Author: delcohoops

Springfield entered Saturday against Radnor in a must-win situation to keep its Central League playoff hopes alive, and the Cougars delivered.

Megan Zane scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Springfield pulled off a 32-21 upset.

The win keeps the Cougars (11-10, 7-8) in the hunt for the sixth and final playoff spot with one regular-season game left at Harriton Tuesday night.

Springfield outscored Radnor (14-7, 10-5) by a 24-11 margin in the second half. Alyssa Estep (five rebounds) and Molly Clifford tallied eight points apiece, while Luke Ditrolio added six.

Nyah Yao led the Raptors with 13 points.

In other Central League results:

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By Andrew Robinson

As Haylie Adamski pointed out, it doesn’t matter which team calls the timeout, both sides get the same opportunity to stop and talk things over.

With the pace of their highly important Central League clash against Garnet Valley getting a little frantic in the third quarter, visiting Conestoga took a timeout to settle down. The Pioneers led at the time but it was going to be Jaguars ball out of the break and Adamski was starting to feel her shot a little bit.

Out of the stoppage, Adamski nailed a step-back three, the Jags got a stop, Kylie Mulholland found Adamski on an outlet and just like that, GV was back in front.

Adamski and Mulholland led the way as Garnet Valley edged Conestoga and secured the top seed for the Central League playoffs with a 50-43 win Saturday afternoon.

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By Matt Smith

Coming into the season, the storyline was clear: Garnet Valley had struggled to get past Conestoga.

The history backed it up. Last year, the Pioneers took three of four girls basketball meetings against the Jaguars, once in the regular season, once in the Central League semifinals and again in the District 1 Class 6A tournament. Garnet Valley eventually got the last laugh, making a run to the state semifinals.

Still, senior standout Haylie Adamski and the Jaguars carried the Conestoga chip on their shoulders into the 2024-25 campaign. After grinding out a defensive slugfest in December, the Jags completed the regular-season sweep of the Pioneers Saturday with a 50-43 victory.

Adamski, a Lafayette commit, led the way with a game-high 18 points, adding seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to power the Jaguars (20-1, 14-1) in a clash for first place in the Central League. Barring a loss at Ridley Tuesday night, the Jags will earn the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in next week’s league tournament, which gets under way Thursday.

“It’s so nice,” Adamski said. “Usually that never happens. To be able to beat them (twice) is great.”

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By Josh Verlin

Olivia Voshell could all-too-easily put herself in Kenzie and Maddie Fanning’s shoes. 

The Strath Haven senior and four-year starter remembered what it was like being a freshman starting on the Panthers varsity roster. She recalled how helpful it was to have a senior, in her case Rose Henry, showing her the ropes, sending her ‘good game’ texts, giving her confidence.

“It’s so intimidating,” Voshell said. “(Being in that position) helped me see that it is intimidating to approach an upperclassman and ask questions. (I’m) putting myself out there in a position and explaining things when I see a look of confusion here or there or make it known that I’m someone they can come to to ask a question if they don’t want to ask a coach, or they don’t want to repeat something.”

It’s an important mindset to be in, because Voshell — along with fellow senior starters and four-year varsity members Kate Fox and Maryella Gill — are directly responsible for setting the tone for the next three years of Strath Haven basketball and beyond. 

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The wins kept coming, but something was off the last couple of weeks for Penncrest boys basketball.

Despite staying near the top of the District 1 Class 5A rankings, they had hit an offensive rough patch. A game won in the 40s, a pair of games in the low 30s, even one where they couldn’t escape 29 – it didn’t seem like them, as can happen in a long season.

Saturday night, with Marple Newtown in the building, the Lions found their stride, thanks to a star playing a complementary role.

Will Stanton scored nine of his 16 points in overtime, and Penncrest got eight points and 17 rebounds from Mikey Mita in a 68-65 double-overtime win over Marple Newtown.

“This is more like us,” Stanton said. “Tonight was more like us than the past week has been. We kind of hit a rough stretch, but we’ve bounced back, and we’re over it.”

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By Delcohoops.com

UPDATED 2/1/25 – As the regular high school basketball season winds down to the last couple of weeks we wanted to let you know how the D1 playoffs looks for all our Delco teams!

Click on this link to take a look: D1 Rankings

By Josh Verlin

Silas Graham would rather be in the favorite or contender role than play the spoiler. But the Haverford School sophomore will take what he can get. 

With the Fords taking four losses in their first six Inter-Academic League games after a stellar non-conference slate, they entered a Friday night home contest against Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy all but eliminated from the six-team league’s championship race. The Blue Devils, however, came in one game behind Penn Charter, perhaps the only team with a shot to prevent the Quakers from defending their title. 

“I think [it was] more us getting beat by them that really affected the mindset of why we wanted to beat them,” Graham said, referring to a 16-point SCH win exactly one week prior — but, he added, “spoiling someone’s season’s always fun.”

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By Josh Verlin 

Savannah Saunders will be rooting for Rian Dotsey in the fall. The two are both headed to Saint Joseph’s next year, Saunders for lacrosse, Dotsey for basketball. 

For now, however, Saunders has a different job: shut Dotsey down and send her home empty-handed. 

The Garnet Valley senior wing was one of the key defenders on the Haverford High star in a battle atop the Central League on Thursday night, GV knowing it needed to limit Dotsey’s effectiveness to gain revenge on its only loss of the season. And with Saunders doing her part in an impressive defensive team effort while also leading the Jaguars in scoring, Garnet Valley came away with a key 43-26 win over the Fords.

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By Matt Smith

Archbishop Carroll junior Alexis Eberz shared a quick low-five celebration with her freshman sister, Kayla, after Kayla’s tight defense on an inbound pass forced a five-second violation on Cardinal O’Hara in the closing seconds of Thursday’s game.

At that moment, the Eberz sisters knew the Patriots were going to hold on for 45-41 victory over their rival, maintaining third place in the Catholic League standings with just over a week remaining before the postseason tournament.

It was a small but meaningful gesture – one neither sister takes for granted, especially in light of the recent injury to their sister, Kelsey, who is likely out for the season. Kayla and Kelsey are twins.

“They mean a lot,” Alexis said of these moments. “I think they mean more to my parents.”

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By Andrew Robinson 

There’s a poise about Abbie McFillin’s game that prompts teammates to look to her in chaotic moments.

Given that McFillin is only a sophomore and in her first season playing point guard, it could be a lot to ask but all the motivation she needs is sitting a few seats down from the coaches on Archbishop Carroll’s bench. Thursday night, McFillin knew she needed to keep a level head in a rivalry game that once again had more than local bragging rights at stake.

McFillin kept the door open, then Alexis and Kayla Eberz used that opening to lead Carroll to a 45-41 comeback win at Cardinal O’Hara in a game that had plenty on the line in the PCL.

“We knew coming into this game that we had not won a close game that we’d needed to win,” McFillin said. “We beat Friends Central, but we hadn’t won a game that really mattered in the Catholic League, so we knew in this game that we had to play our game, run our plays and play good defense.”

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