Radnor’s Danny Rosenblum moves the ball against Lower Merion’s Sam Wright in the Central League final earlier this month. Rosenblum led the Raptors to 55-29 victory over Marple Newtown. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group)
By Jack McCaffery
The goals were arranged in order, all the better for the check marks of success. There would not be one without the other.
So it was Wednesday with a 55-29 victory over Marple Newtown in the District 1 Class 5A quarterfinals that the Radnor boys basketball team achieved another: A second consecutive trip to the PIAA tournament.
Behind 11 points apiece from Danny Rosenblum and Henry Pierce, the top-seeded Raptors improved to 25-0 and earned a spot in the Saturday’s district semifinals, good for an automatic bid to the tournament.
Though dropping to 12-12, the No. 9-seeded Tigers remained alive and will shuffle into the play-back round Saturday, where a win will return them to states.
“We had two goals,” Radnor coach Jamie Chadwin said. “One was a district championship. The other was a state championship. And you can’t go for the state championship without qualifying for it. So this is a step that way.”