By Matthew DeGeorge
Its district fate still unresolved, Springfield could’ve been playing its final game Thursday night in the opening round of the Central League playoffs. Without need of intervention from the district math, though, the Cougars possessed a certain power to make sure the encounter with Garnet Valley wasn’t the end of the road.
“Our message for the past couple of weeks has been to control what you can control, win every game you can,” senior guard Michael O’Donnell said. “We’ve just been treating every game like a playoff game. That’s what we did tonight; not thinking about districts, we just had our eyes on winning this game.”
Thursday, control meant O’Donnell taking over, with a game-high 22 points to lead Springfield to a 48-29 victory. It gives the fifth-seeded Cougars (12-11) five wins in a row and at least one more game, Saturday against top-seeded and unbeaten Radnor in the semis.
The Cougars’ postseason fate in the District 1 Class 6A playoffs won’t be decided by then, potentially depending on the result of Chester’s game with Chester Charter Scholars Academy that day.