Author: delcohoops

By Bob Grotz

There’s not much you can say about Springfield’s bruising 29-24 victory over Abington Heights in the PIAA Class 5A state quarterfinals Saturday beyond the obvious: it’s going to leave some marks.

The Cougars couldn’t make shots, and neither could the Comets.

Cougars coach Ky McNichol was running out of things to tell her girls during the timeouts.

“We just told them to keep shooting shots, they’re eventually going to fall,” McNichol said. “They never did. But they just kept grinding and grinding and playing defense and then knocking down foul shots when they needed to. And getting defensive stops when they needed to.”

There were no field goals for either team – repeat, zero … as in, nada – in the all-important final frame. Subsequently, a trip to the state semifinals opposite Cardinal O’Hara was earned via an eight-minute foul-shooting effort for the Cougars.

Beyond their defense, that’s what the Cougars do best, and they sank eight of 12 in the frame, none bigger than two swishes by co-captain Alexa Abbonizio to break a tie and give the Cougars the lead for good.

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By Matt Smith

Cardinal O’Hara junior Sydni Scott and Bethlehem Catholic junior Kourtney Wilson go way back.

Both outstanding two-way guards for their respective teams, Scott and Wilson forged their friendship years ago in AAU basketball for the Philadelphia Belles.

After Scott helped O’Hara to a 64-55 victory Saturday in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal round, members of Wilson’s family met with her to offer their congratulations and say hello. The Wilson family mentioned how they consider Scott a member of their own.

Scott knew she couldn’t let her relationship with Wilson cloud her primary focus Saturday. She had a job to do.

“I was motivated to play against her, but even my coaches said, don’t make it a Kourtney and Sydni game,” said Scott, who produced 10 of her 14 points in the second half. The All-Delco player added four assists and two steals.

Wilson carried the Golden Hawks with a game-high 25 points.

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By Bob Grotz

Down three points with 10.5 seconds left in regulation and the season on the line, Chester High had upstart Crestwood High right where it wanted it Friday night.

That would be freshman Kyree Womack at the free throw line shooting three after getting fouled attempting a desperation trey in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal at the Clip Joint.

Now, the Clippers weren’t exactly cashing in at the free throw line on this night. They missed almost as many as they made. One look at the box score and you knew coach Keith Taylor was going to tear every last hair out of his head lamenting, if we only made just two more here, just one more here, and another here.

“He makes all of his foul shots at practice,” said Karell Watkins, who contributed 19 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. “We’ve got to make foul shots before we leave practice and he always sends us home. If he makes them, we go home.”

On this night, it would be the Comets going home disappointed because of Womack, who calmly went swish, double-doink and in, and on the third shot, gently off the iron with a kiss of the backboard, tying the game. That enabled the Clippers to prevail in overtime, 58-52.

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By Matt Smith

Archbishop Carroll had one hot quarter and three not-so-good ones Friday night.

Ultimately, the inconsistency on offense resulted in a season-ending loss in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal round at Nazareth Area.

The Patriots were shut out in the final stanza and dropped a 50-35 decision to the District 11 champion Blue Eagles (17-1).

Carroll seemed to get a late start in pregame warm-ups. There were roughly 12 minutes left on the pre-game clock before the Patriots rushed out onto the floor to get their work in, while Nazareth had spent the last 15-plus minutes in shootaround.

Not to make any excuses for the Patriots, who were forced to move up to the highest classification in the state this year, but they were cold in the early going.

Karli Dougherty, one of Carroll’s senior leaders, said the Patriots were ready to go, but perhaps they were feeling the pressure of playing an excellent team that had the home advantage.

“We were really prepared, but we were nervous,” said Dougherty, who produced four points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. “We were a little bit nervous like anyone would be. I mean, we’re going in states, so who wouldn’t be a little bit nervous? If you lose, you’re done. Yeah, we definitely did have a slow start, but we definitely turned it around.”

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By Terry Thomas

The Chester Clippers (13-1) needed an additional 4 minutes of play to earn a trip to the Semi-finals with a come from behind 58-52 win over the Crestwood Comets (17-2).Chester will host the Semi-finals game against District-12 Champion, Archbishop Ryan on Monday, March 22nd with a 7:00 pm tip-off.

By Andrew Robinson

Demetrius Lilley hit his first shot Friday night and the rest of his Lower Merion teammates didn’t miss much after that.

The No. 9 Aces’ standout junior big man was an impact player on both ends as he and Lower Merion caught fire early and never cooled off against No. 14 Abington. Once the Aces got going, the Ghosts simply couldn’t keep up in their quest for a fifth District 1 title in the last five years.

Lilley poured in 31 as Lower Merion topped Abington 62-41 to capture the 6A boys’ basketball title, the program’s first since Kobe Bryant was a senior in 1996.

“I was so excited, it’s amazing. We worked really hard for this,” Lilley said. “We weren’t ready to go home.

“I was just taking everything in flow, but I have to say, that basket did look pretty big to me.”

Lower Merion’s last four district title game appearances between 1996 and Friday had ended in losses but the Aces also didn’t have Lilley for any of them. The 6-foot-9 junior showcased the full depth of his abilities, scoring almost as many points as the Ghosts had as a team, shooting 13-of-16 from the floor, blocking and altering shots and hitting the glass for seven rebounds.

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By Bruce Adams

The Lower Merion boys’ basketball team captured its first District 1 title since the days of Kobe Bryant with a 62-41 win against Abington in the District 1 6A championship final.

The contest was held, appropriately enough, in the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium, where the Aces won their first District 1 title since 1996.

“Winning it at home means a lot – Kobe’s never far from my mind,” said Lower Merion boys’ basketball head coach Gregg Downer, who coached the Aces when they won the District 1 4A title and PIAA 4A state championship with Bryant in 1996. “Now that we can associate this ball club with his [1996] ball club, I hope that Kobe and Gianna are smiling down from Heaven, and I hope we can send up a [state title] trophy for them to look at.”

With the win, Lower Merion advanced to the PIAA 6A state semifinals, to be held Tuesday evening at the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium.

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By Matt Smith

Alexa Abbonizio has made a high school career out of making clutch baskets.

The Springfield senior did it again (and again, and again) Wednesday night in the District 1 Class 5A championship.

Abbonizio’s torrid fourth quarter, in which she scored all 14 of her team’s points, carried No. 1 Springfield to its second straight district title, a 46-39 decision over Central League rival and second-seeded Harriton.

Earlier in the year, the All-Delco became the program’s all-time leading scorer. She’s been padding her record ever since.

“Alexa’s put this team on her back for four years and she’s been a dominant part of this program for four years,” said coach Ky McNichol, who has guided the Cougars to district championships in three of her first six years at the helm. “What she did tonight was basically say, ‘I’m going to finish for my team, I’m not going to let us go down.’ I told them during a timeout that all we needed was to bury one 3 and we would be OK. So, once she buried the 2 and then buried the 3, I knew we were OK.

“Big players step up in big moments and she’s been a big player for us, game in and game out for four years.”

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By Terry Toohey

There are no championship banners hanging in the Blue Gym at the recently opened, Springfield High School.

Don’t worry, it’s not an oversight. Getting the sparkling, state-of-the-art building up and running in the middle of a school year was the first priority. Adding amenities such as championship banners and the logos for all 12 Central League schools had to take a back seat.

Besides, a shiny new facility deserves pristine banners. New ones are on order for championship teams, individual state champs, 1,000-point members and 100-win wrestlers and should be up in a few weeks, athletic director Glenn Mallon said.

And when those banners are raised, there will be one more to order, after the Cougars claimed their second straight District 1 Class 5A title and third in the last five years with a 46-39 over Central League rival Harriton Wednesday night.

As with most championship banners, it will just reflect the year, not what the team had to go through to compile a 20-0 record, win a league and district championship in the same year for the first time in program history and to do it in the middle of a global pandemic as the Cougars have. It will not list the sacrifices the players and coaches were willing to make just to have a season.

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By Peter DiGiovanni

Tuesday night’s District 1 Class 5A boys basketball championship game started tragically for visiting West Chester Rustin.

It ended jubilantly for the hometown team from Chester.

After two devastating first-quarter injuries for Rustin, the Clippers used a furious third-quarter charge to pull away from a game Golden Knights team, 62-46, for the Clippers’ 24th District 1 title.

Chester (12-1) will now host District 2 champion Crestwood on Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA Class 5A state tournament. Rustin, on the other hand, is left out in the cold by the new, COVID-19-composed tournament format.

Only district champions get the right to play for a state title this year.

“It feels great,” the Clippers’ Jameel Burton said, “to win a district championship.”

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