Category: Latest News

By Matthew DeGeorge

In addition to Player of the Year Izaiah Pasha of Cardinal O’Hara, the rest of the All-Delco team includes:

Jackson Hicke, Radnor: For all the exemplary balance that the Raptors showed in a historic season, Hicke was the clear offensive standout. He led the team by averaging 16.5 points per game, one of five starters averaging at least six points per outing and seventh-best in Delaware County this season. But his scoring touch had the game-breaking potential that forced opponents to craft their defenses around him. At 6-5, Hicke is able to create space for himself in the lane, handle the ball while running the point and be a lethal catch-and-shoot option beyond the arc. He led the Raptors to one of the best seasons in program history, with 23 wins, a 14-2 Central League record on the way to the league championship game and a run to the second round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament. Hicke had 12 games of 20 points or more, the pinnacle coming in the first round of states when he steered Radnor past Susquehannock with 38 points in a 75-56 win. He added 21 points in the District 1 Class 5A final, an overtime loss to Chester. He blitzed Conestoga for 27 points and Holy Ghost Prep for 25, part of a 13-0 start to the season for Radnor. A first team All-Central selection by league coaches, Hicke is the first Radnor All-Delco since Glenn Washington in 2005-06.

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By Mike White

The critics of Catholic/private/charter schools in Pennsylvania high school sports have been many in recent history. And you can now add to the group a few coaches of WPIAL schools in PIAA basketball championships this weekend.

Five teams — three boys and two girls — from the WPIAL all lost to Philadelphia Catholic League teams this weekend and the average margin of defeat in those games was 20 points. A few coaches of the WPIAL teams weren’t shy about making their feelings known about what they perceive as an uneven playing field between public and Catholic/private/charter schools — and they are calling for the PIAA to address the subject. They believe there should be separate playoffs for public schools and all other schools.

Boys coaches Ralph Blundo of New Castle, Mike Mastroianni of Quaker Valley and Nick Lackovich of Aliquippa all lost to teams from the Philadelphia Catholic League and their teams lost by 15, 25 and 18 points.

The complaint from coaches, fans and even administrators is that public schools can take only students from within their geographical districts. Meanwhile, Catholic/private/charter schools don’t have geographical boundaries and can take students from anywhere.

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By Matt Smith

When they were freshmen, Cardinal O’Hara seniors Maggie Doogan, Sydni Scott and Annie Welde couldn’t have predicted what their final game as high school players would look like.

They grew up together on coach Chrissie Doogan’s varsity team. Scott was a starter practically from day one. Doogan and Welde worked their way into the rotation and eventually became stalwarts in the lineup.

Friday evening at the Giant Center, O’Hara’s fantastic senior trio put the finishing touches on an amazing high school journey. With the Lions’ 42-19 victory over Chartiers Valley, they became PIAA Class 5A champions for a second year in a row.

“It’s really unbelievable,” Doogan said of consecutive state championships. “We’re all just really close and to be able to do this with them is an amazing feeling. I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.”

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By Jack McCaffery

One by one Friday, in the tradition of PIAA state championship teams, Chrissie Doogan would drape a gold medal around the neck of each of her players.

For each, she had a hug.

For each, she had a smile.

For each, she had pride.

For each, she had gratitude.

Then, the girls basketball coach at Cardinal O’Hara came to the final player in line, and that’s when the video board high above the Giant Center revealed that she had just a little bit more.

“We did it,” she told her daughter, Maggie Doogan. “I love you, Maggie.”

The Lions did plenty during the season, during the postseason, and finally in the Class 5A championship game, a 42-19 triumph over Chartiers Valley. In the process, they would be the first team in the generations-deep tradition of O’Hara girls basketball excellence to win both the Catholic League championship and a state championship. And even if some of the most glorious Lions teams – including the one Chrissie played on as a senior in 1993 – were not yet PIAA members, the 2022 Lions were high among the best.

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By Matt Smith

A second consecutive PIAA championship is within reach, but Cardinal O’Hara’s opponent has revenge on its mind.

O’Hara will meet Chartiers Valley for the Class 5A title Friday at the Giant Center in Hershey. The action starts at 5 o’clock and can be watched live on PCN.

The game is a rematch of last year’s state final. O’Hara crushed the Chartiers Valley then, 51-27, to capture the school’s first PIAA championship.

Then-junior starters Maggie Doogan, Sydni Scott and Annie Welde combined for 35 points in the Lions’ trouncing of the Colts. O’Hara won 12 of its final 13 games in a pandemic-shortened season to become the first Delaware County girls basketball team since Archbishop Carroll in 2012 to win a PIAA title. The Lions made two prior appearances in PIAA finals (2009, 2016), losing both times.

O’Hara tallied the game’s first 10 points and enjoyed a 23-7 advantage at halftime. The Lions shot 7-for-16 from 3-point range. Scott netted four treys and produced a game-high 16 points. Doogan compiled 13 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and two steals.

After winning a Catholic League championship at the Palestra Feb. 28, the Lions are holding the opposition to 25.3 points per game in the state tourney. This team excels under the bright lights and knows what it takes to win in big arenas. Friday’s finale is no different.

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By Bob Grotz

The wakeup call came Saturday at 7 a.m.

It was Chester High coach Keith Taylor phoning assistant Durrell Moore to say he didn’t feel well and was going to see the doctor.

The “good luck, you’re the coach” call from Taylor came while the Clippers were on their way to Coatesville High, where they would take on the Imhotep Panthers in the semifinal round of the Class 5A state playoffs. It gave Moore, a Clippers assistant for five seasons, just enough time to take a deep breath.

“That really helped me get through this,” Moore said. “And it was tough. Coming in, state semifinals, Imhotep, packed house. But Coach Taylor and I spent a lot of time on preparation, so he had confidence in me.”

Truth be told, the way the Panthers were flying up the court in transition and making three-pointers Saturday, the Clippers could have had Larry Brown strategizing and it wouldn’t have made a difference.

The only good news after the brutal 66-41 loss to the Panthers is that Taylor phoned again to tell the coaches he’s going to be fine. May we suggest a few days of rest before reviewing the video?

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By Matt Smith

It’s common for a basketball team dominating a game at halftime to become content or lackadaisical.

When one team is trouncing the opposition, mistakes can happen that could give the losing team new life in a game it has no business winning. Except when that winning team is Cardinal O’Hara.

The Lions showed their championship pedigree from start to finish Saturday afternoon at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School. District 3’s Mechanicsburg had zero chance of winning or making it a semi-competitive affair. The Lions came, wreaked havoc, and left after a 50-18 shellacking of Mechanicsburg.

O’Hara will return to Hershey next weekend to defend its PIAA Class 5A championship. The Lions will go to battle against Chartiers Valley in a rematch of last year’s final.

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By Jack McCaffery

One by one, they left the locker room at Coatesville Area High School Saturday, some with heads down, some with reddened eyes, all in far less than celebratory spirit. The basketball season was over for the players on the ninth consecutive Chester team to not do what was expected if not demanded. As it had been since 2012, there would be no state championship.

“We came up short today,” said Durrell Moore, who had filled in for hospitalized head coach Keith Taylor. “We fought through a lot of adversity this year. I am proud of them. They played hard.”

That was the proper attitude for any coach at the high school level. Remember the good times and praise the effort, then collect the uniforms and the memories, hardly in that order.

The Clippers did what they could in a 66-41 loss to Imhotep in the PIAA Class 5A Final Four, and that should have been enough. Yet that’s not how it works at Chester, and Moore had to know that, too. There, no season is satisfactory unless it ends with a banner ceremony in the Fred Pickett Jr. Gym. Coaches have said that. Athletic directors have said that. Fans, assistant coaches and players have said that. It’s not imagined. It’s real, and for many years, it has had value.

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By Jerome Taylor

Roman’s rotation isn’t deep, but the six-man lineup is far from shallow. 

Three Cahillites (22-4) will likely be at the top of any opposing coaches’ scouting report: Cincinnati commit Daniel Skillings Jr., Hofstra commit Khalil Farmer and junior point guard Xzayvier Brown, who is also garnering significant Division I interest. 

But in a PIAA 6A semifinal game against Lower Merion, Skillings Jr. was held in check, so the other half of Chris McNesby’s rotation made a major impact.

Among those impact players was Quadir Brown, whose 10 points kept Roman afloat in the first half before they took control down the stretch in the 53-41 win over Lower Merion. 

Roman started the game slow, going 1-of-9 from the field in the first quarter, and they found themselves down 13-4 to the Aces (27-3). 

And if it weren’t for Quadir Brown’s shotmaking in the first two quarters (3-4 FG, 2-3 3PT), the Cahillites would’ve been down more than three at halftime. 

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By Kyle J. Andrews 

Archbishop Carroll found themselves in a tough stretch from Jan. 11-21, losing four consecutive games in a four-game span, part of a stretch of losing seven in nine during Catholic League play. They thought their season was over on Feb. 16 when they lost to Devon Prep, but were given another chance after Martin Luther King decided not to play in the state tournament.

Despite their ups and downs throughout the year, they found themselves in the PIAA 4A state semifinals against a 26-0 Quaker Valley team. The Patriots fought valiantly, but to no avail, losing 67-60 on Friday night to end their season. 

While Archbishop Carroll lost, head coach Francis Bowe has a lot to look forward to with eight of 12 players returning next season, including some impressive young talent.

“It’s youth to me,” Bowe said. “At the end of the day, (Quaker Valley’s) a senior-laden team. You see it – they’ve got one junior that starts and the rest are seniors. They took care of the ball at the end of the game and we didn’t. 

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