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A strong defensive performance in the first half powered Strath Haven to a 46-40 victory over rival Penncrest in Central League boys basketball action Tuesday night. The Panthers held the Lions to nine points in the first half, one in the second quarter, to take a 25-9 lead into the break. Jaden Jauregui paced the offense with 15 points. Jack Edwards chipped in with nine points. Brendan Hemphill topped Penncrest with a game-high 17 points.

Elsewhere in the Central League:

Upper Darby 65, Haverford 56 » The Royals shot 19-for-26 from the free throw line to hold off the Fords. Niymere Brown led four Upper Darby players in double figures with 19 points. Yassir Joyner added 14. Khysir Slaughter chipped in with 13 and Nadir Myers had 10. Googie Seidman paced Haverford with a game-high 23 points. Tommy Wright added 15 points and Brian Weiner added 10.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Josh Verlin

We’re in the final two weeks of the PIAA regular season, meaning the various league races around the area are ready to wrap up, teams fighting for regular-season titles and postseason berths all over the Delaware Valley.

Here’s a look at which games will (or could) make a difference in the next fortnight on the girls’ side, broken down by league (If we don’t have a preview on a league, it’s because we didn’t have accurate enough information on schedules and standings to preview the playoff race):

Central League
The only unbeaten team left in District 1, Haverford High (13-0 Central) has a two-game lead on the field with three games to play, with remaining games at home against Upper Darby (0-13) on Tuesday and then at Ridley (6-7) on Thursday and at Garnet Valley (9-4) next Tuesday. 

(click on this link for more the complete league updates)

By Neil Geoghegan

The notion of turning defense into points is nothing new to basketball. But what the Sun Valley boys did to Kennett at the start of the second half on Monday in Ches-Mont American action proved that when it’s done with precision, it can very quickly turn a tight battle into a blowout.

Following a lackluster first half, the visiting Vanguards cranked up the defensive pressure and intensity, and went on to a 47-33 triumph. Sun Valley opened the second half with a 15-0 surge, and that loomed huge in what ended up as a 14-point final margin.

“You can see what we are capable of, in spurts,” Vanguards head coach Steve Maloney said. “It wasn’t necessarily what (Kennett) were doing in the first half. We needed to wake up. And just playing that style wakes us up.”

Now 6-3 in the league (12-6 overall), Sun Valley has won six games in a row and has moved into the top-10 of the District 1 Class 5A power rankings. The undermanned Blue Demons fall to 1-7, 2-17.

(click on this link for the full story)

Delco Christian’s Ashanti Harris exploded for 31 points, but it was Sacred Heart’s stifling defense that proved to be the difference on the way to a 54-41 victory.

The Lions (9-6) applied a full-court press in the third quarter and outscored the Knights, 22-4. Keara McCaffrey led the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Megan Donohue (13 points) and MJ Donahue (11) both made a trio of 3-point baskets. Harris scored 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Knights (11-5).

In other nonleague action:

Chester 61, Martin Luther King 21 >> Shyne Hall produced 23 points, six assists, five rebounds, five steals and one block for the Clippers (7-10), who led 21-4 after one quarter.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Konner Metz

Every time a white jersey caught the basketball beyond the 3-point line with a bubble of space, the Marple Newtown faithful were visibly and audibly antsy to see the ball through the net. 

Most of the time Saturday night, those wishes from the home crowd were answered. 

Marple Newtown shot lights out from deep, drilling 14 three-pointers on 20 attempts en route to a hard-fought, high energy 74-64 victory over Strath Haven. The green light, trigger-happy mentality from beyond the arc was exactly what the Tigers needed after scoring just 40 points in a loss to Penncrest two nights prior.

“That’s this year’s approach, we’re big on being shot ready off the ball,” coach Sean Spratt said. “I think the big thing is, we were here two nights ago and it was our worst shooting night of the year. 

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

A year ago, Chris Kwaidah was one of Delco’s most prolific 3-point shooters as a junior at Sun Valley.

A year older and stronger, Kwaidah’s shooting touch remains. But the skillet surrounding his long-range ability is so much more complete. So in games like Saturday’s 66-59 win over Upper Merion, you might have expected the back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to stem the tide of a Vikings’ rally – one a catch-and-shoot on the wing; one an in-your-face transition triple.

But the other plays that made a difference, like Kwaidah swooping in for a put-back and-1 in a rampant first half for the Vanguards, are newer aspects to his game. With it comes hope that the Vanguards can reach a new level this postseason.

Kwaidah led all scorers with 22 points. Sixteen came in a first half when Sun Valley led by as many as 25 and built a 40-20 lead over the sleep-walking visiting Vikings, in a nonleague clash of teams sitting ninth and 12th in the District 1 Class 5A power rankings. He then added a pair of triples just when Upper Merion had charged back to within 55-52, putting the game away in the final three minutes.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

Haverford added another win to the total Saturday, in sight of the regular-season linished line.
Caroline Dotsey scored 16 points as the Fords moved to 19-0 with a 36-33 win over Conestoga and earned the 300th career win for head coach Lauren Pellicane. It’s the second narrow win for the Fords (13-0 Central) over the Pioneers this season« with a two-point overtime win in December. Sky Newman tossed in eight points, and Mollie Carpenter and Rian Dotsey added six points apiece.

Also in the Central League:

Springfield 54, Harriton 27 » Kaitlyn Kearney poured in 19 points as the Cougars moved into a tie for second place in the league with Conestoga at two league losses. Mia Valerio paired 10 points with five steals« and Cora Fattori chipped in eight points.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

As we close in on the last three weeks of the regular season we will begin to post the PIAA District One rankings to keep track of those teams qualifying for the District Championship playoffs.

Click on this link: D1 Playoff Brackets

By Matt Smith

Academy of Notre Dame’s Lizzie Halligan scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the second quarter en route to a 60-37 win over Agnes Irwin School.

Annie Greek had nine points in the second quarter and six in the third period on the way to a 17-point performance. Chloe Knox and Katie Halligan each contributed six points. Simone Harvey netted a team-high 14 points for the Owls, who received a nine-point effort by Gabrielle Seibert.

In other Inter-Ac League action:

Penn Charter 52, Episcopal Academy 31 >> Gaeli Keffer-Scharpf tallied eight of her team-high 12 points in the second half, but the Churchwomen couldn’t keep up with the first-place Quakers. Bella Notaro chipped in eight points.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Josh Verlin

After seeing more than 70 high school games already this season, I figured it would be a good time to mention some players who I felt have taken a significant step forward over the last year.

Keep in mind: this isn’t every player I’ve liked this year, or anything like that. I tried to limit it to players who felt in a specific range: someone I’d seen play previously (in the summer or beforehand), and have now seen again recently, who have clearly made steps in their progression as a player. 

(It goes without saying this doesn’t include players I haven’t yet seen this year, players I felt were already performing at a high level, or players who I don’t have a point of comparison with from earlier in their high school careers.)

(click on this link for the full story)