Category: Latest News

By Matthew DeGeorge

The last time Chester’s boys basketball team was made to wait this long for a game, it was late December and the team was in a COVID-19 pause. The remedy for all that down time was a stretch of five games in six days, a run of games that includes the last time the Clippers tasted defeat.

This time, Chester has cooled its heels since last Saturday’s District 1 Class 5A semifinal, withstanding a week-long pause in the normally hectic postseason for Saturday’s district final quadruple extravaganza.

Coach Keith Taylor hopes the reward is, again, similarly satisfying.

“It’s been tough,” Taylor said Thursday. “It feels like we’ve been waiting forever. Saturday to Saturday, that’s a long time.”

The Clippers hope the wait is worthwhile, for Saturday’s 2 p.m. tipoff in the District 1 Class 5A final at Temple University, the second-seeded Clippers taking on No. 1 Radnor.

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By Josh Verlin

For Gregg Downer, Saturday’s District 1 Class 6A boys championship is a chance at long-awaited revenge.

It was Downer’s senior year at Penncrest High School when he and his Lions went up against Norristown, led by future NFL quarterback Steve Bono, and fell short, 59-53, against the Eagles in the 1980 district championship.

“I can remember how good Steve Bono was and how exciting it was for me, a Philadelphia kid, to play at the Palestra, how crowded the gym was,” Downer recalled by phone Thursday night. “It’s the one game in my career when I came out of the tunnel where I couldn’t find my parents.

“I’ve been waiting 42 years to get another crack at Norristown,” the Lower Merion head coach added.

Saturday night at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, Downer’s going to have his chance, when his second-seeded Aces will attempt to defend their district title against the upstart No. 12 seed Eagles, who are on the verge of pulling off a championship run almost no one saw coming.

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Webmaster’s note: This game will be video streamed by Lower Merion HS. You can find the game at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70SiznZ1d2M

By Josh Verln

If Radnor’s boys needed any reminder of how long it’s been since their program last competed for a district championship, they got one at their District 1 Class 5A semifinal win over Upper Moreland. That’s when one of the members of the last Radnor boys’ squad came up to introduce himself, to pass along words of good wishes for Jamie Chadwin and his Raptors. 

A gentleman who was pushing 80 years old, reliving the memories from that 1960-61 year season, speaking to a group of 16-to-18-year-olds whose parents weren’t even around the last time the Main Line public school hoisted a District 1 trophy.

It’s been exactly six decades since Radnor’s even had the opportunity to play for a district title, a year after longtime head coach Ellis Dwyer led the team to the last of his seven district titles, a reign that started in 1945 and continued in ‘46, ‘49, ‘51, ‘56 and ‘60 before the final win in ‘61, a 68-59 decision over Norristown.

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Webmaster’s note: Delcohoops.com will be AUDIO broadcasting the game LIVE tomorrow starting at 1:50.  We are not aware of any video streaming available for this game.

 

It didn’t take Archbishop Carroll’s girls long to recover from a disappointing loss to Cardinal O’Hara in the Philadelphia Catholic League championship game Monday night.

The Patriots ran out to a 47-14 victory over Central Wednesday night, winning the District 12 Class 6A title and a berth in the PIAA’s largest classification state tournament.

Grace O’Neill hit four 3-pointers en route to a 20-point performance to lead all scorers. Taylor Wilson added seven points and Lizzy Hennessey scored six for the Patriots Wilson had seven rebounds and O’Neill gathered in five boards for Carroll (20-5).

ABINGTON 53, HAVERFORD 48 » The host Ghosts hit on 12 of 16 free throws in a 20-point fourth quarter, enabling them to defeat the Fords in a District 1 Class 6A playback seeding game.

Abington moves on the fifth-place game against Perkiomen Valley Friday night. Haverford will play Central League foe Garnet Valley Friday for seventh.

Caroline Dotsey had 20 points, 15 in the first half. The Fords had led 27-20 at intermission. Aniya Eberhart added 15 points for Haverford.

Boys Basketball

Owen Mathes scored 16 points and yanked down 14 rebounds to lead Marple Newtown to a 51-38 win over Chichester in a District 1 Class 5A playback seeding game.

Marple gets the fifth seed in the PIAA Class 5A tournament, while Chi settles for six.

Eric McKee contributed 12 points and three assists for the Tigers (16-10), while Justin DiBona had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

For Chi, Vince Wildrick scored a team-high 15 points and Akhir Keys added nine points.

 

By Josh Verlin

Every game this season, Gregg Downer has written the same hyphenated phrase on the whiteboard. Inside-out.

When you have Demetrius Lilley inside, there’s no other option.

“Every game, I put on the board, ‘inside-out, inside-out, inside-out,’” Downer said, “and I tell the kids, I’m going to write that until (Lilley) graduates.”

The Aces’ difference-maker is indeed their 6-foot-9, 230-pound, Penn State-bound forward, an imposing two-way force whose abilities and production in the post are unrivaled in the district. And when you have such a presence inside, and you’ve been around as long as Downer has, you’re going to take advantage of it as often as you can, for as long as you can.

Lower Merion went to Lilley early, late, and everywhere in between in a District 1 6A semifinal against Cheltenham on Tuesday night. The LM senior put up a monster double-double with 20 points and a season-high 24 rebounds as the Aces downed the Panthers, 61-54, to advance to Saturday’s championship game at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

For the first time in history, Marple Newtown’s girls basketball team is going to the state playoffs. The Tigers handled Central League rival Harriton, 34-11, to clinch fifth place in the District 1 Class 5A tournament. They own the final berth in next week’s PIAA tournament.

When the game ended, the Tigers calmly congratulated themselves, shook hands with the Rams players and made their way back to the team room.

While their collective reaction to making school history was a bit unexpected, the Tigers were beaming on the inside and immensely proud of their achievements this season. After a controversial loss in the district quarterfinals, the Tigers will meet newly minted Catholic League and District 12 champion Cardinal O’Hara in the first round of states next Wednesday.

“It’s so exciting,” said junior forward Brooke Impriano, who supplied six points, 11 rebounds and five assists. “We had a whole student section behind us and we have been practicing so hard. We were so excited to come out play this game. Girls basketball at Marple Newtown has never been this good and it’s great to be a part of it.”

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By Bob Grotz

The game was tied with a shade under a minute to go Tuesday when Anthony Murray drove the right side of the basket.

The Penn Wood guard couldn’t decide which move to use against the Haverford defense. Unfortunately, he was too far from the basket to try the Euro Step and much too elevated to slam on the brakes.

On this night the turnover wouldn’t be a problem because the Patriots got a stop and with 14.4 ticks left, Murray matched a go-ahead free throw by teammate Sahmir Massenburg to defeat the hard-charging Fords, 50-46, in the District 1 Class 6A playback round.

“I wanted to shoot but at the last moment I didn’t,” said Murray, who led the Patriots with a dozen points. “But I made up for it. One good play, one bad play.”

It was a lot of good plays for Murray and the Patriots (15-7), who have won back-to-back games in the playback round.

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By Terry Toohey

Maggie Doogan had a death grip on the Catholic League championship plaque after Cardinal O’Hara rolled over Archbishop Carroll, 55-30, Monday night in the PCL final at the Palestra.

The senior forward and reigning Daily Times Player of the Year clutched the iconic disc that has long been the symbol of Catholic League supremacy with both hands and held it close to her chest.

She had let her teammates, like fellow senior Annie Welde, hold the plaque for a moment or two as the Lions basked in the glory of the 19th Catholic League title in program history and first since 2018. Once she got it back, though, after all the celebratory pictures were taken, the plaque was hers and she had no intention of giving it up any time soon.

“I’m not planning on it,” Doogan said.

This was a moment four years in the making. The senior class knew the agony of losing in the league final. The memory of last year’s 56-48 loss to Archbishop Wood was a constant reminder that they had unfinished business, even though the Lions went on to win the PIAA Class 5A title after that league title game setback.

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By Matt Smith

Last April, Maggie Doogan stood in an empty Cardinal O’Hara gymnasium and talked about the successes of her junior season.

She enjoyed the individual accolades (Catholic League MVP and Daily Times Player of the Year) and cherished the memory of helping the Lions win the program’s first PIAA championship in Hershey last March.

But there was one thing missing.

Losing in the Catholic League final to Archbishop Wood was something she vowed not to forget anytime soon. The idea of leaving O’Hara this spring would have felt incomplete if she couldn’t celebrate a league championship at the Palestra.

Doogan’s mom, head coach Chrissie Doogan, had won multiple Catholic League titles during her amazing career at O’Hara. Although Chrissie insisted that the Catholic League title wouldn’t define her daughter’s legacy at O’Hara, for Maggie, coming close wasn’t good enough. The younger Doogan embraced the pressure, and made it her primary mission in 2022 to get to the Palestra and win it all.

The work was completed Monday evening.

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By Matt Smith

Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara have long represented the best of Delaware County girls basketball. The rivals are headed to the Palestra Monday evening to compete for the Catholic League championship.

This will mark the ninth such time that Carroll and O’Hara have faced off for the title, but the first since 2008. O’Hara has won five of eight league final matchups against the Patriots.

Carroll and the Lions finished first and second, respectively, in the league standings during the regular season. The Patriots remain undefeated in league competition, including a 49-39 victory over the Lions Feb. 1. It was O’Hara’s only conference loss of the season.

In that game the Patriots defense stymied the Lions, forcing 14 turnovers. O’Hara’s best players, seniors Maggie Doogan and Sydni Scott, were limited to a combined 13 points on 4-for-15 shooting from the field. The total points were the fewest scored by O’Hara since its season-opening, 41-39 loss to St. Mary’s (Calif.).

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