Author: delcohoops

By Matt Smith

As Caleigh Sperling was on her way to scoring 30 points, her North Penn teammate Olivia Stone would’ve been happy to make one shot Saturday afternoon at Haverford.

It wouldn’t be any old shot, either. How about the most important one of the season for the Knights?

Stone unloaded her fifth 3-point field goal attempt in the fourth quarter as North Penn trailed Haverford by one point in the final minute. The ball rattled around the rim for a second before falling through the net with 59 seconds to play.

No. 5 North Penn completed a comeback in its District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal matchup against fourth-seeded Haverford, which had led by five points in the fourth quarter. Stone’s clutch trey lifted North Penn to a 46-41 victory. The Knights (23-3) play No. 1 Perkiomen Valley (25-1) in the district semifinals Wednesday evening.

(click on this link for the full article, subscription may be required)

Penncrest’s season concluded Saturday afternoon via a 35-22 loss at Downingtown East in playbacks of the District 1 Class 6A tournament.

The Lions were attempting to clinch either ninth, 10th, 11th or 12th place in the district. The top 12 finishers from District 1 qualify for the PIAA Class 6A .

Penncrest managed only one point in the first quarter and never hit its stride on offense. Kathryn Harding scored nine of her team-high 14 points in the second half, while Lila Curci added six points off the bench.

Kendall Chiavelli scored 16 points for Downingtown. The Cougars host West Chester Henderson in their next playback game.

By Matthew DeGeorge

Keara McCaffrey looked to the bench in dismay Saturday afternoon. There were 62 seconds remaining in the third quarter, and the Sacred Heart center had just picked up her fourth personal foul.

There was some question whether the hand check was even on her, enough to delay her immediate substation from the game. But McCaffrey wasn’t looking for a chance to sit and sulk, not in a District 1 Class 2A final in which her Lions only led by 10. Less so when Delco Christian cut the deficit to six at the end of the third.

Instead, McCaffrey’s toughness – in the low blocks and between the ears – helped Sacred Heart tip the game in its favor.

McCaffrey stitched together four straight exemplary defensive possessions to start the fourth quarter, time to allow Dani Jeffries to kickstart a 13-0 run that gave Sacred Heart a 53-36 win over Delco Christian at Bensalem High School.

The win is the Lions’ seventh District 1 crown in eight seasons. It also secures second-seeded Sacred Heart the district’s only states bid.

(click on this link for the full article, subscription may be required)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Brean Rudd-Cook’s assignment coming into Saturday’s District 1 Class A final was clear. By the end of the first quarter, he would add another layer to it.

The athletic Chester Charter Scholars Academy wing was tasked on the defensive end with making sure that Peter Haviland, Phil-Mont Christian’s most dangerous perimeter scorer, couldn’t get going. When Emohj Barrett was the first of several Sabers felled by foul trouble, Rudd-Cook knew he’d have to redouble his efforts on the glass, too.

Add in a few clutch 3-pointers, and Rudd-Cook ended up executing it all about as well as possible.

Rudd-Cook scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds, as Chester Charter’s defense stifled Haviland and company on the way to a 62-51 victory at Bensalem High and a second straight district title.

Haviland scored 15 points. But it was a quiet outing from him. He went just 3-for-9 from the field, and he had the only two makes for Phil-Mont Christian from 3-point range in a frustrating 2-for-17 afternoon.

Without Haviland hitting jumpers, the Falcons were short on offensive solutions, as a second quarter in which they didn’t score from the field showed.

(click on this link for the full article, subscription may be required)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Jalen Harris is normally a man of few words. But Friday night, the sophomore guard needed only to utter a few words to get his point across.

“It’s playing hard defense,” Harris said. “That’s what we bring off the bench.”

Harris and his twin brother Daron helped turn the tide in a District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal, shackling what looked like an explosive Coatesville team in a 67-64 win.

The win sends the fourth-seeded Clippers (20-2) to Tuesday’s semifinal round against top-seeded Lower Merion. It also avenges one of the only two losses this year, to the fifth-seeded Red Raiders (19-7).

It was a return to classic form for the Clippers, in a matchup of district bluebloods. They forced 13 turnovers, while committing 16. But it was solid, man-on, you’re-not-getting-by-me defense that turned Coatesville’s early offensive parade into late frustration, led by the sophomore twins who don’t start but played a bulk of the minutes.

Coatesville looked like it was going to follow the same pathway as the regular-season meeting early. The Red Raiders led 21-14 after one quarter and 34-26 at half thanks to an opening 16 minutes of crisp execution, with Dior Kennedy (10 points) and Zuri Harris (7 points) leading the way.

(click on this link for the full article, subscription may be required)

By Matthew DeGeorge

When Lower Merion turns it on, it’s hard to keep in control. Springfield found that out Friday night.

John Mobley led four Aces in double figures with 16 points as top-seeded Lower Merion ran away with a 66-51 win over Central League foe Springfield in the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals.

Lower Merion outscored Springfield, 30-15, in the middle two quarters to open up a game where the 24th-seeded Cougars trailed by just one after eight minutes.

Jake Adams scored seven of his team-high 14 points in the first quarter. Ryan Johnston added 12 points, and TJ Valletti had 11 for the Cougars, who will enter playbacks for seeding, having already secured one of the district’s 10 states berths.

(click on this link for the full article, subscription may be required)

By Matt Smith

There was that feeling, you can only say what it is in French, watching Radnor hemorrhage basket after basket in the first quarter of Friday’s District 1 Class 5A playback game.

Last season Kate Gallagher, Anna Reger and the Raptors were bounced in the first round of the tournament in shocking fashion. The team responsible – a Phoenixville squad with a lot of frontcourt size and strength – was back for an encore.

The Phantoms were cruising along early Friday night. One of their two imposing bigs, Maliyah Warren, was having a field day inside the paint. It was the same old story, play after play, over and over. She scored every time. For Radnor, it was déjà vu.

“We had to start playing our game,” said Gallagher, the Raptors’ dynamic senior guard. “We didn’t forget how they ended our season a lot sooner than we would have liked. We didn’t want that happening again.”

Gallagher, Reger and senior forward/center Blayse Jennings spearheaded an amazing turnaround. Trailing by 13 points in the second quarter, Radnor led by as many as 26 in the second half and won 66-57 to secure a berth in the PIAA Class 5A tournament next month.

(click on this link for the full article, subscription may be required)

By Dan Arkans

The Garnet Valley boys basketball team had been knocking on the door for the past two seasons.

This year the Jaguars are not bothering knocking. Instead, they’re blowing that door down.

Garnet Valley, caring very little about that No. 14 ranking next to its name, rolled to its second consecutive double-digit upset by knocking off No. 6 Methacton 64-53 on Friday night in the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals.

All that is to say the Jaguars are now headed to the semifinals after two consecutive quarterfinal defeats. They will visit No. 2 West Chester Henderson in the semifinals Tuesday night.

“It’s really just Coach (Mike) Brown,” senior point guard Quinn O’Hara said. “I was sitting in class today, and I was looking at it. 2011, 2012 — 1-20, 1-18. Ever since Coach Brown took over, the stats speak for themselves. He gets us ready. He’s a great coach, and that’s why Garnet Valley keeps doing this.”

(click on this link for the full article)

By Josh Verlin

The girls’ 6A bracket held to chalk in the second round. All eight of the top seeds shrugged off their first-round byes to dispatch their visiting opponents, with seven of the eight doing so by double figures. That’s set up some high-level matchups in the quarterfinals, which should make for an entertaining Saturday.

Meanwhile, in the playbacks, eight quality teams are playing for the final four spots District 1 gets in the PIAA 6A bracket, with all four of Saturday’s winners in those games also punching their ticket.

Here’s a look at all eight games; game times in parenthesis:

4) Haverford High vs. 5) North Penn (2:30 PM)
These two already squared off this season, a 46-45 North Penn win at Arcadia University back on January 14, which sets the table for a highly-competitive game on Haverford’s home court Saturday afternoon. North Penn senior Caleigh Sperling, the Knights’ 1000-point scorer and Jefferson University commit, led the way with 16 points in that earlier matchup, though 12 points and seven rebounds from freshman wing Lily Brown were a huge boost for Brianna Cullen’s side. Junior Cam Crowley can score or set-up at point guard, senior Kelly Donnelly is a good shooter and senior Liv Stone is a disruptive defender with her quickness and length.

(click on this link for the full article)