Author: delcohoops

By Pete Digiovanni

It is a tried and true mantra of basketball teams in the post season and it is “Survive and Advance.” That could sum up the Downingtown West boys basketball team Tuesday night at Wagner Gymnasium.

The fifth seeded Whippets had complete control of their District 1 6A second round game with Haverford, leading by 17 points after three periods.

But the visiting Fords suddenly got hot from the outside and had a chance to tie the game with three seconds to play but Googie Seidman’s jumper did not fall and Downingtown West survived with a thrilling 45-42 win.

The Whippets will now travel to Central Bucks East on Friday at 7 p.m in the quarterfinal round while Haverford will go into the playback round hoping to qualify for the PIAA 6A tournament.

“I thought our energy was sky high for the first there periods but for some reason it was not as high in the fourth period,” Downingtown West senior center Kelly Bell said. It got really tight at the end and we missed some big free throws but we got out of here with a win and we are going to the state tournament and it is a great feeling to go back two years in a row.”

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By Ed Morlock

Plymouth Whitemarsh scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter of its District 1-6A second-round playoff game against Penn Wood to turn a seven-point deficit into a three-point lead.

The final seven minutes of the game were played within one possession and when the seasaw stopped moving it was No. 3 Plymouth Whitemarsh on top, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 64-62 win over No. 14 Penn Wood at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.

Chase Coleman’s three-point play after an offensive rebound gave the Colonials (24-2) their first lead of the second half, 47-46, with 6:23 left in the game and another Coleman putback gave the Colonials the lead for good, 63-62, in the final 30 seconds.

“They don’t expect me, as a six-foot guard, to go get rebounds,” Coleman, who had six offensive rebounds and eight total boards, said. “Where I come from, though, you have to be hard so I play with that type of energy, physicality, so I go in and try to get offensive rebounds. I’ve got one of the best big mans (Lincoln Sharpe), like a Dennis Rodman-type big man, he goes and gets it. It doesn’t matter where it’s at he’s going to go get it. (Qudire Bennett), he’s going to go in there and he’s going to rebound. Just go get rebounds and play hard – that’s what we did on the offensive end. That’s how we win.”

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By Andrew Robinson

Olivia Boccella grew up watching Archbishop Wood play at the Palestra.

As a kid, her dad Kevin and her brothers would go to the PCL championships and usually see one of Wood’s teams competing in the girls’ title game. Thanks to her best game of the season, the next time Boccella goes to the Palestra, it will be as an active participant against the Vikings program she grew up watching from the bleachers.

Boccella’s blistering bombs-away shooting led to a game-high 20 points as the junior guard helped lead top seed LC past No. 4 Archbishop Carroll 53-39 and to its first-ever PCL title game on Tuesday.

“I watched so many Wood games at the Palestra and never thought in a million years I’d be playing there,” Boccella said. “It was like pure joy in the final seconds, I don’t think we even knew what we were feeling.”

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By Sean Barnard

There was excitement within the Garnet Valley locker room when it was discovered they would be facing Methacton in the second round of the District 1 6A playoffs. The memories of a five-point overtime loss in the district quarterfinals last season were still fresh in the minds of the experienced squad. 

“I mean, we owed Methacton one from last year,” senior guard Max Koehler said. “Last year we took a trip up to their place. They got us in overtime. So we owed them one.”

It took a little longer than expected, but the Jaguars got a measure of revenge. Eighth-seeded Garnet Valley jumped all over Methacton, looking like it might run away from the ninth-seeded Warriors, but the visitors hung tough to force not one but two overtimes before Garnet emerged with a 73-69 win.

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By Jack McCaffery

Kevin Miller believed he was on his way to the dream of every high school basketball player in his city in March of 2020 before he would instead be made to learn the value of patience.

Then a freshman guard for District 1 Class A Chester Charter Scholars Academy, Miller and the rest of the Sabers were made to call a season short amid the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, he figured, there would be other chances, plural. As it turned out, he was thankful Tuesday for one chance at winning a state championship.

Helping to key a swarming Sabers defense, Miller was involved in a balanced scoring attack as top-seeded CCSA subdued No. 4-seed Plumstead Christian, 58-44, in the opening round of the four-team district tournament. That earned the Sabers the right to host the district championship game Saturday and also guaranteed them a berth in the state tournament.

Finally?

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By Matt Smith

No. 2 Sacred Heart Academy missed nine shots in the first quarter and trailed third-seeded Delco Christian by five points after eight minutes of Tuesday’s District 1 Class 2A girls semifinal match.

Sophomore guard MJ Donohue and the Lions were poised to change the script in the second period.

Donohue swished back-to-back 3-point field goals to highlight a game-changing, second-quarter run by the Lions, who rolled to a 42-28 victory in a rematch of last year’s district final.

Sacred Heart is aiming for its seventh consecutive Class 2A district championship and will face No. 1 Faith Christian Saturday.

Donohue scored seven of her 11 points during a 19-5 spurt in the second quarter. Sophomore power forward/center Keara McCaffrey dominated the paint with six points, three rebounds, two steals and a block and Maya Walker provided a spark with four points, two rebounds and two assists in the quarter. Sacred shot 8 of 15 from the floor and its defense recorded four steals in the second stanza.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Max Koehler saw the smile on teammate Jack Krautzel’s face as he stepped to the line in double overtime. It was out-of-place enough to register with him.

Krautzel, you might’ve thought, would want to be anywhere in the known universe beside the free throw line at Garnet Valley at that point Tuesday night. He’d gone 1-for-4 from the line at the end of regulation to see a Jaguar lead over Methacton that had run to 13 in the fourth evaporate. He’d missed two free throws in a first overtime period that saw zero points scored.

But still, Krautzel’s grin was undimmed.

“I’m like, this kid knows he’s got it,” Koehler said. “And I knew he got it, and the rest of us knows he’s got it. We had trust in him.”

Krautzel scored seven points in the second overtime and cleaned up the missed free throw with 2.2 seconds left to seal the game as the Jaguars bested Methacton, 73-69, in the District 1 Class 6A second round.

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By Andrew Robinson

Deja Evans knew.

The Archbishop Wood senior knew there wasn’t much time left. She knew her first attempt at a tip-in after Ava Renninger’s miss on a drive was way off and she knew she’d get one last chance. As the Albany recruit put up her last-ditch effort, the ball hit the rim, then the backboard and spun on the iron.

That’s when Deja Evans knew it was good.

Evans’ improbable put-back lifted No. 2 Archbishop Wood to a 31-29 win over No. 3 Cardinal O’Hara in a defensive slugfest of a PCL girls basketball semifinal Tuesday night at St. Joseph’s University City campus (the venue formerly known as USciences.)

“I didn’t know for sure until it hit the second spin,” Evans, who had a game-high 19 points, said. “Amazing. It’s an indescribable feeling, now we get to go play at the Palestra and I’m really excited.”

Wood will face No. 1 seed Lansdale Catholic, a 53-39 winner over No. 4 Archbishop Carroll, in the PCL title game on Monday. It’s Wood’s first title appearance since 2020-21 but first trip to the Palestra since 2019-20, with the ’21 title game being played at Carroll.

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By CoBL Staff

The first round of districts is over, with 16 teams left who find themselves in good position to make the PIAA bracket — 12 of those 16 will play in states, including the eight winners of Tuesday night’s second round and four of the losers, who all go into play-backs to determine those final spots. 

Here’s a look at all eight games on Wednesday as the top eight seeds make their district debuts:

4) Souderton  vs. 20) Garnet Valley

With their upset of No. 13 Pennridge, the Jaguars spoiled a potential fourth meeting of SOL Colonial foes but now face the tall task of trying to take down senior-led Souderton. GV’s young but talented but will have to figure out an opponent that isn’t looking to go home early this year.

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