Author: delcohoops

By Matthew DeGeorge

As the lead volleyed back and forth Thursday night at The Christian Academy, so did the onus of the Crusaders offense.

In the third quarter, as TCA weathered a run by Delco Christian in an entertaining Bicentennial Athletic League semifinal, Grant Sareyka stepped to the forefront. He knocked down four shots in the frame for 10 points, keeping TCA within five after three quarters.

And when it came time to spark the run that would put DC away for good, Sareyka deferred, creating space for Isaiah Mitchell.

Each player had eight points in the fourth quarter, all of Mitchell’s coming from the field, as TCA outlasted Delco Christian, 61-58.

“To be honest, the lane’s open because they’re focused on Grant,” Mitchell said. “Every team tries to double-team him. They know we’ve got other assets, but they want to stop him. If they stay open on him, I’ve got an open lane and I’m going to finish over anybody, over contact.”

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By Bob Grotz

Archbishop Carroll rode the long-distance shooting of John Camden and the inside game of Tairi Ketner to a 74-66 victory over St. Joseph’s Prep Wednesday and a trip to the quarterfinals of the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs.

The 6-7 Camden drilled three three-pointers in the third quarter and scored the Patriots’ last four points at the free throw line on his way to 17 points.

The eighth-seeded Patriots (15-8) oppose Archbishop Wood, the top seed, or second-seeded Bishop McDevitt Friday in the quarterfinals.

“We haven’t peaked yet,” said Camden, who scored 13 points in the second half. “We continue to improve every game. And that’s what I think makes us the scariest team in the Catholic League, is that we’re underdogs. I think it just gives us an edge. Coming in as the eighth seed, no one’s expecting us to take down the No. 1 or the No. 2 seed or whoever we end up playing on Friday.”

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By Matthew DeGeorge

It was just 28 days ago that Haverford retreated to its locker room to face what it hoped would be rock bottom.

The Fords had just been beaten by three points at home by Harriton, a sixth straight setback and eighth loss in 10 outings to overshadow a 4-0 start. More devastating still, those six losses were by a combined 16 points, comprising five overtime sessions, two in a two-point defeat to Penncrest Jan. 9.

Those woes seemed remote as Sean Reynolds and his fellow Fords climbed the ladder at Harriton Tuesday night to snip down the nets. From 2-7 in the league in early January, the Fords are Central League champions for the first time since 1970.

And the resilience it took to traverse that distance, more than anything else about these Fords, is undoubtedly championship caliber.

Tuesday’s was a rare game in which the Fords didn’t have to sweat to the last second, clearing the bench in the final moments of a 49-40 win over No. 3 seed Penncrest.

That makes 10 straight wins for the Fords (16-8), including a clean sweep of the last rotation of 6A teams in the league and a pair of wins over top-seeded Garnet Valley. Beating Penncrest was the final statement of faith in the bond that kept the Fords together when the going got brutally tough.

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By Matt Smith

With red eyes and tears streaming down her face, Ridley High junior Shannen Hinchey gave a big hug to her coach, Roe Falcone.

The 52-40 victory over Springfield for the Central League championship Tuesday night at Harriton was quite an emotional experience for the Green Raiders.

For years, the Green Raiders were no better than a middle-of-the-pack Central League team. They often were over-matched against the league’s elite.

After going 9-13 last season, the Green Raiders are champions. They have earned a first-round bye in the District 1 Class 6A tournament.

They proved again Tuesday that they are for real.

And that explains why Hinchey was so teary-eyed when she was looking for anyone – coaches, teammates, fans, family members – to embrace.

“It’s because we never got the respect that I feel we deserve and now we have finally shown that we are the best team in the Central League,” said Hinchey, who produced nine points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. “Everybody has contributed all year and we practice every day of the week — well, except for Sunday – and we go out and we work our butts off every single day.

“We finally got what we deserve.”

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Alexa Abbonizio putting up big numbers on the basketball court isn’t new around Springfield. But the Cougars’ perennial pursuit of Central League and District 1 titles is often chronicled in terms of veteran leadership.

Once, Abbonizio was the underclassmen counterpoint to those leaders. Now as a junior, she’s on the other side of the age divide, and she’s providing the clutch plays to prove it.

Abbonizio scored a game-high 18 points, including all eight of the Cougars’ points in the fourth quarter, as the top seed held off No. 6 Harriton, 40-32, in the Central League semifinal Monday at Strath Haven.

Springfield (19-4) advances to Tuesday’s final at Harriton, where it takes on No. 2 Ridley.

Abbonizio supplied the only offense Springfield needed in the fourth, with two baskets and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

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By Josh Verlin

The first time Penncrest faced Lower Merion, Mike Doyle admitted, his team wasn’t ready. Hence the 24-point January defeat, by far the Lions’ worst of its five this season.

“The moment was just too big for us,” Doyle said. “We weren’t ready for it. But I think we’ve matured.”

If Monday night was any indication, Doyle’s thoughts are correct. A day short of four weeks after getting blown out by Lower Merion, Penncrest took the court against Gregg Downer’s bunch in a Central League semifinal at Strath Haven and did its best to return the favor.

The final score of Penncrest’s 56-48 victory doesn’t tell nearly the whole story of how Doyle and the Lions finally got past Lower Merion for the first time in any situation, regular season or playoffs, since 2013-14. 

How the third-seeded Lions jumped out to a 30-10 lead on the second-seeded Aces, spending the first 15 minutes landing shot after shot against an Aces squad that played shell-shocked, air-balling shots and committing uncharacteristic turnovers. 

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By Matt Smith

Dakota McCaughan had a few words of encouragement for teammate Amirah King at halftime of Ridley’s Central League semifinal against Haverford High.

“I went to Amirah and I said, ‘Turn me up,’” said McCaughan, the Green Raiders’ electrifying senior point guard. “I felt like my shot wasn’t falling, so I knew that if I got them the ball, they were going to finish.”

In this case, McCaughan was referencing King and Madison Chapman, each of whom played a critical role coming off the bench in the Green Raiders’ 34-23 triumph.

No. 2 Ridley advances to the Central League final to play top-seeded Springfield Tuesday, 6 p.m. at Harriton High.

It’s hard to imagine the Green Raiders having the opportunity to play for their first Central League title in more than a decade without the contributions of King and Chapman, who were excellent in the second half.

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By Mitchell Gladstone

You looked up at the scoreboard after one quarter and thought there was some kind of malfunction.

Haverford 8, Garnet Valley 0.

It just didn’t seem right. No points for a Jaguars team that had steamrolled through the Central League, scoring at least 50 points in its first 21 games of the season, seemed infeasible. 

But you only had to look back to last Thursday — a 51-48 home loss to these very same Fords — to know that you weren’t crazy.

With a defensive performance as impressive as any all season long, Haverford upset top-seeded Garnet Valley 36-30 in a Central League semifinal matchup Monday night at Marple Newtown, sending the Fords into Tuesday’s title game.

Coach Keith Heinerichs didn’t necessarily want to make too much of what’s certainly become Haverford’s identity, but when you hold one of the area’s top teams to just eight made field goals on 48 attempts and two quarters of six or fewer points, it’s an outing more than worthy of recognition.

Webmaster’s note: Listen to the Central League Boy’s and Girl’s Basketball Championships tonight, LIVE, right here on Delcohoops.com!

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By Bob Grotz

There’s a lot more to the connection between Mike Doyle and Gregg Downer than their Penncrest roots.

These capable, ultra-competitive Central League basketball coaches know what it’s like to stare down their own mortality.

Doyle literally, as he’s battling leukemia. In so many ways, every game is a victory, not just a teaching moment for the fiery Penncrest coach.

For Downer, who played on the great Lions team of 1979-80, there is intense grief. Like Doyle, the Lower Merion coach’s world turned upside down in a very personal way when Kobe Bryant, his former player, friend and hero, perished in a helicopter crash.

You wouldn’t know any of that from the way Doyle and Downer got after it in the semifinal round of the Central League tournament Monday evening at Strath Haven High School. For four quarters and 32 minutes, the basketball gods cleansed them of their burdens. It was almost like group therapy.

In the waning moments of the game, the decision all but final, Doyle congratulated each of the Lions as he walked down the sideline. Seconds later his family joined in, the Lions having snapped a 10-game losing streak versus the Aces with a 56-48 triumph.

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By Matthew DeGeorge