Author: delcohoops

By Josh Verlin

The first round of the PIAA state tournaments are over, and half the fields have been knocked out; what was a group of 192 teams with state title hopes –– spread across six brackets –– entering the weekend is now 96 remaining, each four wins away from hoisting that trophy.

Class 1A, 4A and 5A continue their brackets on Tuesday night; Class 2A, 3A and 6A on Wednesday.

Chester (1-3) vs. Simon Gratz (12-1)
Cardinal O’Hara, 7:30 PM
The top seed out of District 12, Simon Gratz, fields one of the area’s best backcourts with Pub MVP Yassir Stover, alongside fellow seniors and all-Pub second team selectees, Yasir Rowell and Edward Harris. The Bulldogs have more experience inside, with senior forwards Duane Satchel and Kyonn Gordon on the block. They round out the rotation with senior wing Ross Carter. The end of Gratz’s Pub season was spoiled by MCS, who beat Lynard Stewart’s team in the regular season finale, and league championship. Gratz has moved past that tough loss, recording a major win over Roman Catholic in the District 12 championship, and beating Garnet Valley 56-51 in the first round of States. Chester, coming off of a 76-63 victory over William Allen, does much of its damage inside courtesy of 1,000-point scorer Karell Watkins as well as Senior forward Zahmir Carroll. The Clippers, historically one of the winningest programs in the area, has a formidable backcourt of its own, consisting of long range shooter, senior Faheem Berry, senior point guard Akeem Taylor, nephew of Chester coach Keith Taylor. The Clippers have had a solid year by their lofty expectations. They were on a ten game undefeated streak before losing big to a Methacton team that has made a habit of running up the score against whoever they face. The Clippers have more than enough talent to pose a real threat to Simon Gratz’s chances of advancing. 

(click on this link for all the game reviews)

Webmaster’s note: Delcohoops.com will audio the Chester vs Simon Gratz game LIVE tomorrow. Our broadcast begins at 7:15 PM.

By CoBL Staff

Notre Dame East Stroudsburg (11-2) vs. Chester Charter (1-1)
Liberty High School, 6 PM
After getting its first state playoff victory in school history Friday against Greenwood, the competition is going to really ratchet up for Chester Charter. Notre Dame (13-13), which plays mostly 4A-6A schools during the regular season, is under the direction of head coach Bob Mullen, who used to coach with Phil Martelli back at Bishop Kenrick and is now in his third stint with the Spartans. Notre Dame, which is on the smaller side of things, will try to push the pace but could struggle with the Sabers’ depth — coach Dan Spangler likes to use 11 or 12 players — and size, most notably 6-5 senior Damir Baez and 6-7 senior Tyler Howard. Chester Charter has a trio of juniors that will get to the basket as much as possible in Malik Cook-Stevens, Breon Showell and Sean Deshields. 

(click on this link for all the game reviews)

By Matthew DeGeorge

If you were wondering what team was most likely to get frustrated Saturday at Oxford Area High School, it might’ve been the team getting outworked on the offensive boards. It might’ve been the team getting outhustled, out-physicaled and at times left to watch its opponents pogo stick for rebounds near the hoop.

But that isn’t Chester. And even though William Allen by and large had its way on the glass in the PIAA Class 6A first-round boys basketball game, the Clippers didn’t get rattled, converting at the line and walking away when the Canaries’ frustrations boiled over.

Chester pulled away late as William Allen had two starters pick up technicals and foul out late in a 76-63 Clippers victory.

The win moves Chester (23-4) into the Round of 16 against District 12 champ Simon Gratz, which rallied past Garnet Valley Saturday. That game will be Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Chester kept its cool, even when William Allen’s Nate Ellis chucked the ball at Chester’s Rahmee Gilbert after an offensive foul in the third quarter. Gilbert tossed it back at him for off-setting technicals, but Chester won the free-throw exchange.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Jack McCaffery

A basketball season can be measured in multiple ways. Since one is always to accumulate learning opportunities, coach Mike Brown left Lincoln High Saturday satisfied that his Garnet Valley team had garnered something of value.

Though a tense 56-51 loss to Simon Gratz would end their season in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament, the Jaguars were more thankful than exasperated by the experience.

“In our league, we don’t face that quickness, that speed,” Brown said. “I told the guys they are so small in the backcourt, so you don’t think it’s a problem. But they are quick. Their hands are even quicker than their bodies. They are jet quick.”

The Bulldogs are also the No. 1 seeded team out of District 12, the class of the Public League, city champions after a victory over talented Roman Catholic. Saturday, it took them a long while, but eventually they showed why.

After trailing at halftime, 31-15, Gratz expanded its defense, began to create live-ball turnovers and uncorked a 22-point fourth quarter to advance to Round 2. The Jags’ season ended at 23-4, a school record for victories.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Harry Chaykun

 One of the teams that took part in the PIAA Class 5A girls basketball tournament opener Saturday at Plymouth Whitemarsh High shot 25 percent from the floor and had less than 10 percent accuracy from behind the arc.

That team also did not reach double figures in scoring in any of the four periods or the one overtime period that was played. Despite those numbers, when all was said and done, that team, District 1 champion Springfield, survived with a 34-31 victory over Lower Dauphin, District 3’s eighth-place finisher.

With the win, the Cougars (22-4) advanced to a second-round matchup Wednesday night with Mechanicsburg (25-3), District 3’s No. 3 seed which rolled to a 58-17 win over Friere Charter of the Philadelphia Public League and earlier in the season claimed a 47-38 decision over Lower Dauphin.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well, so we had to find other ways to win,” Springfield coach Ky McNichol said after her team went 9-for-35 from the floor. The Cougars were 2-for-16 in the third and fourth periods but managed to make two of the three field-goal attempts they got in overtime.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

Archbishop Carroll could be excused for its slow start in Saturday’s PIAA Class 5A tournament opener at Methacton High School.

The Patriots hadn’t played a competitive game in nearly a month. The layoff between the end of their run in the Catholic League playoffs (Feb. 13) and Saturday is too long for anyone’s liking and a glaring problem the PIAA and District 12 must resolve.

Two weeks after pummeling Freire Charter in the District 12 third-place game, Carroll finally returned to the hardwood to face a worthy opponent in Mount St. Joseph, the No. 3 seed from District 1.

Unlike the Public League team Carroll was forced to play, the Mount is an excellent basketball program deserving of its spot in states. And the Patriots had their hands full in the early going.

“I kind of knew that it would be a little hard coming into this game,” said sophomore sensation Grace O’Neill, who poured in a game-high 17 points to lead Carroll to a 47-41 victory. “We played a team in districts and it wasn’t a close game. The last close game we had was against O’Hara (in the Catholic League quarterfinals), which was over three weeks ago. But we knew coming in that (Mount) was very good.”

The Patriots snapped back to life and seized control in the second quarter, tallying 11 straight points to erase what had been a nine-point deficit.

(click on this link for the full story)

After scoring just 13 points in the first half and trailing by five, Bonner-Prendergast girls basketball coach Tom Stewart decided to make a little change.

He put Regan Dolan in the high post and Alexis Gleason in the low post and the move paid off for the Pandas.

Bonner-Prendie put 39 points on the board in the second half, 24 of them in the fourth quarter, to rally for a 52-44 victory over Jim Thorpe in the opening round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament.

The win sends Bonner-Prendie (9-16) into Wednesday’s second round against Eastern York, the No. 2 team out of District 3. The Golden Knights (19-8) knocked off Villa Joseph Marie, the second seed out of District 1, 72-66. The site and time of that game has not been determined.

“Their zone defense gave us trouble in the first half,” Stewart said. “They kept switching from a 2-3 to a 1-3-1 and they had us rushing our shots. We weren’t making the extra pass. After we made the change we started passing the ball better and Gleason got two quick baskets.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

Marcus Randolph smiled and turned to Rashool Diggins following Archbishop Wood’s PIAA Class 5A tournament opener Friday night at Bonner-Prendergast.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” said Randolph, the Vikings’ outstanding junior guard/forward. “That’s the best player I’ve ever played with.”

Although he didn’t say it, Randolph was speaking on behalf of the entire Vikings basketball team. After all, it’s no wonder why Diggins is one of the most sought-after Division 1 prospects in the state.

Diggins and Randolph were unstoppable during Wood’s third-quarter outburst, combining for 20 of their squad’s 27 points.

“We had to put it together,” Randolph said.

It took a while, but the District 12 champion Vikings eventually did just that, and ran away with a 72-45 win over Strath Haven.

The result was expected, but credit goes to the Panthers, who were the sixth-place team from District 1. Haven gave the heavily favored Vikings all they could handle for one half.

“They slowed it down on us, they were playing their game in the first half,” said Diggins, who amassed 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor. “We had to come out and play our tempo, push the ball, make them pay for their misses. We had to attack and play our tempo.”

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: Missed the game? Listen to the entire game on our archive file listed below. Go to our Broadcast Archives page for all game archives.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chester Charter Scholars Academy 67, Greenwood 44 >> A nearly two-week layoff did not bother Chester Charter Scholars Academy in its PIAA boys Class A opener at Coatesville Area High School Friday night.

Neither did a cold spell in the second quarter.

The Sabers turned to their defense in the third quarter to take control of the contest and roll to the first state playoff win in program history.

After scoring just six points in the second quarter to take a 22-16 lead into halftime, CCSA forced several turnovers and put 20 points on the board in the third quarter to open up a 42-29 advantage. The District 1 champion moves on to the second round against Notre Dame East Stroudsburg, a 71-64 winner over Sullivan County, next Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

Senior forward Damir Baez paced a balanced attack with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Breon Showell tallied nine points. Malik Cook-Stevens contributed eight points, six assists and three steals. Tyler Howard added seven points, six boards, six blocks and two steals.

(click on this link for the Christian Academy story)

By Harry Chaykun

The Monsignor Bonner-Archbishop Prendergast boys basketball team had two goals as it made the trip to St. Joseph’s Preparatory School’s Kelly Gymnasium Friday afternoon.

“The coaches wanted us to play our game and do what we know how to do,” senior Tyreese Watson said. “And we know that this is our head coach’s gym, so we couldn’t leave here without a win for him.”

Friars head coach Kevin Funston played at The Prep under the legendary head coach Speedy Morris then coached under Paul Romanczuk at Archbishop Carroll. He had to be happy after his team, the District 12 champion, rolled to a 78-40 victory over District 3’s fifth-place team, Eastern York in the opening round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament.

With the win, MBAP (19-5), which placed second in the 2019 PIAA tourney, qualified for a second-round match with District 2 runner-up Valley View (18-8), a 70-58 winner over District 4’s third-place team, Athens, Friday night.

“I have so many good memories of being in this place,” Funston said off Kelly Gymnasium.

Add Friday’s game to his list. Bonner-Prendergast shot only 4-for-14 from the floor in the opening period but closed the quarter with an 8-0 run to go up, 14-8.

(click on this link for the full story)