Author: delcohoops

By Matthew DeGeorge

Within four seconds Wednesday afternoon, Penncrest guard Marquis Tomlin took the tap from forward Malcolm Williams, charged the lane and earned a trip to the line. That’s four seconds for Penncrest, coming off three straight losses, to get two points and define one goal for the day: Bust a slump and nudge ahead of Garnet Valley, the team it entered one game behind in the Central League standings.

From that first sortie to the basket, the Lions did just that, and ruthlessly so. Near perfect days from Williams and Matt Arbogast helped Penncrest ends its slide with a 59-42 win over the Jags.

Though just one trip up the court, the Lions wasted no time in establishing what they wanted to do. They led 11-4 some 3½ minutes in, with all five starters scoring points. They were up 21-8 after a quarter, led by 11 at the break and never saw their lead trimmed to fewer than nine points the rest of the way.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Dave Burman

The Chester High Clipper boys high school basketball team holds off a tough Academy Park squad, 67-61 in Sharon Hill. Clippers have won 8 straight and are now 12-4 on the season and 5-0 in the Del-Val.

Academy Park falls to 10-5 overall and 2-3 in the Del-Val League.

Chester now leads the all-time series between the teams 58-3.

Super sophomore Karell Watkins led the Clippers with 18 points and 10 rebounds and was our Player-of-the Game and did an outstanding interview after the contest with yours truly and broadcast partner Andrew Kauffman.

5-11 senior guard Michael Smith had 16 for Chester. 6-3 senior Maddy DeJearnette with 14 for the Clippers.

Academy Park 6-0 senior Naseim Harley scored 24 points.

With Academy Park 3rd-year head boys basketball coach and fellow York College grad Frank Wolf (left), who is doing a tremendous job with the the program

By PAPrepLive

Karell Watkins posted another double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Clippers led by as many as 15 points and withstood the Knights’ late run to cut the spread to within one.Michael Smith added 16 points, Rahmaad DeJarnette tossed in 14 points and Akeem Taylor added 10 for the Clippers (12-4, 5-0) in their eighth consecutive win.

Naseim Harley led all scorers with 22 points, and Derrick Northern added 17 points for AP (10-5, 2-3).

(Webmaster’s note: The Chester vs. Academy Park game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard in its entirety below or on our Archived Broadcasts link listed in the menu at the top of our page.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

By PAPrepLive

Jamese Lundy-Byrd picked a great time to have a career day, making Penn Wood pay for every time they sent him to the line.

Lundy-Byrd scored a career-high 30 points as Chichester blew open a one-point game after three quarters to run away from Penn Wood, 78-59, in a big Del Val League upset Tuesday.

Chichester was 32-for-42 from the line. Twenty of those makes came from Lundy-Byrd on 25 trips to the charity stripe. Lundy-Byrd scored 16 points in a fourth quarter in which the Eagles outscored Penn Wood, 27-9. Penn Wood had four players foul out and was assessed four technical fouls.

Josh Hankins added 22 points, and Calvin Church paired 12 points with six assists for Chichester (3-14, 2-3 Del Val).

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By PAPrepLive

Mike Perretta saved the best game of his life for a special day.

Celebrating his 18th birthday, Perretta poured in 30 points on a Catholic League record 10 3-point field goals Monday as Bonner & Prendergast downed St. Joseph’s Prep, 86-63.

According to Tedsilary.com, the previous Catholic League record for 3-pointers in a game (nine) was held jointly by Bill Comminskey of Father Judge (1989), Neal McGee of the Prep (1992) and Tom Tobin of Archbishop Carroll (1993).

Isaiah Wong, the reigning Daily Times Player of the Year, reached the 1,000-point plateau as a Friar. The senior guard hit the mark in less than two seasons, having transferred to Bonner & Prendie prior to his junior year.

Elsewhere in the Catholic League:

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Mike White

So how would one of the best teams in WPIAL boys basketball fare against a perennial power from near Philadelphia? Pretty good for one half, actually.

But then came the second half and Chester acted like … well, Chester.

On a frigid night outside, Chester turned up the heat in the second half Sunday night and went on to defeat Penn Hills, 84-77, in the Stand Against Violence Showcase at Woodland Hills.

The Showcase is a three-day event at Woodland Hills that will conclude Monday. Although some teams pulled out of the event because of the weather and some games were cancelled, 20 games still will be played. A number of the teams involved came from out of state.

Penn Hills is the defending WPIAL Class 6A champion and is the Post-Gazette’s No. 3 WPIAL Class 5A team this season. The Indians should challenge for a WPIAL title.

(click on this link for the full story)

 

By Matthew DeGeorge

In the two years since Springfield’s last visit to Haverford, the situations for coaches Kevin McCormick and Keith Heinerichs have flipped 180 degrees.Then, in December 2016, the Fords tasked a group of freshmen and sophomores with navigating what became a one-win season. The Cougars were on the path to a state tournament berth.

Two seasons later, as the pendulum of time and the vagaries of age-group cohorts have swung, the roles were diametrically reversed Saturday. On one side was Heinerichs with a team in District 1 Class 6A playoff position. On the other stood McCormick, before a bench lacking a senior, staring at a 15th straight loss.

After spotting the Fords 22 points, that loss fell duly into place, a 66-36 victory for Haverford in an odd, frame-shifted before-and-after portrait.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

 

By Peter DiGiovanni

In the year 2019, it is not uncommon for a Ches-Mont League basketball team — or any team, really — to take the floor with an all-black starting five. 

We do not even note the occurrence because it is so commonplace these days.

But, 50 years ago, when West Chester High School — now West Chester Henderson — fielded the first all-black starting five in the Ches-Mont League, it was more than just front-page news. 

It was a racial tsunami that rocked multiple boats in West Chester and beyond.

But for late Warrior head coach Jack McClellan, it had nothing to do with changing people’s minds. It was simply the best way to win.

McClellan told me before his death in 2015 that he wanted to play the best players, and that he was not concerned about the backlash 1968 America would offer.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Were you to skim the boxscore of Bonner & Prendergast’s 61-44 win over Archbishop Carroll Friday night, the eye would naturally be drawn to the two largest numbers.There’s the 19 points and eight rebounds from Isaiah Wong, then the 13 points and 11 boards from Tariq Ingraham. But to assume that those figures told the story of a relatively comfortable Catholic League win in which both stars headed to the bench to a round of applause with more than a minute remaining would be incomplete. And that truth illustrates just how dangerous a team the Friars can be.

That quick glance misses the game-changing contributions proffered up and down the roster. Like Malik Edwards’ three first-half 3-pointers. Or the six points, three rebounds, two assists and four defensive deflections by an active James Welde in an abbreviated stint. Or two putback buckets from deep frontcourt reserve AJ Burnett. As much as the Division I talents of Wong and Ingraham, it’s the supporting cast that has powered Bonner to the upper rungs of the Catholic League.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Bruce Adams

As if to satisfy the standing-room-only crowd Friday evening, host Haverford School and Malvern Prep treated the fans to, not four – but five – quarters of fast-paced, high-octane basketball.And when the final buzzer sounded, Haverford School (17-0, 5-0) gutted out a 93-90 overtime win against Malvern Prep (12-6, 4-1) in a battle of Inter-Ac powers.

Haverford’s 6-foot-6 senior guard Christian Ray, who scored 36 points despite picking up three first-quarter fouls, said, “This was the fastest game we’ve played this season, by far. I knew Malvern was going to play fast, run a lot up and down the court. Malvern shoots the ball a lot, and we had to match it.

“When the game ended, my first thought was, ‘Thank God it’s over.’ My legs had started cramping and I was getting really tired.

We just played tough – we never mentally checked out, never got too high or too low. We were trailing by seven, then we were up by seven with five minutes left and [Malvern’s] Deuce Turner hits a three from 30 feet away to give them momentum.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Faith Christian had been unbeaten in the Bicentennial League until Christian Academy paid it a visit Friday.

Grant Sareyka scored 24 points, and Tehron Phillips added a season-high 20 as the Crusaders dealt Faith Christian its first league loss in a 66-63 victory.

Phillips added six assists and four steals. Jourdan Greene posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for TCA (8-5, 6-3), which led 21-8 after one quarter and never looked back.

Also in the Bicentennial League:

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)