Author: delcohoops

By Matt Smith

Molly Rullo scored 31 points in Cardinal O’Hara’s 61-49 victory over Central York at the Geigle Complex Friday night.

The sophomore didn’t care all too much about her individual accomplishment. Never before in her relatively brief high school career had Rullo produced 30 points in a game before Friday.

The only thing that mattered to Rullo was the fact that the Lions were advancing in the PIAA Class 6A tournament. O’Hara will meet Delaware County and Catholic League rival Archbishop Carroll, which claimed a 55-43 win over Abington Friday, in the 6A Eastern final Monday night. Time and location will be determined later.

“Getting the win and going to the (state) semifinals is huge,” Rullo said. “Whatever I can do to help my team out, that’s the goal.”

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By Matt Smith

Nadir Myers did everything in his power to keep Upper Darby alive in the PIAA Class 6A tournament.

Facing a defensively explosive Reading High Wednesday night at Coatesville, Myers, a senior guard, showed a fearlessness that Royals coach Bob Miller won’t soon forget.

Myers carried the Royals on his shoulders, scoring 31 points in an 83-58 loss to the District 3 champion Red Knights (29-1). Reading advances to the quarterfinal round Saturday against New Castle, a 65-56 winner over Downingtown West.

“There is no quit,” Miller said of his Royals. “And how about the little kid (Myers) out there? They were doubling and tripling Nadir. … He’s such an amazing player and colleges out there that aren’t involved with him, it just blows my mind. 

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Webmaster’s note: If you missed the game you can watch it on NFHS Network (there is a monthly pass fee required).  

By Matthew DeGeorge

Basketball can get complicated, though at times it stays refreshingly simple.

Sometimes, mundane as it sounds, it’s all about making shots.

Parkland did that Wednesday night at the Geigle Complex, Garnet Valley didn’t do enough of it and thus the District 11 champion is moving on in the PIAA Class 6A tournament via a 74-58 victory.

It’s not a slight on Garnet Valley, the seventh seed from District 1. The Jags (18-10) shot a modest amount of 3-pointers and hit exactly half of them, 7-for-14. They had 13 assists on 21 baskets. They committed 14 turnovers, too much for any coach but hardly debilitating in a fast-paced game.

But they just didn’t hit enough shots to keep up with Parkland. A 39.6 percent shooting night (21-for-53) didn’t keep up with the torrid 56.5 percent that Parkland put up (26-for-46).

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By Jared Leveson

Roman Catholic’s Xzayvier Brown has got some stuff in his bag, but what makes the Saint Joseph’s commit special is that he knows when to pull out certain tricks. 

The 6-foot-2 senior guarded Lower Merion’s senior guard Sam Brown (Penn) all night in the PIAA 6A tournament second round contest at Archbishop Ryan. 

The two guards are familiar with one another. They’ve gone back since fourth grade and played grassroots ball together for Philly Triple Threat. 

But Roman’s Brown noticed something about his former backcourt mate’s game early on, which he turned into a big-time play for the Cahillites down the stretch. 

“(Sam) always does this thing where he spins,” Brown said. “He spun and just left the ball in his outside hand and I (stole) it.

“That’s something I always do to everybody. I didn’t do it earlier. I always try to time it because you never know when you’re going to need it.” 

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By Andrew Heller

Backed by battle-tested seniors, Reading High will try to extend its boys basketball season for another 32 minutes as it travels to take on Upper Darby at Coatesville High School in a PIAA Class 6A second-round game Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

“We relish the fact that we’re still playing basketball,” Reading High coach Rick Perez said. “We are one of 16 teams left in 6A, so we’re excited to be playing against Upper Darby and we look forward to it.”

All-Berks senior Myles Grey scored a game-high 30 points, including eight 3-pointers, to lead the Red Knights (28-1) over Haverford in a first-round game on Saturday in what was a picturesque sendoff for Grey and his fellow seniors at the Geigle.

Following his last game on Reading High’s home court, the 5-11 guard was happy to look back on old memories while knowing that more are in the making.

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Webmaster’s note:  Delcohoops.com will video stream this game, LIVE, through NFHS Network tonight, beginning at 7:20 PM from Coatesville High School.

By Bob Grotz

Cardinal O’Hara got off to a sluggish start Tuesday in its PIAA Class 6A second round game against Spring-Ford.

For a while, nothing was easy, not even finding the correct doorway to reach the floor in the cavernous, dimly lit Geigle Complex from the upstairs makeshift locker room.

But once the Lions found a rhythm, they had no problem finding the basket and except for a late run, preventing their opponent from getting to the rim in a 42-39 victory over Spring-Ford.

Joanie Quinn scored a game-high 16 points for the Lions (21-5), the first seed in District 12. Molly Rullo added a dozen points, Carly Coleman 11 for O’Hara, which faces the Easton-Central York winner Friday in the quarterfinals.

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By Bob Grotz

We’ll never know if Izaiah Pasha could have taken this Cardinal O’Hara basketball team to Hershey.

Not after Lucas Mushrush, whose last name sounds like the disciplined pass rush in football drilled a buzzer-beating triple to give Allentown Central Catholic a 49-46 triumph over O’Hara Tuesday in the second round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs at the Geigle Complex.

There is, however, no doubt in the mind of Pasha, an elite talent commited to Iona. He did his part to push the Lions through as he made both ends of a one-and-bonus to knot the score with 11.1 ticks left. Instead, he finished his high school career with 18 points. Not the easiest way to depart for bigger and better things.

“It was super-tough,” Pasha said. “I tried to give it my all and unfortunately my team fell short. Buzzer beater. We were in the huddle talking about what defense we could play. We like to play like an extended zone. We tried to matchup with the shooters, felt we got a good contest. He just knocked down a great shot.”

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By Matt Smith

Three of Springfield’s five starters played with four fouls in the fourth quarter. Seniors Lexi Aaron, Anabel Kreydt and Taylor Hunyet would eventually foul out.

Bench players Alyssa Estep and Corine Guyton-Williams stepped in and gave Springfield coach Ky McNichol quality minutes when the Cougars desperately needed help. Sitting on the Springfield bench next to assistant coaches Ann McKnight, Amanda Hopkins and Fran Burbidge was senior co-captain Mia Valerio, wearing a protective boot after getting injured in the district tournament. Springfield certainly missed its point guard.

The Cougars, a 21-win team as a first-time Class 6A program, saw its season end Tuesday at Plymouth Whitemarsh. Senior forward Cire Worley scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead Abington to a 40-35 victory.

The Ghosts meet Archbishop Carroll in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal round Friday.

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By Terry Toohey

If you sleep on Cooper Mueller, the 6-3 senior from Radnor will make you pay. West Philadelphia Speedboys found that out the hard way Tuesday night at Bensalem High School.

Mueller scored six of his game-high 18 points in a two-minute span to give the Raptors some breathing room and pull away for a 75-61 victory over the Speedboys in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament and make program history in the process.

With the win, Radnor improved to 29-0, breaking the program record for wins in a season set by the 1945-46 squad that went 28-2 and lost to Allentown in the Eastern Regional final.

“We just found out about that (the record) after the game,” Mueller said. “Some guys knew before, but I didn’t. It’s really special. I’m sure that was a great team that set that record but we’re proud of what we’ve done.”

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By Matt Gafney

March Madness was in full swing at the Geigle Complex in Reading on Tuesday night.

Lucas Mushrush’s buzzer-beating three propelled Allentown Central Catholic to a thrilling 49-46 win over Cardinal O’Hara in the second round of the PIAA 4A playoffs.  

The shot was a dagger to the heart for O’Hara as the loss ended the Lions’ season (18-9) while Central Catholic (22-8) moves on to the quarterfinals against Eastern York on Friday at a site to be determined.

While silver linings are hard to come by in a state tournament loss, O’Hara coach Ryan Nemetz should be happy with his team’s effort because the Lions went down swinging.

They were not ready for their season to end but their late rally was not enough to overcome a cold shooting spell in the first quarter.

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