Author: delcohoops

Boys: Thompson, Chester sail to 10th straight win

Jaseir Thompson shoots in the first quarter of Chester's win over Abington in December. Friday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Jaseir Thompson shoots in the first quarter of Chester’s win over Abington in December. Friday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

The good times keep rolling for the Chester boys basketball team.

Jaseir Thompson scored all of his 17 points in the first half as the Clippers extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games with a 68-31 rout of Newark (Del.) Wednesday.

The Clippers (11-1), who led 45-13 at halftime, received scoring contributions from 11 players. Dominic Toy and Dante Atkinson chipped in eight points each.

In the Inter-Ac League:

Haverford School 58, Germantown Academy 38 >> Silas Graham went for 18 points and KJ Carson ended with 12 in the Fords’ blowout of the Patriots. GA led 29-26 at halftime but managed only nine points in the final two periods.

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Girls: Carney scores 20 points as Ridley marches past Interboro

Ridley's Kyla Carney shoots in a game this month against Radnor. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Ridley’s Kyla Carney shoots in a game this month against Radnor. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Kyla Carney produced 20 points, five steals and three assists in Ridley’s 56-21 victory over Interboro in a nonleague girls basketball game Monday.

Kailyn Bell added 13 points and two assists for the Green Raiders, who led 40-11 at halftime. Ridley has won four straight games.

The game was part of the schools’ annual U.S. Army March on Hunger drive. Following the game, canned good donations were taken by U.S. Army soldiers, ruck march style, to the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry on Lincoln Avenue in Prospect Park.

Alaina D’Angelo led the Bucs (3-10) with five points.

(For more high school sports click on this link)

Girls: Germantown Academy finishes strong, tops Archbishop Carroll at Hoops for Hope Classic

Germantown Academy’s Jess Kolecki, 10, goes up for a shot against Archbishop Carroll during their game at the Hoops for Hope Classic on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024 at Arcadia University. (Mike Cabrey/MediaNews Group)

Germantown Academy’s Jess Kolecki, 10, goes up for a shot against Archbishop Carroll during their game at the Hoops for Hope Classic on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024 at Arcadia University. (Mike Cabrey/MediaNews Group)

By 

The fourth quarter has been a sticking point for Germantown Academy girls basketball.

In the Patriots’ three losses this season, the final frame presented the bulk of their frustration. Pushed into another close game against another quality opponent Sunday against Archbishop Carroll in the Hoops for Hope Classic at Arcadia University, it came down to the fourth again.

This time, GA was able to close out, picking up a 40-32 win over last year’s PIAA 6A champions.

“We worked on it every single day at practice,” GA senior Isabella Casey said. “Facing that pressure is something we’ve struggled with a little bit this season, so we showed up every day and worked on it this week.”

It might seem odd to say GA (13-3, 3-0 Inter-Ac) closed strong in a fourth quarter where the team didn’t convert a field goal, but unlike last week’s loss to Audenried or earlier setbacks to Cardinal O’Hara and Friends’ Central, it ended with a win. Much of it had to do with a defensive effort that held Carroll (7-5, 2-0 PCL) to just nine second-half points.

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Boys: Sharing mood helps Archbishop Carroll surge past Bonner

Carroll's Ian Williams dribbles against Bonner-Prendergast on Monday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Carroll’s Ian Williams dribbles against Bonner-Prendergast on Monday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

By Matthew DeGeorge

A funny thing happened in the third quarter Monday afternoon at Archbishop Carroll. And being the young leader that he is for the Patriots, naturally it happened to Ian Williams.

For two and a half quarters, Carroll had moderate success in a tit-for-tat affair of largely iso-ball against Bonner & Prendergast, the individual talents that make the Catholic League so pulsating on full display. Only two of Carroll’s first 13 made field goals had been assisted on. But when Williams, the sophomore point guard with a year’s experience under his belt, started making a concerted effort to dish more, a five-point deficit quickly vanished.

It would take more than that run to see off Bonner, including 27 points from Williams and a steely 6-for-6 performance at the line in crunch time. But the unselfishness on display was at the heart of a 66-62 win.

“The main motto in practice was to have fun and play with each other,” Williams said. “At times as young kids, we can get selfish and try to look at the stats, coming into high school and people try to get their points up. But (it’s) coming together as a unit, talking together and just being with each other, telling each other, it’s not about the stats.

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Hoops for Hope Classic: Standouts (Jan. 14, 2024)

By CoBL Staff

The 17th annual Hoops for Hope charity event took place Sunday at Arcadia University. The seven-game girls’ high school hoops showcase raised money for the Morgan’s Message, a 501(c)(3) non-profit devoted to helping student-athletes with their mental health. It was founded in memory of Morgan Rodgers, a former Duke lacrosse player who took her own life in 2019. 

CoBL had coverage of all seven games. Here’s who stood out during the event:

Aniya Eberhart (2024 | Haverford High)
The Millersville commit delivered an admirable performance in the loss to North Penn. Early on, Eberhart’s shot wasn’t there around the basket, so she went to her jumper and her teammates. She cashed in four pull-up twos, plus a catch-and-shoot three. She also created open looks for Dotsey who scored 17 points. Without taking any plays off, Eberhart scrapped on defense, collecting two steals and multiple deflections. The 5-9 point guard had 18 points of her own, plus four rebounds and five assists.

(click on this link for all the other standouts)

Weekly Look-Ahead: Jan. 15-21, 2024

By Owen McCue & Josh Verlin

The high school playoff races are heating up. Most PIAA teams in the area have played 13 or 14 of their 22 games, the District 1 rankings starting to shape up, teams getting an area where they stand. 

That also creates matchups with more and more drama — it’s one thing when two 2-0 squads face off, another when they’re 5-0, 6-0, 7-0. And indeed, the ‘games to watch’ each week get more and more intense.

  • Central League
    There aren’t too many eye-catching matchups in the Central League on either side this week but Thursday has a couple of big ones on the boys side. Lower Merion’s, the lone unbeaten still in league play and two games clear of the rest of the field, travels to Radnor. Conestoga, the team tied with Radnor for second place, travels to fourth-place Harriton. There could be some tightening or separating at the top of the league. A Friday boys matchup between Penncrest and Upper Darby could be another fun one.(click on this link for the rest of the leagues matchups)

Hopes for Hope: Former, future teammates Francione, Halligan face off as Conestoga downs Notre Dame

Conestoga’s Marisa Francione dribbles up the court Sunday at Arcadia. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

By Andrew Robinson

Lizzie Halligan couldn’t help herself.

It was something she’d seen Marisa Francione do countless times, a hustle play her longtime and to-be future teammate does on the regular, so Halligan gave Francione props like always. It was then that it hit the Notre Dame senior point guard that she was playing against the Conestoga senior point guard for the first, and only, time and maybe she shouldn’t have been congratulating an opponent for that.

Francione’s Pioneers topped Halligan’s Irish 32-30 as part of the Hoops for Hope Classic at Arcadia on Sunday, the duo enjoying their only official meeting as opponents.

“I’ve always been on the same team as her,” Francione said. “For our first time playing against each other, it was a lot of fun.”

“She’s a great friend and a great teammate,” Halligan said. “She’s a lot like me, I think our coaches would say a lot of the same things about one another. Our teammates’ parents say a lot of the same things. I think we’re great leaders and we’re really supportive of each other.”

(click on this link for the full article)

Boys: Chester tops Bishop Shanahan in OT to improve to 10-1

Chester's Dante Atkinson, left, dribbles up court as Abington's Jeremiah Lee in a game last month. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Chester’s Dante Atkinson, left, dribbles up court as Abington’s Jeremiah Lee in a game last month. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Don’t look now, but Chester’s boys basketball team is off to a 10-1 start.

Dante Atkinson scored six of his 17 points in overtime as Chester outlasted Bishop Shanahan, 63-55, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Showcase at Octorara.

Dominic Toy was named the game MVP with 16 points and nine rebounds. He supplied five of those points in overtime. Jaseir Thompson added 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and Dallas Thompson tossed in 10.

Sun Valley 45, Eastern York 38 >> Blaise Eldridge provided 11 points and four blocks to win game MVP recognition in a physical affair at Octorara.

Kaiden Robinson added nine points and five assists.

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Girls: Rullo hits 1,000 points, but O’Hara falls to Wood

Cardinal O'Hara junior Molly Rullo scored her 1,000th point in the first quarter Friday night against Archbishop Wood. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Cardinal O’Hara junior Molly Rullo scored her 1,000th point in the first quarter Friday night against Archbishop Wood. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

By Matt Smith

Cardinal O’Hara junior Molly Rullo only wishes that her special night Friday would have led to a better outcome.

Rullo was fouled in the process of hitting a shot late in the first quarter of a Catholic League clash with Archbishop Wood. The Drexel commit stepped to the line and calmly swished the free throw for her 1,000th career point, becoming the 23rd player in school history accomplish the feat.

Rullo briefly celebrated with teammates, then went back to work. But this wouldn’t be the Lions’ night.

Wood outplayed O’Hara in all facets en route to a 42-30 victory. It marked the first loss of the season for the Lions’ (11-1).

“It’s a great individual goal, but ultimately we wanted the win tonight and we didn’t get it,” said Rullo, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals. “It’s a great honor, but definitely didn’t end the night like I wanted. This was a big game, and coming into it just knowing that we wanted to play hard and do everything we needed to do in order to win. And to not be able to do that is upsetting.”

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Girls: Gallagher, Radnor handle Chichester

Radnor's Kate Gallagher, center, drives down the lane in a game against Ridley last season. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Radnor’s Kate Gallagher, center, drives down the lane in a game against Ridley last season. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

Kate Gallagher scored eight points as Radnor handled Chichester, 45-24, in a nonleague affair Friday night.

Gallagher was 4-for-4 shooting. Nyah Yao, Anna Reger, Ally Krug and Bree Simpson had six points each for the Raptors, who led 20-2 after one quarter and spread the points around liberally.

Rayne Edwards led Chichester with 11 points. Gionna Pagan chipped in five.

Unionville 41, Academy Park 31 >> Kiala Bright and Emani Banks scored eight points each, but the Knights couldn’t hold on to a seven-point halftime lead. The Longhorns used a 15-2 edge in the third quarter to take control.

Alaysia Kinlaw added seven points for AP.

Elle Johnson led Unionville with 15 points.

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