Author: delcohoops

By Matthew DeGeorge

Devon Nelson lingered over the question in the immediate aftermath Friday night, and every millisecond seemed totally explicable.

How had Bonner & Prendergast – which led by six points early in the fourth quarter, which had threatened all night to run away from an objectively less talented Upper Moreland team, that had a shot to win the game in the final moments – seen its season end in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals? How had a team that so thoroughly dominated District 1 champion Upper Dublin on Tuesday allow the fourth-place finisher in the district to dictate pace, dictate the shots it took late and ultimately hang around long enough to sneak away with a 46-45 win and get within a victory of Hershey at the Friars’ expense?

“I think this was 100 percent a game we could have won,” Nelson said.

That’s the truth, even in the face of 21 points from Colson Campbell, even with 13 Friars turnovers and seven missed three throws, even as late Jakeem Carroll’s pull-up from the free-throw line with two seconds left hitting back iron and bouncing teasingly high but safely into the waiting hands of an earthbound Larry Hughes to run out the clock and send the Golden Bears, who had never won a states game before this tournament, to their first state semifinal.

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By Evan Hartenstein

Leading by five with just over 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, it looked like Penncrest was going to move on to the PIAA Class 5A state semis.

But Deshawn Yates and Neumann-Goretti had other plans.

The junior standout had a game to remember against Penncrest in the quarterfinals, putting up 34 points. He scored 26 of those points after the half, and his clutch play late in the game helped Neumann pull away for a 76-69 overtime win at Norristown Area High School. 

Neumann-Goretti moves on to take on Upper Moreland next Friday in the 5A state semifinals. The Golden Bears, having their best season in program history, beat Bonner-Prendergast by one point earlier in the evening at Norristown. 

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By David Comer

The smile plastered on Upper Moreland senior Colson Campbell’s face after he scored 22 points to lead his team to a come-from-behind 46-45 win over Bonner-Prendergast in a PIAA 5A quarterfinal game on Friday night offered no hint as to the grueling five days that preceded it.

During practice Monday in preparation for his team’s second-round PIAA 5A game, Campbell leaped for a rebound like he had done so many before, but this time – at the worst possible moment – he got tangled up with a teammate and rolled his left ankle when he landed.

“I thought I broke it,” Campbell said. “I thought my season was over.”

Campbell’s toughness coupled with lots of ice enabled him to play Tuesday night in an overtime victory over York Suburban; he scored five of his eight points in OT.

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We have seen our little website grow and grow since 2013 and even though we don’t broadcast very often (due to the advent of HUDL and other automatic video systems) we are obviously the “go-to” site for high school basketball in Delaware County. Our sincere thanks to all of you for your continued support and interest in high school basketball!

By Matt Smith

The fourth time was the charm for Olivia Voshell and Strath Haven.

After enduring three losses to Central League rival Radnor, including a setback in the District 1 quarterfinals, the Panthers finally exacted revenge Wednesday night at Bensalem High, rallying for a stunning 54-43 overtime win in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament.

Freshman Maddie Fanning recorded a steal with less than a minute to go in regulation and raced the other way before floating in the game-tying basket. In OT, Strath Haven outscored the district champion Raptors 13-2 to seal the improbable win.

The Panthers (15-13) extended their Cinderella run to the state quarterfinals, where they’ll face District 2’s Crestwood Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

Strath Haven trailed by 11 midway through the fourth but closed the game on a 27-6 surge. Senior co-captain Olivia Voshell drove strong to the rim for a go-ahead layup that put Haven up 43-41, a lead the Panthers never relinquished.

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By Andrew Robinson

Try. Fail. Learn. Execute.

Three times this season, Strath Haven had tried to beat Radnor and three times, the Panthers failed. Three times, they’d learned from their losses, even if it didn’t show up in the score the next time they faced the Raptors. They’d tried, they’d failed and they learned, so facing a nine-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter Wednesday night, it was time to execute.

Living by its four-word mantra, Strath Haven authored an incredible comeback to defeat Radnor 53-44 in overtime in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A girls basketball playoffs.

“Our coach had the mantra of first you try, you fail, then you learn and last you execute and we took that with us,” Strath Haven senior Olivia Voshell said. “We really locked in on everything she wrote on the board, tried to stick to the little things and really just stay focused.”

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By Sean McBryan

Archbishop Carroll junior Alexis Eberz has the rare experience of knowing how it feels to end a season with a win or a loss.

As a freshman, she helped the Patriots win their first state title since 2012. Last year, Eberz and the Patriots fell in the quarterfinal round to Parkland. They prefer the former.

“I won my freshman year, so that’s obviously the goal,” Eberz said. “We want to win it. It’s awesome going [to Hershey’s Giant Center] and playing there in that environment.”

Eberz scored a game-high 23 points to move the Patriots one step closer to the Sweetest Place on Earth with a 60-41 victory over Wilson Tuesday night at Spring-Ford High School in the PIAA Class 6A second round.

Carroll advances to face Central Dauphin, which defeated Parkland 39-23 Tuesday, in the quarterfinals Friday.

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By Tom Robinson

Old Forge took Delco Christian’s best shot as the first half drew to a close and the second half started up.

Most importantly, the Blue Devils also took four charges, three in the second half, creating just enough of an edge to get through the PIAA Class 2A second round game with a 59-52 victory.

With two of the Eastern half of the state’s top 2A threats meeting in the first week of the tournament, the District 1 champion Knights had their season end against a team that went to the semifinals the last two years that it was in this classification. Delco Christian (26-3) entered the tournament with the second-best record in the 32-team field.

The teams were both unbeaten against opponents their own size and showed why in a highly entertaining battle that played out as close as a block/charge call.

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