Month: February 2018

By Ed Morlock

After allowing a layup off of the opening tip, Wissahickon’s defense forced four straight Strath Haven turnovers.That was a sign of things to come.

The No. 4 seeded Trojans forced 17 turnovers in a 67-48 win over the No. 13 seeded Panthers Wednesday night at Wissahickon High School in the first round of the District 1 Class-5A playoffs.

Wissahickon (17-6) will face No. 5 Great Valley Saturday for a spot in the district semifinals and state playoffs.

“With Cheltenham and PW we’ve continued to battle the past few years for the top of the league,” Trojans coach Kyle Wilson said. “We’re pressure teams. We like to get out there, like to create havoc. I always feel if a guy is going to get a three, I’d rather him get it in the first 10 seconds than run his offense for 35 seconds and still get the same three. So let’s get after it a little bit and force the issue and be aggressive on defense.”

 

(click on this link for the full story)

By Dillon Friday

It was a welcome sight after a trying close to the Chichester season: Mike Davie, all 6-8 of him, standing in full uniform in the starting lineup as the No. 8 Eagles got set to play No. 9 Holy Ghost Prep in the District 1 5A Playoffs.Davie tore his ACL in June and missed the entire campaign. Wednesday was his debut, and he played admirably, scoring 10 points. Alas, Davie’s return wasn’t enough as the Eagles fell, 50-45. The Firebirds will visit No. 1 Penncrest in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Chichester faced an uphill battle from the start. Top-scorer Da’quan Granberry picked up two technical fouls in the regular season finale against Chester and had to serve a one-game suspension. Davie stepped in as best he could.

“Da’quan was out, so I knew we needed another player to come in,” said Davie, a senior. “I went to the doctor’s on Monday to come back and play tonight.”

He was roughly 10 days ahead of schedule.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Josh Verlin

Vinny DeAngelo had one thing on his mind: get to the hoop.

From the moment Sun Valley’s first playoff game in nearly 20 years got underway, the Vanguards’ high-scoring junior guard put that mindset to work, taking the opening tipoff and racing in for a layup before five seconds had even ticked off the clock of a District 1 5A first-round game against Marple Newtown.

“We actually worked on that in practice, and it worked to perfection,” said junior wing Marvin Freeman, who jumps center for the Vanguards.

After waiting 11 days since the regular season ended, it was exactly the start that Sun Valley needed.

“We could feel in the locker room there was a little anxiety, people weren’t themselves, they kept to themselves,” Sun Valley head coach Steve Maloney said. “But once that layup came in, I think he settled down and I think the team settled down.”

Sun Valley certainly didn’t show too many nerves, jumping out to an early lead at home and hold on for a 62-56 win over Marple Newtown on Wednesday night.

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: The Marple Newtown vs Sun Valley game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard on our Archives link by clicking on the player below:

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By Matthew DeGeorge

When you look at Downingtown West’s roster and its quintet of contributors standing 6-foot-4 or taller, the natural inclination is to see a mismatch with Upper Darby.When Royals big man Kymir Roper, generously listed at 6-5 but with outsized tenacity, perused the roster, he saw opportunity.

“I love the challenge,” Roper said, “no matter what anybody says.”

Roper played only a peripheral role in the ultimate resolution to Tuesday’s District 1 Class 6A contest, setting the screen that was supposed to get Mamadou Toure to the basket. Instead, Toure banked home a 20-foot jumper with one second left in a 46-44 Upper Darby win.

But at the other end, when Will Howard’s home run pass fell shy of its target, Roper’s hands were firmly around the ball as time expired, a fitting symbol for how profoundly he set the tone of cutting the Whippets’ front line down to size.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Zach Drapkin

Every great team has a kryptonite, and for Lower Merion the past few seasons, that kryptonite has been Conestoga.

The Central League archrivals have played one another three times in each season since 2014-15, and every year, Conestoga has won two of the three meetings, knocking off the Aces in District 1 6A playoffs last postseason.

The Pioneers racked up another regular-season sweep of LM this year, taking the two games by a combined nine points, but the two teams found themselves facing off once against in district play on Tuesday after Conestoga dispatched Cheltenham in the first round on Friday night.

Lower Merion head coach Gregg Downer wasn’t very happy to see Conestoga potentially on his schedule, and even less happy when it became a reality.

“I didn’t like the bracket when I saw ‘Stoga out there lurking,” Downer said. “They’re a very good team, and they certainly know how to beat us.”

(click on this link for the full story)

 

By CoBL Staff

The second-ever year of the District 1 5A bracket brings back many of the same contenders from a year ago, including defending champion Penncrest and fellow semifinalists Great Valley and Bishop Shanahan are all back in the top five, with several other strong programs right there in the mix.

Seven of these 16 will advance to the PIAA Class 5A tournament, meaning first-round losers are done for the year but the winners guarantee themselves at least three games; only a quarterfinal win guarantees a spot, but three of the four losers in the next round will end up safe as well.

Here’s a look at the eight games (all played Wed., Feb. 21 at 7 PM unless otherwise noted):

6) Sun Valley vs. 11) Marple Newtown
When Sun Valley and Marple Newtown faced off earlier this year back on January 13, Sun Valley won 59-42. The Vanguards (16-6) were led by junior sharpshooter Vinny D’Angelo (20 points), and junior wing Marvin Freeman (12 points). Michael May was held to eight points that game, but is the go-to scoring option for the Tigers (13-9), who lost to Penncrest in the final-four of the Central League. Prior to the loss to Penncrest, Marple had won its last seven games.

(click on this link for the preview of all eight games)

Webmaster’s note: The Marple Newtown vs Sun Valley game will be broadcast LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com!

 

By CoBL Staff

After an upset-filled first round — six of the eight opening-round games saw the lower-seeded team win on the road — the District 1 6A bracket is already all sorts of weird. Now the top eight seeds join the fray, most of which will have to face a team that just pulled off one road upset and now finds itself one win away from a state berth.

District 1 places 10 teams in the state bracket, meaning all eight winners of Tuesday night’s games guarantee themselves a spot in PIAAs, as well as a guarantee of at least four more games between quarterfinals, seeding games and the first round of the state tournament. But the eight losers are not done; they’ll head into the playback bracket, whose final two remnants will also earn state bids.

Here’s a look at the eight second-round games, all of which tip at 7 PM except for Abington/Neshaminy, which tips a half-hour later:

(click on this link for the full preview)

By Andrew Robinson

For a player like AJ Hoggard, the balance between taking over a game and starting to do too much is often razor-thin.The Archbishop Carroll sophomore has been working all season to hone that instinct and use his wealth of skills to best help the Patriots when they need it. Friday night in the second half, Hoggard toed the line perfectly, seizing the moment in the fourth quarter to rally his team past Archbishop Wood.

Hoggard scored 23 points as Caroll topped Wood for the second time this week, claiming a 69-62 win in their PCL quarterfinal matchup.

“I felt like the second half had to be mine,” Hoggard said. “I had to get my team over the hump. I wasn’t going out again like we did last year, especially on our home court. I was going to do what I had to do for us to win.”

The winningest senior class in Wood history needed to get one more win to keep its season alive, but couldn’t quite muster enough big shots down the stretch to do so. Wood shook off a slow start and battled back to take a lead into the half, with Julius Phillips and Andrew Funk carrying the load on offense.

(click on this link for the full story)

 

By Neil Geoghegan

When head coach John Goodman emerged from the locker room following Downingtown East’s historically significant 51-31 triumph over visiting Penn Wood in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A Basketball Playoffs he was soaked.“We wet him up,” acknowledged Malik Slay, the Cougars star guard. “We had all the Gatorade bottles filled with water. As soon as he walked in, we got him.”

For the first time in program history, Downingtown East celebrated a district playoff victory on Friday. And perhaps even more impressive than the win was how the Cougars did it.

“For people outside our program, this may just be a playoff win,” Goodman said. “But for us, it’s a breakthrough. We’ve been fighting for six years just to put ourselves in a position like this, so to be able to get it done – without three of our top four scorers – is special.”

Regular starters Andrew King (ankle injury) and Corey Hernandez (flu) missed the game. And to complicate an already troubling situation, a third starter — Tariq Kalim — took a hard fall and injured his back early in the second period and never returned.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

There wasn’t much Cade Brennan could do but observe from his seat on the bench. Gripping his water bottle, the Garnet Valley junior glanced at the scoreboard … over and over.

The clock was winding down on Garnet Valley’s season. Brennan wanted to be on the floor and, quite frankly, the Jaguars needed him out there if they had any chance at survival.

It wasn’t his fault, though. Brennan, the team’s leading rebounder in Friday’s district playoff opener, was pulled in favor of a lineup conducive to hitting shots. Garnet Valley, the No. 9 seed, was trailing by four points to 24thseeded Downingtown West late in regulation. The Jags needed their shooters — Austin Laughlin, Cole Palis, Connor O’Brien, whomever. Brennan, a junior power forward, isn’t a player known for his ability to hit the 3-ball.

“It was tough,” Brennan said. “We had to get a couple of 3s, so obviously, we had to have our shooters out there.”

What transpired was a se-

quence that put the nail in the Jags’ season. The Whippets hauled in four offensive rebounds during a possession that lasted nearly three minutes. In the process they knocked down several free throws — 9 of 13 in the quarter — to come away with a 49-40 victory over the Jags. D-West (1211) travels to No. 8 Upper Darby for a second-round contest Tuesday.

Brennan eventually checked back into the game. But it was too little, too late for Garnet Valley (16-8).

The Whippets’ two big guys, forwards Greg Barton and Will Howard, accounted for the four offensive rebounds in the waning minutes. Maybe, if Brennan is in the game, the Jags get the ball back with enough time to rally.

“We had a great season and the seniors had a really good year,” Brennan said. “I’m proud of them. It’s a tough way to lose, but we’ll be all right and come back next year.”

(click on this link for the full story)