Author: delcohoops

Bailey Garrison poured in 22 points, Kat Harding scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Penncrest defeated Oxford, 73-70.

Garrison (four steals) netted 17 points in the second half for the Lions, who trailed 41-31 at halftime. Emily Huggins checked in with 14 points. Lila Curci was a spark off the bench with eight points.

In the Central League:

Haverford 47, Lower Merion 22 >> The Fords were on cruise control after jumping out to an 18-3 lead after one quarter. Rian Dotsey produced a game-high 15 points, Aniya Eberhart added 11 and Natalie Wright finished with 10.

Boys Basketball

Mikey Mita and Connor Cahill each recorded a double-double as Penncrest crushed Oxford, 55-23.

Mita had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Cahill paired 10 points with 10 boards. Michael Maddox also scored 10 for the Lions.

Cardinal O’Hara 56, Haverford School 51 >> Aasim Burton led three Lions in double figures with 16 points in a victory late Thursday night. Noah McIntosh and Pearse McGuinn chipped in with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

O’Hara used a 20-7 run in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead into halftime and never looked back.

KJ Carson bucketed six 3-point field goals en route to a game-high 21 points for Haverford.

Chichester 74, Brandywine (Del.) 60 >> Jayon Harris accumulated 20 points and Carlton Gordy tallied 17 for the Eagles, who outscored their opponents, 64-46, in the final three quarters.

In the Central League:

Lower Merion 77, Haverford 39 >> Eleven players got in the scoring column for the Aces, who held a 29-7 advantage after the first period. Carson Kasmer drilled four treys and led all players with 19 points and Owen McCabe tossed in 18.

Greg Doemling paced the Fords with 17 points.

By Zak Wolf

When Conestoga’s leading scorer Ben Robinson went down with a knee injury at the end of the third quarter Thursday night, the Pioneers needed someone to step up. 

Robinson was running the offense to that point Conestoga, but with Garnet Valley attempting a comeback Rowan Miller took on the responsibility of being the go-to option.

A Grayson Godek 3-pointer tied the game at 29 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, erasing what was once a 13-point Conestoga lead. That’s when Miller responded with a triple of his own to put Conestoga back in front, holding the lead for the rest of the game in a 39-36 Central League victory over Garnet Valley.. 

“With our best scorer going down, I felt a little bit of pressure.” Miller said. “I felt like I needed to do a little bit more for the team but we came together and pulled it out.”

(click on this link for the full article)

By Matthew DeGeorge

You might not look at what Ridley’s boys basketball team had endured the last two years and expect them to come up with winning plays away from home.

But the underclassmen that toiled through a five-win season last year and a 2-18 campaign in 2021-22 are better for those tribulations. And with a change of voice, a program that won just one of its last 32 Central League games the last two years already has two this young season.

Behind Austin McCaughan’s shooting and Luke Showalter’s half-court headiness, Ridley outlasted Upper Darby, 66-61, Thursday in a battle of teams finding their footing early.

There’s still plenty on that to-do list for Ridley (2-4, 2-3 Central) under first-year head coach Allen Brydges. But the Green Raiders’ ability to navigate a fourth quarter in which neither team led by more than one possession and overtime without a turnover speaks volume to the value of experience.

Brydges, the long-time head coach at Academy Park and a former assistant of Upper Darby boss Bob Miller, only took over in the fall, with little time to install new concepts. Much of the early development owes to a refreshed mindset and strengthened bonds in a senior-laden huddle, in a league where most teams are building anew.

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Sheldon Viau and Alex Bruce’s 3-point shooting jumpstarted a fourth-quarter surge by Penncrest en route to the Lions’ 56-40 Central League victory over Marple Newtown.

Bruce, Kathryn Harding and Emily Huggins all scored 12 points as the Lions closed the game on a 14-4 run. Bailey Garrison tallied 11 points in the winning cause. Olivia Gicking paced the Tigers with 11 points.

In other Central League action:

Radnor 44, Springfield 34 >> Kate Gallagher’s 12-point effort helped the Raptors down the Cougars. Blayse Jenning finished with 11 points and Nyah Yao added 10. Cora Fattori scored 12 points for the Cougars.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores subscription may be required)

By Owen McCue

While Elijah Sellers didn’t see the floor often for the Radnor boys basketball team last season, Michael Savadove and his teammates could see there was something there inside the athletic 6-foot-3 wing.

They watched him on the scout team in practice each day, getting in the faces of guys like Jackson Hicke and Charlie Thornton as they led the Raptors to the best season in program history.

They watched him once again this preseason ready himself for a larger role.

“He was always the hidden gem,” Savadove said. “He works so hard. He spends countless hours in the gym. He’s here before, after practice. He’s working on his game.” 

Hicke, Thornton and several other members of last season’s Central League and District 1 championship team were in the stands for Radnor’s home game against Springfield-Delco on Thursday night.

(click on this link for the full article)

Clutch foul shooting down the stretch propelled Penncrest to a 54-48 Central League victory at Springfield Tuesday night.

The Lions were 11-of-14 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Alex Bruce went 7 of 9 on the night and finished with a game-high 17 points. Kathryn Harding chipped in with 11 points.

Molly Clifford and Cora Fattori led the way for the host Cougars with 11 points apiece.

By Josh Verlin

Haverford High coach Lauren Pellicane pulled Megan Kelly aside late in overtime and told her point guard to be confident. With Garnet Valley playing a zone, focusing heavily on Fords stars Rian Dotsey and Aniya Eberhart, someone else needed to step up and hit a shot. 

Kelly listened, and did exactly that. 

When the Fords’ 5-foot-4 junior guard caught a ball on the left wing with less than a minute left in a tied ball game, she head-faked an incoming defender, took one dribble to the left, just inside the arc, and buried the jumper. 

“I was wide open on the wing all the time and I wasn’t stepping up and Pell called me over and told me that I was open and I had to start being confident in my shot,” Kelly said. “And then I got the pass, ball faked and I was open, so I shot it.”

(click on this link for the full article)

A six-point deficit after one quarter didn’t deter the Springfield boys basketball team Tuesday night at Penncrest.

Jake Adams buried four 3-point field goals and finished with a game-high 14 points in the Cougars’ 48-31 victory.

The Cougars used a 20-7 run in the second quarter and cruised from there. Adams, Cole Treude (11 points), Chris Dolan and Tom Toomey each made a trey in the period.

Connor Cahill and Mikey Mita carried the Lions with nine points apiece.

Upper Darby 43, Conestoga 40 >> The Royals used a 15-7 run in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead into the final period. Clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch sealed the win over the visiting Pioneers.

TJ Jackson recorded 15 points and seven blocks for UD. Niari Hodges tallied 10 points and Alex Brown tossed in eight.

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Girls Basketball

Megan Donahoe scored a career-high 21 points as Sacred Heart claimed a nonleague win over MaST Charter, 58-23.

Keara McCaffrey was a force in the post with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Maya Walker added a career-high 15 points. Donahoe hit five 3-pointers, including four in a second quarter where she scored 16 points and the Lions outscored MaST, 23-7.

In other nonleague action:

Plymouth Whitemarsh 57, Chichester 21 >> Rayne Edwards scored 13 points as the Eagles hung tough for a quarter but were hit with a 16-2 disadvantage in the second stanza against the traditional District 1 powerhouse.

Boys Basketball

Ja’Bryl Bennett scored 25 points, but Chester Charter Scholars Academy dropped a 70-63 decision to Lincoln Leadership Academy. Calvin Lewis added 13 points for the Sabers.

By CoBL Staff

The inaugural CoBL Girls’ Winter Classic took over the courts at Jefferson University’s Gallagher Athletic Center on Sunday, with 14 games across two courts bringing together some of the best girls’ talent from the region.

Here’s a brief recap of all seven games from Court One:

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Click HERE for recaps from Court Two
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Game One: Conestoga vs. Great Valley

Stifling would be a good word to sum this one up.

The Pioneers turned in an outstanding team defensive effort to stifle the Patriots in a 47-11 decision to kick things off Sunday morning. Conestoga switched, rotated, rebounded and limited Great Valley to just two points in each of the first three quarters.

Isabella Valencia defended well inside, while Marisa Francione and Ryann Jennings were all over the perimeter keeping GV senior Julia Curran in check. Great Valley shot just 5-of-25 in the game, the Patriots often running through some intricate offensive sets that forced Conestoga to defend for long stretches.

(click on this link for more game recaps)