Author: delcohoops

By Josh Verlin

In order for Archbishop Wood to be a contender in the Philadelphia Catholic League, it needs its best player to lead the way. That’s something Jalil Bethea’s working on, the junior guard and high-major Division I recruit knowing he needs to be more than just a talent: he needs to be the driving force behind the Vikings, the one who makes them stronger and the glue that keeps them together. 

So it was a good sign for John Mosco when, in the final minutes of a tight Catholic League road game at Cardinal O’Hara, Bethea got into the lane, and — instead of pulling up for a contested jumper — he instead dished off to teammate Markus Dixon for a layup, a key play in Wood’s 72-63 win. 

“It’s definitely just, trust your teammates,” Bethea said. “You trust your teammates, your teammates can shock you. All you’ve got to do is put your trust in them, they’ll do their thing.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

In its all-conquering epoch as a PIAA power, you’ve come to expect the Division I skill and top-line depth of Roman Catholic. But the difference between being reliably good and consistently great, in the Catholic League and beyond, shows through on days like Sunday.

It’s one thing to have an array of Division I talents. It’s another to share the ball as zealously as in a 66-39 victory over Bonner & Prendergast, all those talents harmonizing in an offense that can be just about undefendable.

“Every day in practice, we go through stuff like that, sharing the ball,” senior wing Anthony Finkley said. “If you’re sharing the ball, everybody’s going to be happy.”

The quality of basketball certainly looked joyous at times in this game at Holy Family University. All five Roman starters had at least eight points, the team shot 60 percent from the field (27-for-45) and dished 17 assists. While the Friars (8-2, 1-2 PCL) pushed them early, the Cahillites erupted for a 17-2 run between the first and second quarters to have the game about done and dusted at half, leading by 17.

(click on this link for the full story)

Boosted by Molly Rullo’s MVP performance and strong team defense. Cardinal O’Hara cruised to a 46-28 victory over George School at the Blue Star Invitational at Jefferson University on Sunday. The sophomore All-Delco Rullo collected 16 points and was selected player of the game. The Lions (7-2) pulled away from the Cougars with a 20-6 run in the second quarter. Joanie Quinn scored nine points while Greta Miller and Meg Rullo had eight apiece for O’Hara.

In other action from the Blue Star Invitational:

Notre Dame 47, Imhotep Charter 29 » Katie Halligan scored 10 points and received game MVP honors for the Irish. Lizzie Halligan and Annie Greek each totaled a game-high 11 points.

Paul VI (Va.) 36, Archbishop Carroll 22 » The Patriots (3-7) managed to score just three points in the first half and never recovered. Freshman Alexis Eberz hit a trio of 3-pointers and finished with a team-high nine points. Brooke Wilson chipped in eight points.

 

By Matthew DeGeorge

Ten games – and 10 wins – into the 2022-23 season, Radnor entered Saturday without yet having been required to summon much in the way of late-game execution.

To get win No. 11, in the hostile environs of Garnet Valley, that ability was finally tested.

The verdict was good enough for a 56-51 overtime win in a battle of Central League elites, if not yet to the level that the Raptors aspire.

“These are the type of games that we play for,” point guard Danny Rosenblum said. “These are the games you get most excited for and get most ready for.”

It required some steeliness from a veteran-laden group, plus a pair of Jaguars fouling out early and a 6-for-15 day at the free throw line for the hosts to send the Raptors to 11-0.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Josh Verlin

 Bob Miller has been at Upper Darby High School for nearly three decades. There isn’t much he hasn’t seen in his 28 years.

And yet the longtime Royals head coach was almost at a loss for words when it came to describing what he’d just seen his team do over the course of 32 minutes — especially over the first 24 of them — against Harriton in a Central League matchup on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m going to tell you, I don’t know if it’s the most [points] in my tenure, but I’ve never seen a team shoot like that [like we did] today,” he said, adding later that he thinks it might be his high-water mark, though he had to check. “We don’t always shoot it like that. But that was unreal.

“I told them at the end, I said I can’t wait to watch this on Hudl. Because you don’t have nights like this, ever.”

(click on this link for the full story)

Ryann Jennings scored 16 points to lead Conestoga to a 57-35 Central League victory over Strath Haven.
Chloe Hunold scored 17 points and Olivia Voshell added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers.

Ridley 52, Penncrest 43 » Adria Kitzinger scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the middle two quarters as the Green Raiders pulled away. Abbi Hinchey scored 11 points, and Kyla Carney added 10 for the Green Raiders. Bailey Garrison led the Lions with 13 points. Alex Bruce chipped in 10 points.

Boys Basketball
Upper Darby’s Yassir Joyner led all scorers with 25 points as the Royals put away a close game with a 32-13 margin in the third quarter, eventually running out to an 86-62 win over Harriton.

Niymire Brown hit four 3-pointers to tally 19 points. Nadir Myers chipped in 16 points, and Khysir Slaughter provided 15.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Konner Metz

The pieces for Bonner-Prendergast are beginning to mesh at the right time for the new-look Friars. Kevin Rucker Jr. feels like he’s finding his place, and Friday night was another step in the right direction.

“I fit in pretty well,” Rucker Jr. said. “We all play as a team, and that’s really what it comes down to. Everybody has been trying to build chemistry. We pass the ball, we swing the ball a lot. We try not to be selfish.”

The 6-foot-4 junior didn’t have near his best day on the stat sheet, even in his limited time at Bonner, but he made a key impact with 11 points in the Friars’ slow-paced 39-34 victory at home against La Salle College High School.

(click on this link for the full story)

Rory Tiedeman hit a 12-foot runner in the fourth quarter to give Sun Valley its first lead and later made a pair of free throws to help the Vanguards claim a 51-45 nonleague girls basketball win Friday at Pottsgrove High.
Tiedeman scored a game-high 15 points. Jaina Preuhs (11 points) and Brielle Wright (seven) each made key baskets in the final period.
The Vanguards (3-6) shot 11 of 14 from the free-throw line and outscored the host team, 16-8, in the fourth quarter.

In other nonleague action:

Sacred Heart 42, Upper Bucks Christian 23 » Keara McCaffery and the Lions used a 20-1 run in the second quarter to pull away from visiting UBC. McCaffery had a game-high 11 points and MJ Donohue contributed 10.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores including Boy’s games)

By Josh Verlin

In a deeper, more talented Inter-Ac, Malvern Prep knows it has to be deeper, too.

The Friars entered the season with two proven scorers in senior Andrew Phillips and junior Ryan Williams, but without Tyler Lauder and Joey Vandergeest, two stalwarts from last year’s Inter-Ac co-championship squad. To compete for the title once again with co-champs Penn Charter, entirely back from a year ago, and the rest of the league adding talent —including some impressive youngsters — across the board, Malvern Prep needed more than its two established stars.

“A lot of people, I’m sure coming into this season were thinking ‘they lost two of their best players, Joey and Tyler,’ who provided a lot of points and a lot of great senior leadership for us,” senior forward Charlie Oschell said, “but I think in terms of scoring the basketball, we’re a lot deeper this year and we can score in all sorts of ways.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Joseph Santoliquito

The scuffed-up dry erase whiteboard that hangs in the visiting locker room in the bowels of Chester High School read a date etched in a black box on Thursday night: 2010. That’s how long it’s been since a Del-Val League team won at Chester. It’s a span that ran 58-straight games, covering almost 12 years.

Nasir Washington, Penn Wood’s 6-foot-3 senior guard, was five the last time a Del-Val team beat Chester at Chester. It was before he even had a basketball in his hands. He wanted to be Tom Brady long before he wanted to be LeBron James.

Washington certainly knew what to do with the basketball in his hands Thursday night, dropping a game-high 33 points in leading Penn Wood to a historic 64-54 victory over the traditional powerhouse Clippers.   

The Patriots (6-2 overall, 1-0 Del-Val) became the first Del-Val team to beat Chester at Chester, since, ironically, Penn Wood beat the Clippers 57-40 on February 4, 2010. It snapped Chester’s 58-game, 12-year home winning streak against league opponents.

(click on this link for the full story)