Author: delcohoops

Conner Delaney hit the back end of a two-shot foul with five seconds left to seal Episcopal Academy’s 61-59 victory over Solebury School in the opening round of the PAISAA Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Churchmen (18-6) host the winner of Friday’s match between No. 5 Haverford School and No. 12 Friends’ Central in the quarterfinals Saturday. Game time is 4 p.m.
Nick Alikakos led the way for EA with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Delaney finished with 17 points and four assists. Matt Woods chipped in with 13 points and Jermaine Rhoden hit a big layup in the fourth quarter to give the Churchmen a five-point lead.

By Terry Toohey

Steve Maloney and Gene Lambert had a running joke all season.
With how their games played out, Sun Valley coach Maloney figured, he was bound to meet Ches-Mont rival Octorara for a third time in the postseason.
Few similarities exist between the teams’ seasons. But their paths will cross again in Saturday’s District One Class AAA quarterfinals. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.
The No. 7 Vanguards (8-14) eked into the postseason to meet defending champs and second-seeded Octorara (19-4).
Despite the gulf in their records, Sun Valley improbably matches up well. The Vanguards lost, 67-64, in December. On Jan. 21, without starters Wali Sabree and Ryan Hall, Sun Valley stayed within two points of the Braves, 53-51.
That contest fell in the middle of four wins in six games, which included beating Rustin and Class AAAA qualifier Great Valley to garner sufficient bonus points for the eight-team field.
“It definitely gave the kids some more confidence,” Maloney said. “They saw we were progressing the way we should be. … That gave us jolt of confidence.”

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By Josh Verlin

There are a few teams in District 1 AAAA for whom the state playoffs are a common occurrence.

Sure, making it all the way into Pennsylvania’s final 32 teams in the state’s largest bracket is a goal for every program every year, but there are some–Chester, Lower Merion, Plymouth Whitemarsh and others come to mind–where it can be surprising to not see that team qualify for the state tournament.

Central Bucks East is not one of those programs.

Prior to this year, when C.B. East upset Pennsbury and then Coatesville to qualify for the state bracket, the Patriots’ last trip to the state tournament came in 1983–at which point Ronald Reagan was still president and Jim Valvano’s NC State Wolfpack were about to take the NCAA by storm.

None of the current Patriots, this year’s No. 17 seed in District 1, would be born for another 15 years.

“My kids weren’t born,” said Patriots head coach Erik Henrysen, in his sixth year with the program. “It is special but it’s just the guys embracing one game to the next, and simplifying things. We’re not looking to win a game on one shot, we’re looking to just the next play and if you can build on each play, good things can happen.”

The team C.B. East took out in order to clinch a spot in this year’s state tournament is one of those teams who commonly finds itself playing into March, the district’s top-seed, Coatesville, who they took down 59-53 Tuesday night.

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By Josh Verlin

As Archbishop Carroll senior’s Ryan Daly’s last-chance shot ricocheted off the backboard and rolled away, as the Palestra’s final buzzer sounded, Roman Catholic’s Tony Carr collapsed to the ground, Cahillite classmate Nazeer Bostick rushing over to embrace his teammate and close friend.

The two of them huddled on the floor for a minute, with a few other teammates coming over to celebrate as half of the packed house in the Cathedral of College Basketball roared in approval of the 32-minute Catholic League tournament battle their team had emerged from victorious.

And that was just for the semifinals.

“We just worked so hard and we just tune in every day in practice and to just finally get the results again, it’s just a great feeling,” said Carr, who like Bostick was a huge part of Roman’s league championship run a year ago. “I mean it feels better than last year, fighting back with your brothers, being down early and just gutting out to get the win.”

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By Matthew De George

The idea of two players coming into a place like the Fred Pickett Jr. Memorial Gymnasium and constructing an upset is remote, yet plausible.

The notion of a player single-handedly beating Chester at home in the postseason is just about impossible, reserved for those players destined to have their name called by the NBA Commissioner on stage in New York one day (and even then, there’s no guarantee).

So when Chester scoped out No. 25 Hatboro-Horsham this week and diagrammed a gameplan against its two-headed scoring monster of guard Jay Davis and forward Clifton Moore, the plan seemed simple in principle.

In practice Tuesday night, its execution was devastating.

The Clippers limited Moore to less — the first two points of the game, then nothing — in a 56-34 pasting to return to the PIAA Tournament after a rare, one-year absence.

The No. 9 Clippers (18-6) will see the road to the District One Championship run through West 9th Street, thanks to No. 17 Central Bucks East’s upset over No. 1 Coatesville, 49-43. East and Chester meet Friday night in the quarterfinals.

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By Eugene Rapay

Chester point guard Khaleeq Campbell had his heart broken in half three times last season.

The first was when he went down with an ACL and MCL injury, gluing him to the bench for the rest of the season, as he was limited to just being a spectator.

The second time was when the Clippers went down in the second round of the District 1 tournament, losing at eventual district champion Abington.

With a shot at redemption in the playbacks bracket, his heart broke a final time as he watched Chester’s state playoff hopes dashed by upset-minded Coatesville. The Red Raiders handed the Clippers a two-point loss at home and showed them the door earlier than they would have liked.

“I was hurt, because I went down with an ACL and MCL injury,” Campbell said. “The only thing I could do is cheer on my team, and it hurt just watching your team fail, knowing you can’t do something to help them out.”

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By Samuel Stewart

Two consecutive slow starts, two consecutive blazing finishes.

Not quite what Ridley may have drawn up, but hey, it’s working. 

Julian Wing and Ryan Bollinger sparked another fourth quarter surge while Ridley’s defensive pressure turned it up in the waning moments as the Green Raiders overcame a pedestrian first three quarters to pull away from visiting Perkiomen Valley with a 45-31 victory in the District 1-AAAA second round Tuesday night.

Wing finished with a game-high 21 points, 15 in a tide-turning fourth quarter while Bollinger added 14, including two critical 3-pointers that sparked an 18-3 run to close out the game that earns the Green Raiders a PIAA berth. Ridley, which topped North Penn by a narrow 51-49 margin in the opening round, will host Spring-Ford Friday night, a win securing the team’s second consecutive district semifinal appearance. 

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By Ed Morlock

It was like a game in the school yard. The two best players get put on different teams and go head-to-head against each other. In the second round of the District 1-AAAA playoffs, it was Xzavier Malone and Jawan Collins being separated.

Malone scored 26 points for the No. 2 seed Plymouth Whitemarsh and Collins dropped 29 for the No. 18 seed Academy Park.

After 32 minutes of diving for loose balls, driving to the lane and pulling up for jumpers, it was Malone’s Colonials that came out on top, 60-56, Tuesday night at Colonial Elementary School in Whitemarsh.

“Jawan, he’s a tough dude – a gritty guard,” Malone said of his counterpart. “I like the way he played and the heart he brings, he’s carrying that team over there and they’re doing a great job. But I feel like it’s my time to shine. I’m not going to let you come on my court and try to show me up. We came up with the W and that’s about it. I just had to show them – everything you heard about me is real.”

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By Matthew De George

Sean Bingnear knew the start on Senior Night was ceremonial.

The outcome of Ridley’s game, against fellow playoff-bound squad Garnet Valley to cap an unbeaten run through the Central League, was hardly inconsequential. And for the senior guard, the opportunity was palpable.

So much so that eight days later, with Ridley surprisingly on the brink of a premature exit from the District One Class AAAA tournament and in a more precarious position on its home court than it had been all season, Mike Snyder looked down his usually tightly-rotated bench and found a saving answer in Bingnear.

Of the many surprises contained in the boxscore from that narrow, 51-49 survival over No. 29 North Penn Friday, the most glaring is the eight points attributed to Bingnear’s name. And with the No. 4 Green Raiders facing another team that’s displayed its upset potential, No. 20 Perkiomen Valley, in Tuesday’s second round, Bingnear’s postseason cameo may transform into a recurring arc.

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By CoBL Staff

We’re down to 16 teams left in the District 1 AAAA tournament, as half the field was knocked out in the opening round on Friday night. As we get deeper into the tournament, the games obviously pick up more importance–but this round is easily the most crucial.

The eight second-round winners will automatically qualify for the PIAA state tournament and will all play three more games to determine seeding, so a win does much more than just extend the season by one more game. The eight losers aren’t out of it: they’ll all go into the play-back bracket, where they’ll battle it out for the remaining two spots that District 1 is allotted.

Here’s a look at the eight games in the District 1 AAAA second round; all games at the higher seed’s home court, all tipoffs at 7 PM:

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