Month: February 2024

By Matt Smith

When Tess Durfee is called into action, she makes every second count.

As Haverford’s unsung hero, the senior is the embodiment of what is known in basketball parlance as “the sixth man.” Few players in District 1 have done it better than Durfee this season.

If there’s a rebound to be grabbed, Durfee attacks it with ferocity. If there’s a loose ball to be covered, rest assured Durfee will dive on the floor, throwing caution to the wind. She is an excellent passer and rebounder but her hallmark attribute is lockdown defense. And if needed to score every now and then, she’ll oblige.

Indeed, Durfee does many things that do not appear in a basketball scorebook. She brings energy, oftentimes arousing the loudest cheers with her positive play at critical junctures during the Fords’ home playoff games. Durfee was a difference maker again Wednesday, helping Haverford to a 53-42 victory over Central Bucks East in a District 1 Class 6A playback.

Durfee faceguarded C.B. East sniper Anna Barry, who seemed to have her way when Durfee was not on the floor. Barry accounted for four of the Patriots’ 11 3-point shots and finished with 18 points.

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By Owen McCue

Brady Krautzel had plenty of practice for the biggest play of his basketball career thus far.

The Garnet Valley junior grew up playing driveway pick-up games with older brother Jack and Jack’s best friend, Quinn O’Hara. For a long, long time now, Brady has known to be ready when O’Hara has the ball in his hands.

“I’ve been playing with Quinn for a while — not as long as Jack has, but pickup games and everywhere, so you learn tendencies,” Brady said. “Whenever Quinn drives, he’s always a pass-first kind of player. He always looks for the open man.”

So when O’Hara started making his way toward the hoop Tuesday night in a District 1 6A semifinal against No. 2 seed West Chester Henderson, Krautzel spotted up. He took the pass he knew was coming and buried a 3-point look from the left corner with 29.4 seconds left, which held up as the game-winner in a 50-46 win. 

The clutch pass and shot sent 14th-seed Garnet Valley to the District 1 6A championship on Saturday against Central League rival and top seed Lower Merion at Temple Liacouras Center.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Adam Herrenkohl knew the cat-and-mouse game would come early Tuesday night.

The senior guard knew that if Lower Merion started making 3-pointers at its usual rate, then Chester’s defense would have to press out. He knew that would create lanes behind, to drive or to hit cutters. He knew that with a lead going into the second half, Chester would turn up its full-court press, and that the Aces were ready to pre-emptively press and speed the Clippers up.

Most of all, Herrenkohl knew what to expect when Chester brought the ball up the court with 42 seconds left, having worked hard to tie the game before Herrenkohl put LM ahead with two free throws.

Herrenkohl’s steal helped the Aces turn it on in the final minute after its stall tactics sputtered, scoring seven of the last eight points in a 54-48 win over Chester in the District 1 Class 6A semifinals at the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium.

The win sends the Central League champion Aces (25-1), the district’s top seed, to Saturday’s final. It’ll be an All-Central affair, with No. 14 Garnet Valley claiming its latest upset, 50-46, over No. 2 West Chester Henderson.

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Molly Rullo scored 18 points and Bella Stellabotte added 10 Tuesday as Cardinal O’Hara defeated Central High, 66-30, in a District 12 third-place play-in game to determine seeding for the PIAA state tournament.

O’Hara will host a PIAA Class 6A opening game on March 8 against an opponent to be determined.

Joanie Quinn and Carly Coleman scored nine points each.

Gwynedd Mercy Academy 45, Radnor 42 >> The tough loss in this Class 5A playback game leaves the Raptors with a sixth-seed out of District 1 for the PIAA tournament. The Raptors will take on District 12’s top seed when states begins March 9.

Nyan Yao scored 10 points and Caroline Monahan added nine for the Raptors. Kate Gallagher added eight points scored. For GMA, Megan McDonnell scored 14 points while Emilia Coleman added 12.

By Matt Smith

Ava Renninger missed two free throws late in the fourth quarter of the Catholic League championship game Monday at The Palestra.

Archbishop Wood’s outstanding senior point guard was disappointed in herself, having handed Archbishop Carroll a chance to potentially win the game.

Luckily for Renninger, she would get a chance to redeem herself. Eight more chances.

In the second overtime, Renninger showed no Ill effects of her uncharacteristic bricks in regulation. Renninger calmly made eight consecutive free throws in the second extra session and propelled Wood to a 54-52 victory over Carroll.

It was the first double overtime girls basketball title game in Catholic League history.

It’s the first championship for coach Mike McDonald’s program since 2021. Wood fell to Lansdale Catholic in last year’s final and had lost the last three title games that required overtime (2012, 2019, 2020). Carroll has lost each of its last two Catholic League finals.

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By Owen McCue

There’s a reason the bleachers at the Palestra are filled one Monday night every February to watch a pair of high school basketball games. 

Those packed into the historic gym, which typically rises to an uncomfortable temperature as the night goes on, are there to see the insanity that unfolds when two groups of teenagers take the court in what will be the biggest game in many of their young lives.

For the second straight year, the Philadelphia Catholic League boys and girls championships delivered just that — and more.

After three total overtimes, a pair of last-second game-tying shots, two go-ahead threes, mixed in with crowd roars, tense timeouts and anxiety that crept into even the neutral observers, an incomparable night of basketball ended when Roman Catholic senior Kabe Goss delivered the Cahillites a second straight PCL title with a walk-off winner in overtime for a 46-45 win over Archbishop Ryan.

“It’s probably one of the best moments I got to experience,” Roman senior Hunter Johnson said. “It was a great game. The atmosphere was crazy. The crowd, the fans, everybody was amazing. And then at the end, my guy got it done. That’s all you can wish for at the end of the day.”

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By Josh Verlin

The dozen teams from District 1 6A who will be playing in the state tournament are set. Eight of the top 12 seeds in the district are still alive, along with four others who had to pull off at least one road upset — and in some cases a couple more — to keep playing into March.

For four teams — top-seeded Lower Merion, No. 2 West Chester Henderson, No. 4 Chester and No. 14 Garnet Valley — a shot at the District 1 6A title is still on the table, while the others are all playing for seeding in the PIAA 6A bracket.

Here’s a look at the two semifinals and a quick peek at the four seeding games, all of which take place Tuesday night at 7 PM on the higher seed’s home court:

1) Lower Merion vs. 4) Chester
Two of the proudest programs in District 1 history meet up deep in the playoffs yet again. It’s not quite the 2012-13 matchups, which took place in the district championship games  — Chester won both, though Lower Merion got revenge in the state championship game in 2013 — but there’s a trip to Temple on the line, with the Aces getting home-court advantage against the Clippers. 

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By Josh Verlin + Andrew Robinson

Archbishop Wood girls’ basketball coach Mike McDonald never fails to appreciate the grandeur of the Catholic League’s championship games.

While the Vikings will be in the title game for the 15th time in the last 18 years and back at the Palestra for a second straight season, it’s not treated as a guarantee. Archbishop Carroll, the other half of Monday night’s championship tilt, isn’t a stranger to Penn’s campus either.

The game will last 32 minutes, but every player who has the opportunity to step on the floor will carry it with them for much longer.

“I told the kids that haven’t been there, we eight freshmen, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” McDonald said. “We’ve been fortunate to do it a lot, but every time you go down there, it’s new all over again. It’s special from the moment you walk into the Palestra and it’s empty to the time it’s packed.”

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By Christian DeFranco

Like Marty McFly, the Upper Dublin Cardinals were just trying to get back to the year 1985.

The last time the Upper Dublin boys’ basketball program reached the district championship game, Michael Jordan was an NBA rookie. “Careless Whisper” by Wham! was the No. 1 pop single. And, well, “Back to the Future” hadn’t quite arrived in theaters yet (until that summer).

But no flux capacitor was necessary for this year’s Cardinals to become the first group to reach the district championship game since the 1984-85 team, which won the district title that season.

No plutonium was needed either, unless you count a barrage of 3-pointers, as second-seeded Upper Dublin buried No. 6 Sun Valley 55-25 in Saturday’s District 1 Class 5A semifinals in an historic victory at The Nest.

Other UD squads have reached states, which these Cardinals had already clinched, but this accomplishment stands on its own.

“It’s really cool,” Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten said. “All the credit to the kids, who have put in so much work to get here. To have the opportunity to win a district championship for the first time in 39 years, it’s special. We’re looking forward to it.”

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By Owen McCue

AJ Thompson knew back in the preseason that the difference between good and great for the Conestoga girls basketball team would be its defense.

That played out Saturday afternoon as the Pioneers used a dominant defensive outing to take the program to a place it hasn’t been in 45 years.

No. 2 seed Conestoga locked down No. 7 Garnet Valley, 54-25, in district quarterfinal, advancing to Wednesday’s semifinal against No. 6 Spring-Ford — a 44-39 winner over Upper Dublin.

It’s the deepest district run for the Pioneers in the large-school classification since they reached the title game in 1979.

“We’ve worked on it, they’ve bought into it,” Thompson said of the defense. “Everyday at practice when we do our defensive drills or if we’re going live and focusing on the defense, they really go hard and listen and they’re always trying to make the right read or rotate. They’ve been great all season defensively.”

Saturday marked the fourth meeting between the two Central League squads and third this month. Conestoga (23-3) won a Dec. 21 matchup, 46-40. Garnet Valley (21-5) handed the Pioneers their second loss of the season in their regular season finale, a 43-42 Feb. 6 win.

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