul, and made the free throw to give the hosts a 44-42 lead.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Matthew De George

Christian Ray scored 23 points, including his 1,000th as a high schooler, as The Haverford School stretched its winning streak to 13 games with a 58-44 handling of Penn Charter Friday.

Ray spent two seasons at Octorara before transferring to The Haverford School this season and reclassifying as 2019.

Kharon Randolph added 11 of his 18 points in the first quarter, and Jameer Nelson Jr. added 10 for the Fords (16-1 overall, 5-0 league), who emerge unscathed from the first turn of the Inter-Ac schedule.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Anthony Dabbundo

They call themselves the ‘Core Four.’

The success of Lower Merion basketball comes from their four leading scorers: Noah Fennell, Jack Forrest, Terrell Jones, and Steve Payne.

Two sophomores, two seniors. Three guards, one wing. As they go, the Aces go.

On Friday night, the core four was firing on all cylinders. For the first time all season, all four scored in double figures, combining for 65 of the Aces’ 68 points in a critical 68-54 win over Strath Haven.

“Our core four all scored in double digits for the first time all year,” said Payne, one of the two sophomores along with Forrest. “This is the best all around game we’ve played.”

“Definitely our best performance of the year, this one takes the prize,” added Jones, the wing and the tallest of the quartet at 6-foot-4.

As a team that starts three sophomores, some growing pains we’re expected this season. The Aces started just 4-5, including 2-2 in Central League play.

(click on this link for the full article)