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By Josh Verlin

The first two-thirds of the season didn’t go the way Chester wanted.

Sure, the Clippers made their way to 20 wins, a nice standard for any team. But a trio of three-point losses ultimately cost them both a chance at the Del-Val League championship and the District 1 5A title: at Penn Wood (58-55) and at Academy Park (69-66) for its only two league losses; Upper Merion (53-50) in the second round of districts.

That means there’s only one trophy left winnable for this not to be a completely lost year for a program that’s used to bringing home some kind of hardware on a near-regular basis.

“We came up short, we lost some close games that could have gone either way, a couple of bad calls and it happens so we must learn from it and move on,” head coach Larry Yarbray said. “So we didn’t win the Del-Val, we didn’t win the districts and we’ve got a chance to win the state, and our kids understand that.

“Any team that can put five games together can win a state championship,” he continued. “That’s all it takes.”

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By Josh Verlin

After a successful six-year run, Mike Snyder has stepped down as the head coach at Ridley, he confirmed to CoBL.

It’s the end of a 20-year stretch at the school for Snyder, who also spent time as the girls’ head coach and a boys’ assistant coach at the Folsom (Pa.) high school.

Snyder, helped greatly by a class that included current East Stroudsburg freshman Brett Foster and DeSales’ Julian Wing, guided the Raiders to back-to-back Central League titles in 2015 and 2016, winning 49 games during those two seasons alone.

In six years, Snyder went 104-53 (.662), making the district playoffs in five consecutive years (2012-16), including three trips to the state tournament (2013, ‘15, ‘16).

“He just made me and my teammates overall better, complete basketball players and always pushed me to work my hardest and not let me cut any corners,” said Foster, the 2016 Central League MVP. “But even more then him being a coach, he’s a great person and I was lucky to have coach like him during my basketball career at Ridley.”

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By Chris Masse

One by one, dejected Penn Wood players exited the locker room. The Patriots did not think their season would end this way. That they made huge strides this season was little consolation.

Penn Wood furiously fought Williamsport Saturday at Milton, but could never generate offensive consistency and lost their PIAA Class 5A tournament opener, 59-41. Still, as disappointed as the Patriots were, Saturday may have provided more of a beginning than an end. The Patriots reached the state tournament for the first time since 2011 and laid a foundation that could again make them a perennial District 1 title contender.

The loss stings, but Penn Wood sure went on an impressive journey.

“The kids put in a lot of work and it was great to see them get rewarded for all their hard work,” Penn Wood coach Matt Lindeman said. “They’ve come a long way just in a year from where we were last year. It was a lot of fun and I’m proud of all the hard work and success they had this year.”

Williamsport (21-4) won its 14th straight game and the District 2-4 champions advanced to Wednesday’s second round against William Allen. Penn Wood finished a resurgent season and laid the foundation for future success. The Patriots captured the 2009 state championship and reached the state final a year later. But Penn Wood could not build on that success the next few seasons and finished a game shy of reaching the state tournament last year.

That is why what this Penn Wood team achieved could carry on beyond this season. The Patriots broke through again and this team that included five senior starters led the way.

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By Christopher A. Vito

He didn’t have a hood pulled up, or a towel draped over his head. He didn’t duck out a side door, either.

There was nowhere for Tyler Norwood to go. That was as much the case after the game as it was during.

Norwood, Delaware County’s second-leading scorer, received constant defensive pressure Friday night. He struggled to find a sweet spot on the court. His shot was off, and Penncrest’s hope at a lengthy state-playoff run went with it.

Penncrest, fresh off its first District 1 championship since 1969, bowed out of the PIAA Class 5A tournament with a 51-42 first-round loss to Hershey. The Lions’ historic season came to an end at Marple Newtown High School, in a game they trailed wire to wire.

Norwood shot 8-for-30 from the field, including 1-for-11 from 3-point range, to finish with 17 points. He even missed his lone attempt at the foul line. Seemingly epitomizing his off night, Norwood’s up-and-under layup attempt in the game’s final seconds — an uncontested look at the rim — rolled out.

“My shots just weren’t falling. Nothing I can do about it,” said the junior guard. “My teammates kept me motivated, confident. I just kept shooting and it wasn’t falling. It wasn’t my night.

(Webmaster’s note: The Hershey vs. Penncrest PIAA Playoff game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard on our Archives link on the left hand side of the page.)

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By Matt Chandik

It didn’t need much encouragement to do so, but once Hershey air balled four consecutive 3-point attempts, the massive sea of red-clad students reached a fever pitch.

Penncrest’s student section came out in force for Friday night’s PIAA Class 5A tournament opener against Hershey, with only 10 minutes or so separating them from Marple Newtown’s gym. The Lions’ faithful were quick to not-so-subtly remind the Trojans that those 3-pointers hadn’t even come close to hitting rim, let alone dropping through the hoop.

Jake Wilson made sure to bring the volume down, though. Minutes later, Wilson, who was part of the nothing-but-air 3-point barrage, cashed in on all six of his fourth-quarter free throws. In what essentially a road game, Wilson and the Trojans quieted the crowd and ousted the District One champions via a 51-42 victory.

“I love this kind of environment, so I feed off that energy. The crowd’s against you, stuff like that just motivates me to play even harder,” said Wilson, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds. “The adrenaline was going for us, which is probably we air balled those shots, but we were able to come back, make our free throws and ice the game.”

(Webmaster’s note: The Hershey vs. Penncrest PIAA Playoff game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard on our Archives link on the left hand side of the page.)

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By Matthew De George

It’s telling that the biggest spark in the fourth quarter Friday night came after whistles were blown and security had to come onto the court at Hershey High School.

For 30-plus minutes, Springfield and Mechanicsburg showed plenty of fight in the PIAA Class 5A opening-round game, but not much was geared toward each team positioning to win. And when tensions boiled over, with some questionable officiating, Springfield ended up on the wrong end of a 49-45 decision.

The game pivoted with 45 seconds to play and Mechanicsburg leading 44-42 when Springfield’s Ja’Den McKenzie appeared to tie up Mechanicsburg’s Kyle Scheib under the Wildcats’ basket. The struggle extended beyond the whistle, a little pushing and shoving ensued and players from both teams came together as security rushed to restore calm.

After deliberation, the refereeing crew from York assessed flagrant fouls to McKenzie and fellow Cougar Mike Webb, who entered the fracas with a two-handed shove into the back of a Wildcat. Webb was ejected; McKenzie was announced as ejected, though Springfield coach Kevin McCormick said he merely subbed out the junior forward to allow him to cool off.

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By Jeff Dewees

The only thing sick about the Chester Clippers Friday night was their shooting.

Fueled by senior Ahrod Carter’s 27-point performance on 10-of-12 sniping from the floor, Chester blew by Milton Hershey School 72-53 in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament at Lebanon High School.

Never trailing, Chester (22-5), a lower-than-usual fifth seed out of District 1, smothered Milton Hershey with a 15-4 spurt to open the game, and was never seriously threatened. Carter hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter to quickly get his club out of the gates.

Then he really warmed up.

Carter would hit his first 10 shots of the night, from all points on the floor, before missing his final two offerings. He hit seven 3-pointers; Chester had nine bombs in all.

“I felt great. I felt blessed. I felt like hard work paid off,” Carter said. “This was a statement game for us, because we lost in districts and think we should have won, in my opinion. So we had a chip on our shoulders this game. We felt like we had to prove something; to ourselves, to everyone.”

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By Tyler Sandora

The players on Archbishop Carroll’s basketball team know that they have the ability to outrun teams, and speed up the tempo of the game.

With their tall, quick, and sharpshooting guards, along with an athletic big man, the Patriots know they need to get the tempo of the game into their favor to make a run through the state playoffs.

They were able to use these advantages on Friday night, defeating Great Valley 61-48 in the first round of the PIAA 5A state tournament.

“As long as we have ball pressure, we can play to our tempo,” Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk said.

Carroll was able to force Great Valley into 20 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half, leading into fast break opportunities at the other end.

Leading the way for the third seed from District 12 was freshman guard A.J. Hoggard with 16 points. Although he is still a freshman, Hoggard assumes the point guard role for Carroll.

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By Matthew De George

Justin Collins didn’t leave the home bench two years ago, but not a detail escaped his grasp Wednesday night at Springfield High School.

Now a senior guard, Collins recounted in vivid detail all the highs and lows of the Cougars’ last chance to play into states in 2015 against Penncrest — the 12-point fourth-quarter deficit they surmounted, the Lions’ lights-out, 14-for-14 performance from the free-throw line in overtime to win, 58-53, without an extra-session field goal.

Collins, whose older brother Jordan was that team’s leading scorer, even wistfully bounced his head recalling the number of bounces a late Mike Doyle 3-pointer took off rim before falling home to push the game to OT.

“Still, some of that stuff hurts,” said Kyle Long, then the emergent freshman point guard, now the seasoned junior floor general.

For the current Cougars who experienced that star-crossed team’s disappointment, the significance was instilled quickly. That near miss, from a special senior class, set the bar that they would be held to two years later. And having cleared that high hurdle to make the program’s first states appearance since 2010 and ninth in school history, the Cougars are embracing the quest to determine their ride’s culmination.

Springfield gets that chance Friday when the sixth seed from District 1 ventures to Hershey High School to take on District 3 runner-up Mechanicsburg in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. as the nightcap in a triple-header.

For the freshness of the memory, Collins and company describe the Penncrest game as a demon they’ve vanquished, more grateful for its motivation than haunted by its specter.

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By Matthew De George

The trend lines for Saturday’s PIAA Class 6A opener may seem in opposition. District 4 champ Williamsport (20-4) carries a 13-game winning streak to Milton Area High School at 4:30 p.m. Penn Wood, on the other hand, arrested a two-game slide by trouncing Perkiomen Valley, the top seed in the District 1 tournament, in its seventh-place game last Friday (a result perhaps most crucial for its avoidance of District 12 champ Roman Catholic in the first round.)

But zoom out and you have a Patriots team that has won 13 of its last 16, not too shabby in relation to a diminished field.

That commonality links the teams as among the dark horses in an uncharacteristically open 6A field, diluted by the parting out of quality teams to the 5A classification. But that’s immaterial to what should be an intriguing affair.

The Millionaires are the hot team, boosted emotionally after avenging a loss to Hazleton in the District 2/4 regional final last time out.

Williamsport is much like Penn Wood in the size department, with a bunch of players of differing skillsets all standing around 6-foot-2. Stanley Scott, their leading scorer, is listed as a guard. The forward triumvirate of Rondell Carson, Darryl Wilson and Qayyim Ali add support scoring.

Those matchups won’t be as perplexing for a Patriots team where the line between guard and forward is blurry anyway. Jay Fitzgerald will likely draw the assignment of Scott on the perimeter, but the likes of Rashaad Anderson, Vincent Smalls, Pernell Ghee and others are capable of guarding any of the Millionaires’ other options.

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