Author: delcohoops

By Stephen Pianovich

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio noticed something different about his current team from the one which also reached the District 1 AAAA semifinals at the Liacouras Center last season.

This version of the Colonials isn’t just pleased with making it this far.

That’s a reason this veteran Plymouth Whitemarsh, which starts five seniors, was able to respond so well when Lower Merion went on a few runs Tuesday night. The second-seeded Colonials calmly and collectively handled any spurt by the Aces and eventually pulled away for a 53-42 win, punching their second straight ticket to the District 1 AAAA title game.

“That’s what a senior strong team does that believes in itself,” Donofrio said. “Last year, just getting here was the enjoyable part.”

A year ago, Plymouth Whitemarsh fell to Abington in the championship game.

The Colonials never trailed 11th-seeded Lower Merion in the second half of Tuesday’s win, but their lead was in jeopardy on two occasions.

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By Jeff Kerr

They may have been undersized and not highly seeded, but Academy Park vaulted itself into the PIAA Class AAAA tournament Tuesday night with a big, 61-54, win on the road at third-seeded Downingtown West at Wagner Gymnasium.

Academy Park, the 18th seed in the 32-team field, more than held its own with the taller Whippets on the glass. The Knights (19-7) missed their chance at the state playoffs last season with a home loss to Penncrest in this same game.

Senior Jawan Collins, who led the Knights with 20 points, said that loss motivated Academy Park this season.

“This team has so much heart and we play with confidence,” Collins said. “Tonight we got down 9-0 and we just came back and played our game. We missed the state playoffs at home last year by one game and we did not want that to happen again. We knew we could rebound with them because we have been doing it to teams all season.”

Academy Park will host Hatboro-Horsham Friday night to decide who finishes ninth and who finishes 10th heading into states.

The Knights were much smaller than the Whippets up front Tuesday night but more than held their own on the offensive and defensive glass. Freshman Kyree Temple, a Neumann-Goretti transfer, hauled down 12 boards and Collins chipped in with seven from his guard position.

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By Jeff Griffith

It’s no secret that, in the 2015-16 season, District 1 basketball has experienced an impeccable level of parity. As the playoff push began, it became clear that there were at least ten or twelve teams that could easily have cut down the nets at the Liacouras Center as district champions.

A bulk of that group was teams that haven’t been known for their success across the scape of district one history–No. 3 Downingtown West, No. 7 Central Bucks West, No. 8 Strath Haven, and No. 10 Phoenixville, and No. 12 Spring-Ford have all burst on the scene in the last few years.

However, when the dust settled and four teams emerged as semifinalists, those teams fell by the wayside, leaving four programs that have been there and done that in the district playoffs to fight for the title at Temple.

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By Matthew De George

Wyatt Harkins’ historic Friday night traced its roots to 10 days earlier.

The do-everything Delco Christian guard was still stewing, in a channeled and productive way, over how his last game ended. It was the the first round of the Bicentennial League playoffs Feb. 9, and Harkins missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 in the final minute that could’ve sent the Knights to overtime against Bristol.

Instead, DC crashed out, 66-64, waiting more than a week to further its quest to return to the PIAA Class A tournament.

When that arrived, Harkins put the intervening week of practice-court atonement to good use, scoring 40 points — including a 20-for-20 day from the line — in an 83-49 thumping of No. 3 seed Calvary Baptist in the District One quarterfinals.

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By Samuel Stewart

Their motto rings out for all to hear on the first song of their pregame track.

Now, in the word’s of musician Drake, Ridley is going “back-to-back.”

Brett Foster turned in another monster performance, finishing with a game-high 20 points while Ridley utilized another momentous fourth quarter to pull away with a 54-50 victory over visiting Spring-Ford in the District 1-AAAA quarterfinals Friday night.

“It’s a great feeling (getting to the district semifinals two years in a row),” Foster said. “That was our goal when the season started and we’re glad we can get the job done in front of all these fans. They gave us all the energy we needed to pull out the win.”

Ridley will face Chester (49-33 winners over Central Bucks East) in the district semifinals Tuesday at Temple University’s Liacouras Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday night’s win marked just the third time in program history that the Green Raiders have advanced to the district’s Final Four, having only done so last season and in 2003-2004.

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By Matt Smith

Ryan Bollinger exudes a quiet confidence when he’s on the basketball court.

The Ridley senior doesn’t need to say much, he just lets his play do the talking.

Bollinger’s quick wrist was a destructive force in the fourth quarter of Ridley’s 54-50 victory over No. 12 Spring-Ford in the quarterfinal round of the District One Class AAAA tournament Friday night.

The fourth-seeded Green Raiders advance to the district semifinals for the second consecutive year. A showdown Tuesday night with No. 9 Chester at Temple’s Liacouras Center awaits.

If it wasn’t for Bollinger’s cool delivery from beyond the arc, who knows if the Green Raiders survive the Rams, who returned from the dead after a woeful start. The visitors stormed back from a 17-2, second-quarter deficit, eventually grabbing a pair of short-lived, one-point leads in the final stanza. And the only reason they couldn’t build on their advantage was because of guys like Bollinger, who came through in the clutch.

Bollinger’s first 3-pointer of the fourth quarter gave Ridley (25-1) the lead to stay. Liam Thompson swished one from long distance moments later, and Bollinger’s second trey with 2:20 to go was the dagger.

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By Anthony Dabbundo

Despite dominating a short-handed Phoenixville team 90-63 earlier this season, Academy Park knew it wouldn’t have it as easy this time around with both teams fighting for their state playoff lives.

With Phoenixville star senior Christian Kelly–who led the PAC-10 with 23.8 points per game–back in the lineup, the Phantoms had enough firepower to match the Knights offensively. Kelly, who missed the first meeting on January 16 due to a hand injury, was back to extend his high school career for at least one more game.

“We knew that with Kelly playing it would be a totally different game, so we actually watched more tape of their other games to get ready,” Academy Park coach Allen Brydges said.

Despite 30 points from Kelly, Academy Park moved one step closer to the PIAA state tournament thanks to 20 points from senior guard Jawan Collins in the Knights’ 71-58 win.

After the first quarter where Academy Park shot just 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from the field, the Knights used their press and ball movement to generate easy looks in the paint and wear down their PAC-10 counterparts.

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By Josh Verlin

Ever since his team got out to a hot start against J.P. McCaskey and cruised to a victory over the central Pa. powerhouse back in December, Lower Merion head coach Gregg Downer has been waiting to see his team play a complete 32 minutes.

His Aces couldn’t have picked a better time to finally put it all together than facing Central League archrival Conestoga in the District 1 AAAA quarterfinals.

Fueled by dreams of a semifinal at Temple University and two earlier defeats at the hands of the Pioneers, Lower Merion came out with its best start of the season and cruised to a 68-45 win in front of a packed house at Kobe Bryant Gymnasium.

“It feels crazy, going into the season nobody thought that we had a chance to make it here,” senior guard K.J. Helton said in a jubilant Aces locker room afterwards. “Proved a lot of doubters wrong, it feels great.”

Lower Merion, the No. 11 seed in the tournament, advances to the semifinals to take on No. 2 seed Plymouth Whitemarsh.

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