Month: January 2022

By Matt Smith

Emma Rowland and the Haverford girls basketball team spent a lot of time practicing their foul shooting this week. The Fords have been inconsistent in that area this season.

“Two practices ago, all we did was practice our foul shots,” said Rowland, a senior guard. “If we missed, we ran.”

A trot around the gym seems like the appropriate penance for a missed freebie, especially a team intending to make a run at a Central League championship.

It had been a long while since Haverford (or anyone else, for that matter) had beaten the Cougars. Prior to Friday, they had won 25 consecutive Central League games dating to the start of the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign.

The last time the Fords defeated the Cougars was Jan. 17, 2018.

“A long time,”  Maddie Williams said.

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

Gaeli Keffer-Scharpf saved 11 of her team high 18 points for the second half to pace Episcopal Academy to a 44-30 nonleague victory over Villa Maria.

Keffer-Scharpf scored eight of those points in the third quarter. Riley Cassidy pitched in with 16 points for the Churchwomen.

CARDINAL O’HARA 55, BISHOP SHANAHAN 28 » Reigning Daily Times Player of the Year Maggie Doogan paced a balanced attack with 15 points. Freshman Molly Rullo added 12 points and Joanie Quinn chipped in with eight.

In the Del Val League Thursday:

INTERBORO 44, CHESTER 43 » Sophomore Alaina D’Angelo hit two free throws with 2.3 seconds left in overtime to give the Bucs their first win of the season. Shakira Orr paced Interboro with 12 points and

seven steals.

In the Catholic League Thursday:

BONNER-PRENDERGAST 30, LITTLE FLOWER 27 » Riley Donohue made a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Pandas a thrilling win Thursday night. Donohue finished with a team-high eight points and Laila Farmer chipped in with six.

PENNCREST 61, UPPER DARBY 53 » Saahir Lee collected 25 points, five assists and five rebounds as the Lions used a fast start to top the Royals.

Penncrest jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the first quarter and took a 41-31 advantage into the final period. Ben Stanton chipped in with 18 points, four assists and three rebounds. Nadir Myers paced UD with 20 points. Alexander Ings added nine points.

Elsewhere in the Central League:

MARPLE NEWTOWN 49, RIDLEY 35 » Jonny Small posted a double-double for the Tigers with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Matt Cantwell tallied seven points and pulled down 14 boards. Justin DiBona contributed six points and five assists.

In the Inter-Ac League:

Episcopal Academy 55, Haverford School 54 > Kevin McCarthy tossed in 20 points and Jake Jaszcz added 13 to help the Churchmen hold off the rival Fords. EA had a 40-27 lead going into the fourth quarter but were outscored 27-15.

In nonleague action Thursday:

PENN WOOD 52, HOLY GHOST PREP 51 » The Patriots outscored the Firebirds, 18-13, in the fourth quarter to erase a 38-34 deficit. Anthony Murray led the way with 19 points and six assists. Evan Borward pitched in with 13 points and had a double-double.

By Matthew DeGeorge

Vince Wildrick felt the pressure and knew just how to react.

It was a rare frantic possession by Chichester in the second quarter Thursday night against Academy Park. The ball found its way to Wildrick near the top of the lane, where he’d been camped all night in the soft middle of a 2-3 zone that Chi eventually forced the Knights to abandon. When his man overplayed him on his right, Wildrick dug into his bag of tricks, hitting his defender with a spin move and banking a left-handed shot off glass and in.

It was an early sign that everything was going the way of Wildrick and Chi.

Behind a pair of 15-2 runs in the first half, Chichester created early distance on the way to a 68-30 rout of a green Academy Park side. Widrick’s role in Chi’s patient and thorough dismantling of AP showed in that roll to the glass and in so many smaller instances on the night.

“That’s one of my go-to moves,” Wildrick said. “If they’re pressuring me, I go by and drop step. It’s one of my favorite moves. I just felt the pressure, I felt them overplay me, step through and it’s just natural.”

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

By Andrew Robinson

Grace O’Neill wasn’t thinking about payback.

Revenge isn’t a valid motive, it’s an emotional response, so the Archbishop Carroll senior wasn’t thinking about the agonizing loss she and her team suffered last year in Archbishop Wood’s gym in the PCL semifinals. Well, maybe it did cross the Drexel recruit’s mind once or twice, but it was more the feeling of being on the other side as she and Brooke Wilson led a ferocious fourth-quarter charge.

This wasn’t vengeance, it was just a really good win over a really good team as the Patriots delivered an early haymaker to the PCL standings with their 44-38 win over the defending champion Vikings on Thursday night.

“Just being focused on this game was all we were trying to key in on,” O’Neill, who scored 18 points, said. “I know the feeling being, I think we were up two, so I know that feeling of seeing it slip away but that can’t be where you focus. Brooke did a great job finishing off her foul shots and that definitely helped us get the win.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Josh Verlin

Springfield (Delco.) already had to replace two 1,000-point scorers coming into this season, with Alexa Abbonizio and Rachel Conran both beginning their college careers at West Chester. Then Ky McNichol’s program suffered a major blow in December, when junior Lexi Aaron went down in the Cougars’ game against Strath Haven, lost for the rest of the season to injury.

“When Lexi went down, it was really sad for the whole team,” McNichol said. “She’s a great kid, she’s a great leader for us.

“We actually all kind of put our heads down for a second,” fellow junior Mia Valerio said. 

Not just one of McNichols’ leaders, Aaron was also the Cougars’ primary offensive option, averaging around 13 ppg. 

(click on this link for the full story)

ACADEMY PARK 55, CHICHESTER 22 » Semaji Young led the defensive charge that powered the Knights to their second straight win.

Young had nine steals to go with 13 points and four assists as the Knights held the Eagles to 12 points over the final three quarters. Avianna Williams pitched in with nine points.

Boys Basketball

Delco Christian turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 66-54 victory over Valley Forge Military Academy.

The Knights outscored the Cadets, 15-5, in the final period to secure the win. Josh Parks led DC with a gamehigh 24 points. Lincoln Palmer added 14 points and Josh Dell’Arciprete chipped in with 10.

Dujwana Jones led Chi with nine points.

Nikki Mostardi and Mary O’Brien’s clutch free-throw shooting in overtime propelled Marple Newtown to a 52-48 Central League win at Garnet Valley.

The Tigers (9-2, 8-1) have won seven consecutive games.

Mostardi and O’Brien each made four shots from the charity stripe in OT. Haley Levy and Brooke Impriano, both of whom recorded double- doubles, each connected on 3-point baskets in the extra session.

Mostardi led the Tigers on offense with 16 points. Levy (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Impriano (13 points, 14 rebounds) also had big performances. O’Brien added nine points.

Garnet Valley sophomore Emily Olsen scored a game-high 24 points. Ava Possenti netted nine points for the Jaguars (8-6, 5-4).

In other Central League action:

SPRINGFIELD 41, CONESTOGA 35 »

Mia Valerio led a balanced effort by the Cougars, who maintained their grip on first place in the league. The junior guard ended with 10 points, two assists and two assists.

Kaitlyn Kearney scored 11 points and Taylor Hunyet added nine points. Hunyet drilled a 3 in to put the Cougars up seven with two minutes to go. Anabel Kreydt chipped in seven points and seven boards.

Kearney and Valerio made free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

RIDLEY 46, STRATH HAVEN 36 »

Peyton Berger connected on three 3-pointers and poured in 17 points for the Green Raiders, who led 1911 after the first quarter. Kailyn Bell, who also made a trio of treys, produced 12 points in the winning cause.

Rose Henry had nine points and Maryella Gill chipped in eight for the Panthers.

RADNOR 52, UPPER DARBY 40 » Paige Yurchak managed 15 points and six rebounds to pace the Raptors to victory on senior night. Yurchak did most of her scoring damage (13 points) in the second half.

Mary Sareen netted 12 points and Caroline Monahan added eight. Radnor’s 15-5 run in the third quarter proved to be the difference.

Aubrey Ennis led all Royals with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Alliyah Jean-Baptiste (10 rebounds, three steals) and Rachel Fitzpatrick scored six points apiece.

HAVERFORD 44, HARRITON 22 » Caroline Dotsey went for 18 points to lead the Fords, who held the host Rams to no more than six points in every quarter. Mollie Carpenter tossed in eight points and Maddie Williams finished with seven for Haverford.

PENNCREST 46, LOWER MERION 27 » Bailey Garrison scored 12 points and Alex Bruce had nine for the Lions.

In the Inter-Ac League:

PENN CHARTER 59, NOTRE DAME 45 » The top two teams in the Inter-Ac battled in the first of two regular season meetings.

The Irish (10-3) trailed 20-12 after the first period and could never close the gap. All-Delco guard Maeve McErlane netted a team high 15 points and Julia Dever, who stuck three 3-pointers, contributed 12 points.

Bella Toomey posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Quakers. Aleah Snead managed 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

The Haverford High boys basketball team has had a flair for the dramatic this season. The Fords kept the late-game magic going Wednesday evening.

JR Newman’s layup with three seconds to play lifted Haverford to a 38-36 Central League win over Harriton.

Newman led the way with a game-high 17 points. Nick Colucci added 10 points for the Fords.

RADNOR 56, UPPER DARBY 42 » Cooper Mueller had 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as the Raptors (13-0) extended their undefeated streak. Jackson Hicke recorded 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Danny Rosenblum and Cliff Smith added eight points apiece.

Niymire Brown had 11 of his team-high 17 points in the first quarter for the Royals. Moussa Sore and Nadir Myers contributed 11 points each.

By Jack McCaffery

The season flipping to a serious point, Sun Valley basketball coach Steve Maloney had an idea of what to expect from West Chester Rustin Tuesday night.

He also had a solution: Wait it out.

What the Vanguards braced for, and what they would see, was the latest in a recent series of gimmick defenses against Chris Kwaidah, the smooth-shooting junior guard. So it would be, a box-and-one, played well enough to keep the Golden Knights competitive in a critical Ches-Mont American game.

What Sun Valley eventually enjoyed as a reward for its patience was two second-half three-pointers and a 6-for-6, never-hit-the-rim fourth-quarter foul-line display from Kwaidah to seal a 66-57 victory likely to have an impact on the District 1 Class 5A power ratings.

“He’s a game-changer,” Maloney said. “This is two games in a row that teams went to a box on us. We were able to push the basketball and get him a look. It was a momentum swing when he hit a three from the corner, and his three out of an inbounds play, and his free throws.

(click on this link for the full story)

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