Author: delcohoops

By Owen McCue 

Neumann-Goretti junior Zion Coston isn’t one to fill up the scorebook.

Coston instead finds other ways to make her presence felt when she comes off the bench.

“I defend, I get rebounds, do the extra kickouts,” Coston said. “I do the little stuff.”

It was Coston’s defensive pressure in the fourth quarter that helped turn the tide for Neumann-Goretti in a 52-43 win over Archbishop Carroll on Saturday. 

The junior guard started as a sophomore last season. As a junior, her job has been to come off the bench and make her presence felt — and she’s thriving in it.

It’s why even though Coston hasn’t reached double figures scoring in a game this season Saints coach Andrea Peterson made sure to note how critical she’s been in helping the Saints out to a 13-3 start and 6-0 mark in Philadelphia Catholic League play.

(click on this link for the full article)

Olivia Voshell scored 22 points as Strath Haven’s girls basketball team rallied from a seven-point deficit to top Rustin, 54-50, in overtime on Saturday.

Maddie Fanning added 11 points for the Panthers.

In other nonleague action:

Academy Park 52, Pope John Paul II 40 >> Emani Banks went off for 23 points plus seven rebounds, three blocks and three assists for the Knights. Kiala Bright added 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. A 16-5 margin in the second quarter set the Knights on the path to victory.

Chester 69, Mastery Charter 5 >> Ja’Mya Muhammad paired 19 points with 12 rebounds, and Imani Dorsey added 14 points as the Clippers pitched a shutout for the last three quarters. Zay’Yonna Clark set a career-high with 13 points.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores subscription may be required)

By Andrew Robinson

Ryan Carter is starting to get the hang of this Philadelphia Catholic League thing.

The Archbishop Wood sophomore, in her first season with the Vikings after playing as an eighth and ninth grader at Penn Charter, knew it would be an adjustment going from the Inter-Ac to the PCL. This week was the guard’s first experience playing against the upper echelon of the league, Wood hosting Lansdale Catholic on Tuesday and then Cardinal O’Hara.

In another competitive game between the perennial league and state title contenders, it was 26 points from Carter that led Wood to a 49-38 win over O’Hara.

“It’s a more competitive game, everyone wants something in the game and everyone wants to win, so it feels more competitive,” Carter said. “I feel like I play better against better teams so it does raise my level of play, but it makes the energy level for the whole team better too.”

(click on this link for the full article)

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)

Brady MacAdams has been beyond clutch over the past week for Archbishop Wood.

The junior wing nailed a game-winning three at the buzzer against Erie Cathedral Prep to win the Burger King Classic last Saturday, then one-upped himself back home Friday night. With the Vikings still chasing their first positive result in the Philadelphia Catholic League this season and trailing a rising Cardinal O’Hara side late, MacAdams tapped into the clutch gene again.

MacAdams sank a pair of fourth quarter threes, including the go-ahead look, as Wood rallied past the Lions 51-48 for that elusive first PCL win.

“This one was super important for us,” MacAdams said. “We came off some tough losses, we played good teams, but we’re starting to get a little bit of a win streak and we’re moving forward.”

(click on this link for the full article)

Ja’Mya Muhammad delivered a career-best performance as Chester rolled past Penn Wood, 73-54, in Del Val League girls basketball action Thursday.

Muhammad erupted for a career-high 30 points while adding seven rebounds, six steals, four assists and a blocked shot for the Clippers (11-2, 4-0). Imani Dorsey contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and five steals, while Jordan Dennis chipped in 19 points and three steals.

Taylor Morris led the Patriots with 13 points.

In the Inter-Ac League:

Germantown Academy 61, Agnes Irwin 36 >> The Patriots (13-4, 4-1) scored the first 15 points and never looked back. Gabby Bowes led all scorers with 17 points.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores subscription may be required)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Some basketball games come down to who has the ball last.

Thursday’s meeting between Central League front-runners Penncrest and Garnet Valley was about whose lengthy scoring drought would last.

Brady Krautzel’s steal and layup with 17 seconds left in regulation marked Garnet Valley’s first points of the fourth quarter, but it was enough to guide them to a 32-29 victory at the Kauffman Gymnasium, the 200th win in coach Mike Brown’s career and the first loss of the season for the Lions.

Krautzel’s finger roll ended a scoring drought of 11 minutes, 28 seconds for the Jaguars (13-3, 8-2 Central), from the point at which they had taken a 29-13 lead midway through the third quarter. That edge was possible because Penncrest’s offense blinked out for 8:42, from a halftime deficit of 22-13 to Theo Gladue’s 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the third.

Call it a game of runs, albeit a photo negative version.

“Teams always go hot and cold, so we definitely had a cold stretch,” Krautzel said. “But we trust every guy on our team to knock down a shot when needed, to come up clutch. So there was never any stress. We knew we just had to play our ball and finish out how we do.”

(click on this link for more game stories and scores subscription may be required)

Alexis Eberz racked up 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead Archbishop Carroll to a 64-30 Catholic League victory over Nazareth Academy Thursday.

Kayla Eberz added 13 points, while Abbie McFillin contributed 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Patriots (9-6, 5-0).

In the Central League:

Radnor 50, Ridley 47 >> Anna Reger (15 points) made four free throws in the final seconds to lift the Raptors (11-4) past the Green Raiders (5-9). Nyah Yao also scored 15 points, while Sadie Boulden added nine points for Radnor.

Moyin Ogbo and Nadia Henkel scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Ridley.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores subscription may be required)

Haverford senior Rian Dotsey reached the 1,000-point milestone during the Fords’ 49-33 win over Springfield late Tuesday.

The All-Delco forward and Saint Joseph’s commit finished with a career-high 32 points against the Cougars. She got her 1,000th on a turnaround jumper with three minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Dotsey became the 11th player in Haverford girls basketball history to score 1,000 points, joining her sister Caroline, who accomplished the feat in December 2022.

Dotsey knocked down 11 field goals, including two from beyond the arc, while shooting 8-for-13 from the line. Her performance powered the reigning Central League champions to their 10th win of the season.

In the Del Val League:

(click on this link for more game stories and scores subscription may be required)

By Dan Arkans

The Chester Charter Academy boys basketball team isn’t about making statements yet.

The Sabers are just trying to mesh as a group and bring a city-type energy to the Bicentennial Athletic League.

As far as statements go though Chester Charter made a big one on Wednesday night with a 62-56 win over Dock that put an end to the Pioneers’ BAL win streak at 52 games.

“I was at Math, Civics and Sciences for 19 years,” said Sabers head coach Lonnie Diggs. “We are used to playing in big games, winning big games. We are trying to bring that same winning culture here. I want to get it to the point like these are the wins we are supposed to get.”

(click on this link for the full article)

Ja’Mya Muhammad scored 19 points and Imani Dorsey chipped in 10 as Chester High edged Academy Park, 45-42, in a Del Val League girls basketball showdown Tuesday night.

Muhammad was 5-for-6 at the foul line, including two free throws with 2:15 remaining to extend the Clippers’ lead to four.

Kiala Bright paced the Knights with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Alaysia Kinlaw finished with nine points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the loss.

In the Catholic League:

Cardinal O’Hara 57, Nazareth Academy 40 >> BrigidAnne Donohue poured in 21 points for the Lions. Molly Rullo, the reigning Daily Times Player of the Year, finished with 19.

Archbishop Carroll 66, St. Hubert 16 >> Alex Eberz registered 24 points and four steals as the Patriots (8-6, 4-0) led 21-3 after the first period.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores subscription may be required)