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By Josh Verlin

There was no state playoff miracle this time around for Garnet Valley. 

The Jaguars went toe-to-toe with Central York in a PIAA 6A first-round matchup, acquitting themselves well against one of the best teams from central Pennsylvania for the second straight season. But unlike last year, when a buzzer-beating 3-pointer got the Jaguars into the second round, it was the Panthers who closed strong for a 69-60 win on Saturday afternoon.

t’s the third straight year that the season ended in the state tournament for Garnet Valley (19-10), which made a run to the District 1 6A championship game for the first time since 1997. That’s a far cry from a decade ago, when the program was still on the upswing from three consecutive one-win seasons.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

A year ago, Haverford’s dream season ended in a flash. Twenty-seven wins, then a loss in the District 1 Class 6A final and a first-round states setback, and a season that had marauded through the its first three months evaporated.

The Fords didn’t need a reminder Friday of what can happen when you start a tournament slow. Instead, the group this week let the ghosts of the past lie and focused on the task at hand.

“I think we’re just focusing on this year,” said forward Natalie Wright, after contributing 18 points to a 66-28 elimination of Murrell Dobbins in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament. “New people, new team, just moving forward. … Losing a game like that, you’ve just got to get back up. You can’t have that hanging over you, as the games go on, years go on. You’ve got to get up and give it everything.”

Haverford left nothing to chance in this game against the District 12 opponent at Archbishop Ryan High. The Fords scored 24 of the game’s first 26 points and stretched the lead to 35 late in the first half against an undermanned Dobbins squad. Like any other game, Lauren Pellicane’s team identified the matchups and exploited them – in this case, a marked height advantage that led to a 36-19 edge on the boards and length to find passing lanes off their ball movement.

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By Christiaan DeFranco

Like they had journeyed to an unfamiliar land only to lose their keys and wallet and phone, the Upper Dublin Cardinals, over and over again, were left disoriented by Cardinal O’Hara’s swarming defense.

The O’Hara Lions, runners-up from District 12, repeatedly picked Upper Dublin’s pockets — generating 16 turnovers in the first half — and ran away with a 48-19 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs Friday night.

The Lions’ primary target coming into the game was UD senior Amy Ngo, a Holy Family recruit, who took over at point guard when her younger sister Megan went down with an ACL injury last month.

“We knew Amy was a great player, so we figured if we got the ball out of her hands, we could double and trap everyone else,” said O’Hara senior Carly Coleman, who scored a game-high 20 points. “Meg (Rullo) started the game with a couple steals. From then on, we just took off. We were all energized.”

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Archbishop Carroll spoiled the states party that Big Spring had waited decades for.

The Patriots, the fourth seed from District 12, scored a 66-59 win over the District 3 runner-up, which was making its first appearance in the state tournament before a packed house in Newville.

Darrell Davis scored 23 points. Ian Williams added 17 for Carroll (18-8).

Aidan Sallie led Big Spring (19-7) with 23 points.

By Matt Smith

Archbishop Carroll sisters Felicity, Maddie and Abigail McFillin have played major roles on the team during the 2023-24 season.

Until now they’ve all lacked experience in the PIAA tournament. First-year starters Felicity (senior) and Maddie (junior) were on the Carroll team that took home the Class 6A championship a year ago, but they did not play a lot of minutes. Abigail is a freshman.

“We are going to remember this season for a long time,” said Maddie, the junior. “We are always together so we don’t always think about it when people bring it up. But we are going to look back when we’re older and say, ‘Do you remember that one time when we were all together?’”

If Carroll goes on to win another PIAA championship, the McFillin sisters will never forget this season, not in a million years. And because they’re important parts of the team, that makes this year’s run in states extra special.

Archbishop Carroll began its Class 6A title defense Friday with a convincing 58-37 win over West Chester Henderson. The Patriots (18-9) will play a second-round game Tuesday.

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By Joseph Santoliquito

A storm always seemed to be swirling somewhere. Carlton Gordy III could never quite understand why. Anything would set him off. Anything would send him into a brooding, quick-trigger rage throwing everything he could get his hands on.

He found solace on a basketball court. The cacophony of bouncing balls and squeaking sneakers had a way of easing an inner wrath he could not comprehend until recently.

The why? The how? The why me?  

The questions used to plague the gifted Chichester 6-foot-3 All-Del-Val League senior guard. He carries the thick, talented bloodlines of his grandfather, former Chester great Carlton “Silk” Gordy Sr. He never knew his father, Carlton Gordy Jr., another Chester hoops alum who played with Jameer Nelson, lost through an unforgivable act that Carlton III has reached into his deep reservoir to forgive.

This year, Carlton III finished his first varsity season as a starter with a team-high average of 15.4 points a game, after scoring 339 points, including dropping 23 in a last-second 47-46 loss at Chester. He is getting looks from Cheyney and Neumann University.  

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By Josh Verlin

The PIAA 6A field is always stacked, 32 of the best big-school programs in the state battling it out over five rounds to lift a giant chocolate bar on March 23 in Hershey.

Here’s a look at the boys’ side of the 6A field, including contenders, dark horses, and all the star players to watch:

Chester (District 1-4, 20-4)
The Clippers have had a big bounce-back this season after missing out on the district playoffs entirely a year ago, getting to the semifinals this year after capturing the Del-Val League title. Head coach Keith Taylor has a deep and assertive group led by 6-5 forward Dominic Toy, senior wing Dante Atkinson, sophomore twins Daron and Jalen Harris and more.

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By Owen McCue

Only four districts have put forth a large classification PIAA champion in the last decade, and that was three before Archbishop Carroll came out of District 12 last season. Cumberland Valley won three in a row out of District 3 from 2014-16 before District 1 and 7 faced off for the next five championships.

Unless there are some surprises, it looks like the top teams lie in familiar places with District 1, 12 and 7 boasting a few teams who look like they might have potential to make a run to the state crown.

Reigning champion Archbishop Carroll is back after a run to the Catholic League championship game, but there are plenty of worthy adversaries standing in their way of a repeat.

Here is a look at some of the top teams in the bracket: 

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By CoBL Staff
With the state playoffs starting this weekend, we wanted to take a look at some of the area stars who could be in for a couple big weeks ahead. 

Here are some local standouts in the boys’ 5A and 6A brackets who folks around the state might be reading about en route to Hershey:

Dominic Toy (Sr. | F | Chester)
Chester’s multi-sport standout is in his last run of hoops, headed to UConn to play football this fall. A 6-5 hyper-athletic post, Toy is something of a combo ‘3’ and ‘4,’ though he gets most of his production done around the bucket, crashing the glass or using his combination of power and athleticism to get to the rim and finish.

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By Owen McCue

Tension and anxiety filled even the neutral observer during the Philadelphia Catholic League girls championship last week.

As the game continued into one overtime and then another, the knuckles were a little whiter gripping two seats in the Archbishop Carroll cheering section.

Matt and Maureen McFillin had their nerves tripled with not just one, not just two but sometimes three daughters — Felicity, Maddie and Abbie — out on the floor at the Palestra at the same time of what ended up being a double overtime loss in the Catholic League title game for the Patriots. 

It’s a moment they’ll never forget though, Matt ensuring even in the most stressful seconds of the thriller to appreciate it.

“I said look up, look at this,” Matt recounted. “It’s packed in here. This will never happen again for these girls, all three of them on the same court in front of a sold out Palestra. I said enjoy this.”

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