At 13.0 points per game, John Harrar, center, leads Strath Haven in scoring this season. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
By Matt De George
The first boys basketball notebook of the season, highlighting the rise of Cardinal O’Hara’s Jaye’Lyn Peebles, which means it’s time for the first set of stat leaders. These leaders, which you can find in Thursday’s paper, are based on games reported to the Delco Times through Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Strath Haven’s Josh Singleton gets off a shot in a game against Interboro earlier this season. Singleton came off the bench to score 10 points and helped the Panthers claim a 59-54 victory over Penncrest in a Central League game Tuesday night. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
By Matthew De George
As the fourth quarter of a tie game opened Tuesday night, Strath Haven’s Alex Ischiropoulos wasn’t thinking about the past.
The senior guard didn’t concern himself with the five wins his teams had collected over the last two seasons combined, about the lingering placement in or near the Central League basement the Panthers had often been consigned to.
Instead, he pondered how to write a new narrative.
“We knew that we are a fourth-quarter team,” Ischiropoulos said. “We knew that we could win this game and there was no reason why we shouldn’t.”
Ischiropoulos translated his confidence into a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, complementing nine final-stanza points by John Harrar as the Panthers pulled away for a 55-49 win over rival Penncrest.
Webmaster’s note: Listen to this complete game on our Archive listed to the left of this article
By Matthew De George
Wing, Foster power Ridley’s surge over Conestoga>>Julian Wing (17 total points) and Brett Foster (15) combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter as Ridley claimed a 55-39 win over Conestoga in a battle of Central League unbeatens.
Ryan Bollinger added 10 points for Ridley (5-0, 3-0).
In other Central League action:
Ryan Bollinger (above) and his aggressiveness paid off in Ridley’s fifth-straight win to open the year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
By Josh Verlin
After establishing himself as a 3-point shooting threat last year, Ridley’s Ryan Bollinger is determined to show he can do more than just bomb away from beyond the arc. Against Conestoga in a big early Central League matchup on Tuesday night, the 6-1 senior attacked the rim at every opportunity for the first three quarters, helpling take pressure off the Green Raiders’ star guard, Brett Foster.
When push came to shove, though, Bollinger’s biggest shot of the night was an old standby. After Ridley’s eight-point halftime lead turned into a Conestoga lead late in the third quarter, Bollinger’s triple from the right wing less than three minutes into the fourth sparked the home team, who ran away to a 55-38 victory to continue an undefeated start to the season.
(click on this link for the full article)
Photo courtesy of aceshoops.com Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer holds his 500 win plaque in one hand and his daughter Brynn in the other following the Aces win against Garnet Valley Tuesday.
By Eddie Levin
Lower Merion High School boys’ basketball coach Gregg Downer has always put his players and other coaches ahead of himself. Heading into Tuesday night’s Central League match-up against visiting Garnet Valley, the attention was focused on Downer and for good reason.
When the clock ticked under 1:00 remaining, the Lower Merion student section known as the “Dawg Pound” held up signs with 500 printed on them and began chanting “Downer”.
As the chants got louder Downer acknowledged the appreciative student section before giving assistant coach Kevin Grugan a small hug as the final seconds ticked off in a 72-55 win giving Coach Downer his 500th career win at Lower Merion.
Wyatt Harkins nailed the go-ahead jumper with five seconds remaining, as Delco Christian erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to edge Gloucester County Christian, 54-53, Saturday in the championship game of the Delco Christian Invitational.
Harkins totaled 21 points and six rebounds, Devon Hill had a key steal and a bucket late to cap his 18-point, six-rebound, 4-assist effort, and the tandem of Nazim Trammell-Wells and Bryce Shook played lockdown defense for the Knights (2-0).
In the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic:
Archbishop Carroll 66, Parkland 59 >> Josh Sharkey filled the stat sheet with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals as the Patriots (3-0) built a double-digit first-half lead and held on for the win.
John Rigsby added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists and Ryan Daly dished out three dimes to go with his 11 points and seven rebounds.
By Stephen Pianovich
Both Archbishop Carroll’s Josh Sharkey and Archbishop Wood’s Tyree Pickron entered the 2015-16 knowing they would be doing a bit more for their respective teams.
Though the season is just two weekends old, both players are off to comfortable and productive starts, and they were fully on display Saturday evening in Archbishop Wood’s Richard Kelly gymnasium. The Catholic League rivals both won their games in the first annual Coaches vs. Cancer event hosted by Wood, with Sharkey and Pickron being the high scorers in both contests.
Sharkey had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists as Carroll defeated Parkland, 66-59. Then, in the finale of the four-game event, Pickron scored 22 points in Wood’s 66-46 beating of Central Bucks West. Here’s a closer look at each player’s start to the season:
By Andrew O’Connor
In a matchup that saw both teams struggle offensively, Radnor hustled out a close 44-40 victory over Springfield on Friday night. It was an unexpectedly low-scoring and physical game for both teams.
“Tough game,” said Radnor coach Chris Monahan. “We shot, I was looking at the stats, something like 37 percent. We got kids who can shoot, but you wouldn’t believe it from watching the game.
“Kids played really, really tough mentally,” added Monahan. “That’s a game last year we lose. Last year we would have hung our heads, but we hung through and we very good and very tough at the end of the game.”
The primary reason for this was junior forward Mason Ressler, who scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds, five of which were offensive.
Ridley’s Brett Foster, left, goes up for a layup over Upper Darby’s Jalun Trent during a Central League game Friday night. Foster poured in 26 points to lead the Green Raiders to a 53-40 victory. (Times Staff/Tom Kelly IV)
By Matthew DeGeorge
As Julian Wing trudged to the Ridley bench with four fouls, one second short of three minutes into the second half with Upper Darby uncomfortably close, no one needed to tell Brett Foster what came next.
As much as he was sure what his Green Raiders needed without the second scoring threat on the court, the senior point guard Foster also understood what his team didn’t need. And he delivered.
Foster compiled a game-high 26 points and his usual composed play running the point to lead the Green Raiders to a 53-40 Central League win.
In the kind of ragged, physical affair that each Central League seems destined to encounter 10 or 12 times a season, the most glaring difference between the teams was Foster’s deft orchestration.
By Matthew DeGeorge
Fuller’s layup secures a big win for Strath Haven>>Kyree Fuller’s lay-in on the final possession earned Strath Haven a 49-48 Central League victory over Harriton Friday night.
Alex Ischiropoulos scored a team-high 15 points, and John Harrar added 11 points and some key late defense for the Panthers (3-1, 1-1).
Also in the Central League:
