Category: Latest News

By Andrew Robinson

It was really the only way it could have ended.

A generational team in Perkiomen Valley had put on a generational performance in the PIAA Class 6A title game Friday night in Hershey, a stunning score leaving the team’s senior core ample time to sit and reflect on their time together. But the nature of how the game had gone had also denied a real opportunity to give that core a proper final send-off so with 30 seconds left, they went in together and ran out the clock together.

A journey three years in the making ended the best way possible at the Giant Center, Perk Valley putting on arguably its best-ever performance as a group and winning its first state title 58-27 over Upper St. Clair.

“It was so special, getting to end that way with all of them, all I can say is special,” PV’s senior point guard Bella Bacani said. “I think we all started to realize this was our last game together, last time sharing the court together, so it was emotional but they were all happy emotions.”

The culmination of four years at Perk Valley but many, many years before that even had the normally stoic Quinn Boettinger unable to stop the tears. Boettinger, a 6-foot-3 center bound for Navy, walks onto the court with a game face on and it rarely deviates, even as players climb all over her trying to slow her down.

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By Joseph Santoliquito

That Monday in mid-February, Carl Arrigale gathered his team around him on the court named after him, under the nine PIAA state titles and 12 Catholic League championship banners he brought to Neumann-Goretti, and proceeded to break one of his personal tenets: He reminded his team that he had won a few games here and there.

The legendary Neumann-Goretti coach never likes to talk about his success. This time, though, coming off a Catholic League playoff quarterfinal loss to eventual league champion Father Judge, in which the Saints had an NBA number dropped on them, he felt it necessary.

He spoke about a reset. He reminded his team that they might not even qualify for the state playoffs, before any thought of a state championship went dancing in their heads.

It was a hard, emphatic message late in the season. It was a message that had to be said—and had to be absorbed.

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CoBL has a great series of previews on the girl’s and boy’s PIAA Championship game starting tonight through Saturday: (click on blue link for each article)

Boys 6A – Father Judge vs. Roman Catholic

Girls 6A – Perkiomen Valley vs. Upper St. Clair

Girls 5A – Archbishop Wood vs. South Fayette

Boys 5A – Neumann-Goretti vs. Hershey

Girls 4A – Neumann-Goretti vs. Lansdale Catholic

Boys 3A – West Catholic vs. South Allegheny

By Matt Smith

There were two key takeaways from Archbishop Carroll’s season-ending 52-45 loss to Perkiomen Valley in the PIAA Class 6A semifinals Friday night.

First, this is clearly Perk Valley’s year. They boast one of the best starting fives you’ll see in the state, led by their stars, the imposing power forward Quinn Boettinger and the versatile Grace Galbavy. The Vikings, who have claimed three consecutive District 1 titles, enter the championship game Friday in Hershey as heavy favorites against District 7 champion Upper St. Clair. And with good reason. They have the potential to put the game away by halftime.

The second takeaway is a bright one for Carroll. While the Patriots’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion, they remain a force – it’s Carroll girls basketball, after all – and will likely be one of the favorites heading into next year. The team will return the talented Eberz sisters, Alexis and Kayla, who were a lethal tandem throughout the Patriots’ 19-10 season. Freshman Kayla particularly stood out Friday, leading all Carroll players with 12 points and earning high praise from coach Renie Shields.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Kylie Mulholland trudged to the bench at James Buchanan High School with 28.1 seconds left Friday night and buried her head in the top of her Garnet Valley jersey.

When Savannah Saunders joined her less than eight seconds of game clock later, the comeback they had tried to inspire definitively dashed, they comprised a poignant symbol of how the Jaguars’ run ended.

The Jaguars struggled to meter their physicality in the PIAA Class 6A semifinal against Upper St. Clair. Combined with a stellar shooting performance from the Panthers from 3-point range, Garnet Valley’s journey ended one win shy of Hershey with a 53-49 setback.

“I mean, it was 5-0 in both quarters on fouls, which didn’t help us,” Mulholland said. “Sav was on the bench most of the game, which we need her in the game. Having those fouls on us, they were very frustrating and flustering, and I think we kind of got off our game a little, and we didn’t play our best.”

Mulholland, Garnet Valley’s sparkplug point guard, wields the information as explanation, not excuse. Garnet Valley was whistled for 21 fouls to Upper St. Clair’s 10. The Jaguars committed the first 10 fouls of the second half, in the estimation of the officials, the District 7 champion’s defense judged pristine from halftime until 1:57 remained in regulation.

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By Andrew Robinson

Grace Miley was going to shoot, right up until she didn’t.

Instead, the Perkiomen Valley senior saw Quinn Boettinger and in a show of what’s made this Vikings team so good, Miley gave up the ball at the biggest juncture of Friday’s PIAA Class 6A semifinals. Boettinger drew a foul in a tie game, stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws for a PV lead it wouldn’t give back.

It took every measure they had in them, but the Vikings were finally able to put away Archbishop Carroll 52-45 at Plymouth Whitemarsh, securing their first trip to Hershey and a PIAA title game after an exceptional high school basketball game Friday night.

“We all just know, some of our shots may be good, but there are always better shots,” Miley said. “In a game like this, when it’s so close, taking the best shot is the most important thing. You might have a good shot, but you also have to know if someone else has a better shot because that’s the one more likely to get what you want.”

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By Matt Smith

Archbishop Carroll was a bounce away Friday night from potentially returning to Hershey for the PIAA Class 6A title game for the second time in three years.

With 1:15 left in regulation and the Patriots down a bucket, junior star Alexis Eberz attempted a 3-pointer that hit off the back of the rim and out. Perkiomen Valley corralled the rebound, then began the process of pulling away at the free-throw line.

After two straight seasons falling short against Catholic League opponents in the state tournament, the Vikings got over the hump, earning a 52-45 victory in the state semifinals at Plymouth Whitemarsh. They will face Upper St. Clair, which defeated Garnet Valley in the other semifinal, at the Giant Center next Friday at 6 p.m.

The Patriots finished with a 19-10 record.

“They’re a great team,” said Eberz, who accumulated seven points, seven rebounds and five assists. “We gave everything we had. Back in December, we never thought we would be in this position right now. We played our minds out, gave it all that we could, but we just fell a little short.”

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By Matt Smith

Only two teams from Delaware County are still standing in the PIAA basketball playoffs, and if this postseason feels like it’s dragging, you’re not imagining things.

A scheduling conflict with Cirque du Soleil at Hershey’s Giant Center forced the PIAA to hit the pause button after last weekend’s quarterfinals. That means after this weekend’s semifinal matchups, teams will have to wait another full week before the championship games tip off from March 20-23.

Archbishop Carroll and Garnet Valley are hoping to punch their tickets to Hershey once the circus leaves town. Here’s a breakdown of their matchups in the Class 6A semifinals Friday.

Arch. Carroll vs. Perkiomen Valley at Plymouth Whitemarsh, 7:30 p.m.

The Patriots (20-9) are where they expected to be, which is on the doorstep of another state championship appearance. Two years removed from winning it all in Class 6A, Carroll once again finds itself facing mighty Perk Valley, a team it knocked off en route to the 2023 title.

For Perk Valley, the pressure to win is enormous. The Vikings (28-3) have dominated District 1, winning three straight championships, including last month against Garnet Valley. But they’ve stumbled in states the past two seasons, losing to Carroll two years ago and Cardinal O’Hara last March. This game will go a long way in shaping the legacy of the Vikings, who boast arguably the strongest starting five left in the 6A tournament.

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