Month: February 2019

By Matthew DeGeorge

It was a small sequence with two minutes left in a game that had been decided, but it still illustrated the unrelenting control Malcolm Williams and Isaiah Rice exerted for Penncrest Saturday.On one end, Williams stole the ball from a Conestoga player, then dished to Rice, who was fouled. Rice hit the first free throw, missed the second, only for Williams to scoop up the rebound, get hacked and head back to the line.

Those free throws helped salt away a 54-46 win for Penncrest in the Central League semifinal at Marple Newtown, booking the second-seeded Lions (17-5) a spot in Monday night’s championship game against regular-season champion Lower Merion (7:45 at Harriton).

Rice and Williams accounted for 17 of the Lions’ 19 fourth-quarter points. On both ends of the court, whether via Williams’ varied offensive game or Rice’s court vision or their collective muzzling of Conestoga leading scorer Zach Lezanic, the pair dictated the game.

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: The Central League Boy’s Championship basketball game on February 11th will be broadcast LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com. Pre-game begins at 7:45 PM.

By Matt Smith

As Jordan D’Ambrosio played on one good ankle Saturday, Springfield teammate Belle Mastropietro erred on the side of caution.

D’Ambrosio took a hard fall to the floor, but kept going after Haverford at less than 100 percent. Mastropietro picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter, even though the officials called for a foul she didn’t commit on two occasions.

For three quarters, it was an agonizing, crummy, day for Springfield’s senior captains.

So, it wasn’t a big surprise the Cougars were involved in another defensive and low-scoring slugfest with Haverford, the second year in a row the teams clashed in the Central League semifinals at Marple Newtown. D’Ambrosio and Mastropietro weren’t in tip-top form, but Springfield came back to win, 33-30, and will take on No. 1 Garnet Valley for the league championship Monday at Harriton.

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: The Central League Girl’s Championship basketball game on February 11th will be broadcast LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com. Pre-game begins at 5:45 PM.

By Matthew DeGeorge

Christian Ray scored 19 points, in the process becoming Haverford School’s all-time leading scorer and leading the Fords to a 51-46 win over Camden Saturday.

Ray has 1,578 points in his three seasons with the Fords, the All-Delco and La Salle commit passing Henry Fairfax for first on the school’s list. He’s led the Fords to back-to-back Inter-Ac League titles and helped them finish the regular season Saturday with a 24-0 record.

Jameer Nelson Jr. added 13 points. Jameel Brown tossed in 10 points, and Asim Richards added nine for the Fords, who trailed by seven at halftime.

In the Bicentennial League:

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

 

By Delcohoops.com Staff

The final four for the Central League Basketball Championships are set!

The Springfield Cougars will take on the Garnet Valley Jaguars on Monday night at Harriton High School at 6 PM for the Girl’s title.

The Penncrest Lions will challenge the Lower Merion Aces also at Harrition High School on Monday night at 8 PM for the Boy’s title.

The Central League Champion games at Harriton on Monday night will be covered as our Game-of-the-Week and will be available right here on Delcohoops.com!

By PAPrepLive

Nymire Little tallied 17 points and Archbishop Carroll overcame an eight-point, second-quarter deficit for a 48-47 Catholic League victory over St. Joseph’s Prep.

Tairi Ketner added 12 points and Amiri Stewart pitched in with 10.

Neumann-Goretti 81, Cardinal O’Hara 54 >> The Saints bolted to a 23-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Christian Ings led four players in double figures with 20 points. Jordan Hall added 15.

Anthony Purnell (12 points), Adrian Irving (11) and Jameel Burton (10) showed the way for the Lions.

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

 

By Matthew DeGeorge

Radnor 48, Strath Haven 46

Jack D’Entremont scored 20 points, including the game-winning layup in the final seconds to seal the win for the Raiders.

Lewis Robinson tossed in 11 points, and Jahmir Dixon added 10 for the Raiders (11-10, 7-9).

Brady Mutz led Strath Haven with 11 points. Luke Edwards tossed in 10, and Jaeise Davis added nine for the Panthers (3-19, 3-13).

(Webmaster’s note: The Radnor vs. Strath Haven game 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 Steve Moore

The Unionville boys basketball team entered Thursday night’s finale with Sun Valley on the outside of the Ches-Mont League Final Four playoff picture.

The Indians left as the top seed from the American Division, and used their stifling defense to push Sun Valley out of the Final Four.

The host Indians shut down the high-powered Sun Valley offense, and harrassed the Vanguards into a frigid 17-for-49 shooting night, on their way to a 59-48 win Thursday night.

The result, combined with West Chester Rustin’s win over Kennett Thursday night, created a three-way tie atop the Ches-Mont League’s American Division. Unionville and Rustin will finish ahead of Sun Valley in District 1 playoff points, so the Indians (7-3, 15-7) and Golden Knights will represent the American in Saturday’s Final Four at Oxford. 

Unionville will face West Chester East, while Rustin will meet top-seeded Coatesville.

Sun Valley’s season is not over, however, as the Vanguards (7-3, 15-7) will easily qualify for the District 1 Class 5A tournament, along with Unionville, Rustin (7-3, 15-7) and Great Valley out of the American.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Dylan Bittle and Dan Lloyd didn’t get much time on Penncrest’s senior night, but they made the most of it.

Both cleared for limited action after sustaining injuries that had effectively ended their season, Lloyd hit a 3-pointer from the corner off a set play on the first possession of Thursday night’s game against Springfield, and Bittle added a bucket in the first minute of the Lions’ 58-27 win over the Cougars.

Fellow senior Gee Antonelli, who has missed the entire season with a foot injury, also got into action for the first time Thursday.

Malcolm Williams led the Lions with 17 points. Matt Arbogast added 10 points, and Aiden Carroll chipped in nine for the Lions (17-5, 13-3), who enter Saturday’s Central League semifinals on a six-game winning streak.

Robby Longo scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter, and Cole Rhodes added six for the Cougars (0-22, 0-16).

Also in the Central League:

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

By Matthew DeGeorge

Any summer afternoon while they were growing up, you knew where to find Obinna and Ebuka Nwobodo.The sound of the basketball thudding off concrete would be the giveaway, studded with the occasional good-natured trash talk. For hours, from noon until it was too dark to see, at the basket nailed to the overhang behind their Northeast Philadelphia home, the two brothers would be shooting.

On one side was Ebuka, now a 6-1 freshman guard/forward for Delco Christian. On the other was Obinna, a 6-4 junior center. Together they are a study in contrasts, their rough edges helping polish each other’s games. Against the bigger Obinna, Ebuka learned how to move faster and smarter with the ball. Against the speedier Ebuka, Obinna focused on devising the most efficient path to the rim.

All those hours on the unforgiving concrete – “if you fall, there’s going to be blood,” Obinna said – have put them in a remarkable situation. Both contributed from the start of their careers at DC and are enjoying their first season playing together for the Knights.

“It’s so exciting,” Obinna said Tuesday. “He can be really, really great, way better than I can ever be. So for me, I have to be there to mentor him throughout the whole way.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Christian Ray paused for a moment before identifying the play that made him believe.

Down nine points with a chance to go down 11, Ray’s Haverford School senior classmate Jameer Nelson Jr. stood his ground on the edge of the lane while Malvern Prep’s Rahdir Hicks jumped up and through him for an offensive foul.

“That’s when I knew, ‘come on, we’ve got this,’” Ray said.

Malvern eventually would stretch that lead to 11 in the fourth quarter. But Nelson’s toughness in that moment had its effect, the first of many veteran plays from the Fords Tuesday afternoon.

(click on this link for the full story)