Author: delcohoops

By Owen McCue

Megan Ngo and Emilia Coleman have been teaming up together since third grade.

There was travel ball for Fencor in Fort Washington, and CYO hoops for Saint Alphonsus in Maple Glen. More recently the two have played together in the summer for the Comets Girls Basketball Club.

Coleman arrived at Upper Dublin this year after spending her first two years of high school at Gwynedd Mercy Academy, and she and Ngo are playing together at the high school level for the first time this winter. The years of chemistry are paying off.

The junior duo combined for 17 fourth-quarter points in Sunday’s 50-44 comeback win over Cardinal O’Hara to give the Cardinals another marquee victory to start the new year.

“Having that history has been really good,” Coleman said. “We both know how we both like to play, and we both have a high IQ, so I think we’re able to read each other and we know where we’re going to be and how to get the ball there.”

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By Andrew Robinson

It’s been a common occurrence in recent years.

Kayla Eberz and Faith Watson have faced off against each other on a basketball court more times than either freshman could count but their matchup on Sunday was one both could take plenty of positives from. Eberz, off to a stellar start at Archbishop Carroll, and Watson, who has picked up her play lately on a deep Friends Central team, were both efficient and effective as their teams met at the CoBL Girls’ Winter Classic.

Thanks to 30 points from Eberz, it was Carroll topping Watson and her 20-point, 11-rebound double-double in a very competitive 60-57 game.

“We’ve played her so many times and she’s gotten so much better,” Eberz said. “It definitely motivates you. You get, not angry, but you’re telling yourself ‘let’s go, you have to bring it.’”

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By Josh Verlin

Emma Kaercher is well-steeped in Spring-Ford basketball. 

As a third grader in the Royersford-area school district, she went to see Lucy Olsen play for the first time, the future Villanova and Iowa standout then just a sophomore with the Rams. And a spark was lit.

“I was inspired and I just wanted to be just like her, play in front of everyone,” Kaercher said. “It’s been a dream to play and to help bring a PAC championship back there.”

Throughout her elementary and middle school years, she cheered on a Spring-Ford program which won the state championship in 2021, Olsen’s senior year, then developed another pair of Division I prospects in Anna Azzara (Wright State) and Mac Pettinelli (St. Bonaventure). 

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By Matthew DeGeorge

One way or the other, Saturday was going to be a reset for Radnor’s boys basketball team.

The squad convened for practice Friday after four wins in 12 games, including seven winless in the Central League. Somehow, a mostly new group had to devise ways to shake off those disappointments.

“We’ve had a pretty rough go in the first couple of games in the Central League, and we came into practice yesterday and we were like, all right, new season,” wing Zach Niederer said. “It’s 0-0. Let’s just win as many games as we can. Focus on now, don’t worry about what just happened.”

That ability to shake off struggles in the long run came in handy on a smaller scale Saturday, for Radnor and Niederer.

Radnor led Upper Darby for three quarters, then trailed by six points in the final minute before Niederer’s 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left gave the Raptors a 57-56 win.

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By Ed Morrone

Had the Pottsgrove basketball program faced early deficits of 8-0 or 25-10 over the past few seasons, the game would have been curtains. Languishing toward the bottom of the PAC Frontier Division and out of the postseason conversation, the Falcons were either starting too slow or failing to close out close games that should have been wins.

Now? Those days are long gone.

Despite slipping into an immediate eight-point deficit and falling behind by 15 in the second quarter on Saturday afternoon at fellow formidable District 1-5A foe Sun Valley, these Falcons kept fighting and ultimately rallied after halftime to claim a satisfying 43-39 team victory. Gregory Rosenberger scored all 13 of his points in the first half to keep Pottsgrove in the fight despite a sluggish start filled with turnovers, and four of Julius Marshall’s six points came during the closing minutes of the fourth period to help the team win for the 12th time in 14 games this season.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

TJ Valletti learned quickly on the job as a freshman last year.

The Springfield forward saw an offense running through a pass-first big man in Colin Treude, saw the way the senior made himself indispensable to the Cougars by being unafraid to put the ball on the floor or pull the trigger on an open 3-pointer.

As a freshman, Valletti worked up from an understudy to an equivalent partner, able to push many of the same actions or force teams lacking one post presence to contend with two.

With Treude having graduated, Valletti has a larger share of ownership over Springfield’s offense this year, and it’s working wonders.

“I need to start taking on that role more,” Valletti said Thursday after keying a 65-48 win over Ridley. “And I think I’m going to start getting used to that. I’ve got to let it come to me more, kind of like I did in this game.”

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By Andrew Robinson

Archbishop Carroll just had to let it all out.

After giving up a big second half lead and losing to Archbishop Ryan in overtime on Wednesday for a third straight loss in the Philadelphia Catholic League, the Patriots took it out on each other in a focused and physical practice Thursday. The shared pain turned into shared wealth on Friday as Carroll went on the road to La Salle, set the tone and shot the lights out.

An energized, connected effort combined with a barrage of threes aided the Patriots in an 80-66 win over the Explorers for their first PCL victory.

“Sometimes, you want to get anger out and get aggression out and I think we competed, used our legs, used our bodies, walled up and had a physical practice,” Carroll coach Francis Bowe said. “Nothing got out of control, these kids are mature enough to understand that we’re not doing this to hurt anybody, but we need to rewire our brains and get back to where we were at 4-0 and looking really good.”

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By Ed Morlock

Archbishop Carroll entered the season with sky-high expectations. The Patriots reached the PIAA-4A state championship game last year with a roster entirely composed of freshmen and sophomores. Most of those players are back and some other additions made Carroll a top contender in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

Through three games, things weren’t going according to plan. With two key players injured – juniors Ian Williams and Drew Corrao – the Patriots started the PCL schedule with three losses. They lost to Roman Catholic by 18 points in the opener, Cardinal O’Hara by three points and Archbishop Ryan by five points in overtime.

There was just one day off after their loss to Ryan and they had a physically demanding practice.

“Great practice,” junior Nasir Ralls said. “Dogfight practice.”

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By Rich Flanagan

St. Joe’s Prep has undergone some major changes from last season.

Jalen Harper and Matt Gorman moved on, with Harper choosing to do a prep year at the Newman School (Mass.) and turning his additional season into a commitment to Rhode Island. Gorman committed to Catholic University and the departure of those two left two starting spots in the Hawks rotation. One of those spots was filled by junior Will Lesovitz but the remaining starting slot was still up for grabs.

Enter Mekhi Robertson, one of the premier players in the class of 2027 and a player “looking for a change,” he notes. Robertson brought with him offers from Villanova, Samford, Drexel, High Point, Rider, and Mississippi State after averaging 14.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 4.1 apg with 47 three-pointers on his freshman season at Life Center Academy (N.J.).

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The Academy of Notre Dame basketball team continued its perfect season late Thursday, cruising to a 61-27 win over Episcopal Academy in Inter-Ac League action.

Maddie DeFronzo led with 13 points, while Riley Davis chipped in 10 for the Irish (15-0, 3-0).

Katie Boerner paced the Churchwomen with 10 points.

In the Del Val League:

Chester 60, Interboro 26 >> Ja’Mya Muhammad collected 18 points, 13 rebounds and seven steals as the Clippers routed the Bucs Thursday. Jordan Dennis added 10 points, Zayanna Vann paired nine points with eight rebounds, and Chloe Knox recorded eight points and 10 boards.

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