Author: delcohoops

By Matt Smith

Haverford had a chance to tie or win its district championship game in the final seconds Saturday at Temple University. The Fords almost erased a nine-point deficit with less than two minutes to play. And they did it on the backs of junior guard Aniya Eberhart and senior forward Caroline Dotsey.

Ultimately, No. 2 Haverford came up short in its first District 1 Class 6A game against top-seeded Perkiomen Valley, which dealt the Fords their first loss of the season and captured the district title with a 48-44 victory at Liacouras Center.

PV’s sudden inability to make free throws allowed Haverford to fight back late in the fourth quarter. Dotsey and Eberhart combined for seven straight points to get the Fords within two, 44-42, with 19 seconds to go. After a timeout, Eberhart attempted a shot from mid range, but the ball rimmed out.  PV’s Grace Galbavy took a rebound from Rian Dotsey and the Fords were whistled for two infractions: a personal foul and a technical foul issued to senior forward Mollie Carpenter.

Quinn Boettinger, who battled in the low post with Carpenter all game, made four consecutive free throws to extend PV’s lead to 48-42 with nine seconds left. Eberhart made a basket on the other end, but the Fords ran out of time.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

When the COVID-19 pandemic started and our staff tried to devise how to cover sports when there were no sports to cover, an idea was hatched. Thus, three Marches ago, “Delco Madness” sprung to life, a chance to weigh the top boys and girls basketball teams in Delaware County history against one another, across time and eras.

There may never be an update to that pantheon, and if there is, God forbid it should come under similar circumstances. But consider the Radnor boys basketball team of 2022-23 fast-tracked for inclusion.

It’s about the only metric that can begin to encapsulate what this season has been for the Raptors, the latest installment Saturday’s 61-36 dismantling of Unionville in the District 1 Class 5A final.

Radnor has routed all comers. PIAA competition lies ahead of them, with all the pitfalls that the bloated tournament contains. But Saturday, Radnor cemented a place among Delco’s all-time elite.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

There’s a certain glee that Radnor’s boys basketball team radiates when teams push them. It was evident in the Central League final against Lower Merion, and it was there between the lines last Saturday against Unionville.

The lore is established: Radnor has won its first 26 games of the season, by an average of 20.6 points per game. They have more championships this season (three, if you include an in-season tournament in Florida) than games decided by single digits (two).

The group of nine seniors, many of whom have been playing together since elementary school, at the center of this historic team remain hungry to see what they can really do, when the challenges and stakes are raised.

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By Matt Smith

Natalie Wright suffered a broken nose on Feb. 22. She hasn’t missed a game.
Haverford was in the process of winning a District 1 Class 6A second-round game against Methacton when the sophomore forward was walloped in the face.

“I was elbowed,” Wright said after the Fords’ 43-21 victory against Pennsbury in the semifinals Wednesday. “I had the option to get surgery in the next couple of weeks and be out for the rest of the season, or I could just wait until the end of the season.”

Wright’s fear of missing out played a part in her decision. So she opted to wear a protective mask, the fashionable trend for NBA players these days. In two games with the apparatus, Wright hasn’t skipped a beat. The team’s “sixth man” has played productive minutes in all three of the Fords’ district tournament victories.

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By Andrew Robinson

It meant something to Jake Sniras Friday night.

The annual slog of District 1 basketball playback games can feel unending. But to Sniras, a 6-4 sophomore at Garnet Valley, there’s no such thing as a ‘’meaningless” game. He played like it Friday against North Penn in the District 1 Class 6A seventh-place game.

Sniras scored a career-best 39 points as GV ran over the Knights 88-52 to complete their seeding games.

“Every game means something. I hate when people say the seeding games don’t mean anything,” said Sniras, who had 30 points in the first half. “Every game means something and any time you’re playing, you should be going 100 percent.”

The Jags staved off a losing streak going into states, earning the 1-7 spot in the PIAA bracket and a trip to District 3 runner-up Cumberland Valley next Friday. North Penn dropped its third straight game, the Knights drawing a first-round clash with District 12 runner-up Central next week.

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By Austin Hertzog

The finalists of the District 1 Class 6A girls basketball tournament, No. 1 seed Perkiomen Valley and No. 2 Haverford, have a bit of history this season.

You won’t find it in the Vikings’ 26-1 record or the Fords’ 27-0 mark, but the teams took the court against each other back on Nov. 26 in a season-opening scrimmage.

It is not the fondest memory for Perk Valley.

“We scrimmaged them in the preseason at Rustin and they kicked our butts,” said PV head coach John Russo. “I thought the worst we’ve played all year was against them. I really thought they beat us up.”

“Now, that’s what is supposed to happen when it’s seniors versus sophomores. But I feel like we are no longer sophomores and maybe we can punch back.”

Perkiomen Valley and its all-sophomore starting five will be out to show Haverford how much it has grown in the past three months when they meet in the final at 4 p.m. Saturday at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

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By Dennis Weller

Win or lose on Friday night, both the Perkiomen Valley and Haverford boys basketball teams would play in the PIAA Tournament next week. Regardless of the outcome, the Vikings and Fords would face a formidable opponent in the opening round.

So the contest for 11th place in District 1 Class 6A, won by Perk Valley 68-53,vgave both sides a chance to work on plays and get younger players into the game while tuning up for states.
Perkiomen Valley’s torrid shooting in the second quarter led to 24 points and a 16-point lead at the half, and the Vikings were up by at least 12 the rest of the way. Kyle Shawaluk and Julian Sadler each scored 20 for No. 7 seed PV (18-10).

Googie Seidman led the No. 21 Fords (14-13) with 20 points.

Perk Valley will face District 12 champion Roman Catholic. Haverford will play District 3 champion Reading Saturday. Reading High boosted its record to 27-1 with a 55-54 overtime win over Cumberland Valley in the District 3 final.

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By Matt Smith

Pennsbury didn’t stand a chance.

No. 2 Haverford didn’t mess around in Wednesday’s District 1 Class 6A semifinal against the 11th-seeded Falcons. From the tip-off, the Fords came to dominate before a packed Juenger Gymnasium, their final home game of a perfect season. Standing in the way were the Falcons, who failed to match up to the Fords in skill, height, athleticism … you name it.

With a 43-21 victory, undefeated Haverford (27-0) advances to a district final for the first time in program history. The Fords meet No. 1 Perkiomen Valley at Temple University’s Liacouras Center Saturday at 4.

The Fords suffocated a timid Pennsbury offense, which seemed unable to decide whether to summon the courage to drive against the Fords or settle for jump shots. Haverford’s length shut down any clean looks at the basket. The Fords swarmed and trapped, forced turnovers and ran the floor at will.

“I think it’s certainly our work ethic,” senior forward Caroline Dotsey said. “Our entire team has an incredibly good work ethic. And then just preparation. I think everybody comes into every practice knowing what needs to get done, what we need to work on and what we need to focus on. That shows up in our games.”

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By Bryan Davis

With the star players from Unionville and Garnet Valley suffering through difficult shooting nights, there was plenty of opportunity for somebody to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Elle Johnson scored 13 points in the second half as the ninth-seeded Longhorns took control in the fourth quarter en route to a 49-38 victory over the No. 20 Jaguars in the District 1 6A Playbacks on Wednesday.

Unionville (21-6) will take on Abington in the ninth-place game on Friday, while Garnet (15-12) will face Conestoga for 11th place.

“If I had hair, it would be falling out now,” said Unionville coach Fred Ellzy. “Playoff basketball, everybody comes with their ‘A’ game and if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, you can be down quick, like we were.”

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Maz Sayed and Akhir Keys combined to shoot 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help Chichester hold off Rustin, 69-62. in the District 1 Class 5A third-place game.

Sayed connected on 6 of 8 from the line and Keys made both of his attempts to keep the Eagles in front. Chi shot 11-for-17 from the stripe in the final period. Keys scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Sayed was one of five players in double figures for Chi. He finished with 13 points. Zaiyin Keys pitched in with 12 points. Carlton Gordy tallied all 11 of his points in the third quarter and Eyan Thomas had eight of his 10 points in the second half for the Eagles.

Ian Schlesinger topped Rustin with a game-high 19 points.

Chichester faces the second seed from District 11 in the opening round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament on March 10. Rustin takes on the second seed from District 12.