Author: delcohoops

Agnes Irwin lost its first game in an overtime thriller to Nazareth Academy Tuesday.

Reese Power scored 20 points and Abby Rock helped out with 13 as Nazareth held on for a 47-46 OT conquest.

For AIS, Simone Harvey had 17 points, complete with four 3-pointers, and five rebounds. Gabrielle Seibert had 12 points and six rebounds and Milan Harvey added six points.

Downingtown East 57, Ridley 49 >> The Green Raiders couldn’t contain the Cougars’ Charlotte Aldridge, who knocked down 27 points. Downingtown East also got 14 points from Chloe Hunold.

Ridley was Kyla Carney’s 12-point effort, while Taylor Marsich added 11 points and Nikki McMenamin chipped in 10.

Sun Valley 58, Brandywine High (Del.) 28 >> The Vanguards led start to finish behind sophomore Luci D’Amico (18 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals).

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By Joseph Santoliquito 

They don’t mind the label. They actually embrace it. It’s them. It is what the Marple Newtown boys’ basketball team will be about this year — a bunch of scrappy dogs looking to make up for the growing pains that arrived in the form of a 12-13 overall record and 7-9 Central League finish in 2022-23.

The Tigers lost to eventual District 1 Class 5A champion Radnor, 55-29, in the first round of the District 1 5A playoffs, and lost to West Chester Rustin in the playback round ending their year.

That rocky journey will hopefully pave the way for a better season this year.

Coach Sean Spratt enters his seventh year as head coach of the Tigers, who return 6-foot junior guard Matt Gardler, 5-10 senior guard P.J. Esposito, who was plagued by injuries his junior year, 6-2 senior guard Dave Bertoline, 5-11 senior guard Steven Tansey, 6-4 junior forward Ryan Keating, 5-11 senior guard James Kirby and 6-1 senior forward Andrew Cappello. Spratt is hoping newcomer 6-2 senior forward Iraklis (pronounced Hercules) Kaltsidis can help the tiny Tigers on the boards.

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By Matt Smith

Haverford is the team everyone is chasing in the Central League.

Led by Daily Times Player of the Year Caroline Dotsey, the Fords went undefeated in the conference on the way to a 27-2 record. Haverford’s only two losses came in the District 1 Class 6A championship game and the first round of the PIAA tournament.

Dotsey, the second-leading in Delco with 16.9 points per game, is now a freshman at Maine. Nevertheless the Fords are built to have another stellar season under seventh-year head coach Lauren Pellicane.

Rian Dotsey, Caroline’s junior sister, and dynamic senior guard Aniya Bernhardt were excellent last year. Senior forward Natalie Wright will have a larger role on the team after being the sixth woman for the Fords in 2022-23.

“Veteran experience will be relied on heavily for a team led by four seniors and five juniors,” Pellicane said. “We will need to defend and rebound consistently on both ends of the floor to be successful. Our offense will run through two all-conference players in Dotsey and Eberhart with other capable players looking to make an impact.”

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Change is this theme in the Central League, and it starts from the top.

Reigning champion Radnor, off its unprecedented 29-1 season that included a District 1 Class 5A title, was already going to face upheaval with the graduation of six regulars from that special squad. But the resignation of coach Jamie Chadwin in the spring ushered in even more uncertainty.

Into the breach steps Tim Smallwood, most recently at Valley Forge Military Academy. Henry Pierce, at 4.6 points per game, is the highest returning scorer, and Michael Savadove (2.8 ppg) will be asked to expand the defensive stopper role he’s filled with aplomb.

Kessy Cox, Harrison Ceppa, Elijah Sellers, Alex McFadden and Owen Smith fill out the rotation. Only Sellers saw notable time last season.

Smallwood isn’t alone, with three new coaches among the nine Delco schools. One is a familiar face.

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By Matt Smith

Kailyn Bell’s 24-point output Saturday helped the Ridley girls to a 53-48 overtime win over Harriton in the championship game of the Methacton Tip-Off Tournament.

Taylor Marsich accumulated 10 points for the Green Raiders (2-0).

Ridley 49, Methacton 21 >> Kyla Carney went for 21 points and Bell tossed in 14 as the Green Raiders routed the hosts Friday night.

Penncrest 54, Academy Park 49 >> Bailey Garrison and Emily Huggins scored 13 points apiece in the Lions’ overtime win at AP.

Emani Banks produced a game-high 18 points to go with 12 rebounds, seven blocks and three steals for the Knights. Alaysia Kinlaw (eight rebounds, nine assists, three steals) and Kiala Bright (five rebounds, two blocks) had 10 points each.

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By Josh Verlin

The Central League is up for grabs.

There isn’t anything close to an odds-on favorite in the 12-team league of Montgomery and Delaware County public schools, the conference as wide-open as any of the coaches in the league can remember. Last year’s champs, Radnor, graduated almost the entire rotation; runner-up Lower Merion saw Sam Brown finally depart for Penn along with a big senior class; Upper Darby also graduated its entire lineup from the third-place finishers. 

That should make for a fun year in the Central League, whose teams all play 16-game league slates, making up the majority of their regular seasons. With conference play beginning just a week into the season, it won’t take too long to see if anybody starts to assert themselves, or if it’s going to be one big mess of possibilities heading down the stretch. 

Here’s a look at how we see the Central League breaking down in 2023-24:

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By Matt Smith

West Chester Rustin senior Riley Stackhouse didn’t mind the fast turnaround after scoring 35 points against Penn Wood Friday night.

Stackhouse and the Golden Knights began the 2023-24 season with two away games in Delaware County in as many days. The reigning Ches-Mont League and District 1 Class 5A champions capped their “road trip” with a gutsy, 46-42 win Saturday over a Springfield squad that refused to surrender.

Stackhouse paced the Knights (2-0) with 19 points, including eight in a competitive fourth quarter that saw the Cougars (0-1) nearly storm all the way back from a 14-point deficit. For Stackhouse, who is the lone returning starter from last year’s 27-4 team, scoring 54 points in less than 24 hours is nice, but what matters most to her is the two wins.

“Right now I’m kind of on a high from the two wins, but I will definitely be exhausted later,” Stackhouse said. “I’m so proud of everybody because we found a way to come together. It’s a different team this year. Last year we had Laine (McGurk) and we could rely on one person, but now we have to rely on everybody. … I’m trying to be that leader, making sure everybody is staying together even when we are turning the ball over and making mistakes.”

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Lamaj Mapp scored 10 points, and Chris Taylor added nine as Penn Wood topped Marple Newtown, 38-36, in the consolation game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament late Saturday.

Penn Wood outscored Marple, 16-10, in the fourth quarter.

Matt Gardler was held to 11 points for the Tigers. Ryan Keating added seven.

Marina High from California defeated Conestoga, 53-44, in the title game.

Interboro 48, Upper Darby 46 >> Jayden Diawara scored 15 points to lead the Bucs in the consolation game of the Avon Grove Tip-Off.

Gary Bonner led all scorers with 21 points for the Royals. Nairi Hodges added nine points.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The boys basketball team at Radnor had the kind of season that required multiple trips to the archives. It was the only source of relevant context for its accomplishments.

So many of the Raptors’ achievements begged the question of, “when was the last time?” That led to dusting off the record books, especially to find a way to describe how unprecedented the Central League and District 1 Class 5A champions’ season was.

One day, might a shot of the current squad be so venerated? Will what they’re doing be frozen in amber as the standard to which future teams are held?

“That would be awesome,” Jackson Hicke said. “There’s certainly potential for that. What we did this year was memorable and kind of hard to replicate in however many years to come. I think we’ve earned it, to be recognized throughout the years and leave a lasting mark, for sure. We hope it’s a bar we set for future teams and that’s something they try to attain.”

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By Matt Smith

Growing up, Caroline Dotsey had a pretty good role model pair in her mom and dad, both of whom were excellent athletes in their heyday.

Dotsey never knew as a youngster that someday she would become one of the greatest basketball players to come through Haverford High. She would start all four years, score more than 1,300 points and win a Central League championship. And after her high school career was over, she would play basketball at a Division I college.

She had two excellent examples to learn from. Dotsey’s father Dan is in the Cabrini Athletics Hall of Fame for his exploits on the tennis court. The Archbishop Carroll product also played basketball for the college’s JV team.

Sue Dotsey, Caroline’s mother, was an all-conference soccer and lacrosse player at Old Dominion. Caroline dabbled in soccer and returned to lacrosse after a few years away this spring. She tried playing ultimate, but throwing frisbees around didn’t meet her competitive needs.

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