Category: Latest News

By Terry Toohey

Once again Springfield found a way to win. That’s what the Cougars do. It night be often pretty, but it’s effective.

On a night when their shots weren’t falling, the top-seeded Cougars relied on their relentless defense and solid free-throw shooting to pull out a 29-25 victory over ninth-seeded Merion Mercy in the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals Tuesday night.

“It’s not as much skill as hard work,” said junior forward Anabel Kreydt, who scored eight points, pulled down nine rebounds and handed out an assist. “That’s what we do.”

The two-time defending district champion Cougars (16-7) followed that script to the letter to extend their district playoff winning streak to eight games and advance to the district semifinals for the fourth year in a row. Springfield will host fourth-seeded Bishop Shanahan, a 42-39 winner over No. 5 Harriton Friday night. The Cougars beat the Eagles, 46-38, a little more than a month ago.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

You hear it often from coaches and, more frequently, from players that those coaches instruct: “It starts with defense,” the script goes.

DJ Johnson didn’t have to say it Tuesday night. He and his Norristown teammates showed it so vividly for 32 minutes at Haverford that it spoke for itself.

No. 12 Norristown made the adjustments it needed to on defense, checking the early momentum of Haverford and rallying into the PIAA Class 6A tournament with a 46-39 win.

The win sends the Eagles (18-6) into states and into the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals Friday against No. 4 Bensalem, which beat West Chester Henderson, 57-42. No. 5 Haverford (17-6) hosts Henderson for a chance to grab one of the remaining 12 states berths most generously appointed to District 1.

For a quarter and a half, Haverford got whatever it wanted offensively, leading 18-5 with 3:22 left until halftime. That’s when Norristown switched to a 3-2 zone to slow the game down. Haverford voluntarily slowed itself down further and the Eagles found a way to get easy baskets and get back in the game.

(click on this link for the full story)

 

By Kev Hunter

On a day dubbed “Twosday,” it was only fitting there were two celebrations for the Radnor girls basketball team Tuesday night.

The first came with its thrilling 46-42 victory over Upper Moreland in the District Class 5A quarter, securing a spot in states. The second came just moments after when the Raptors learned that thanks to Villa Maria’s upset of Marple Newtown, they would be home for Friday’s semifinal contest.

“Amazing. We knew we had this game from the beginning but they scared us at the end,” Radnor’s Mary Sareen said of the Bears’ fourth-quarter comeback. “They scared us, but we pulled through. We kept playing hard. We never give up no matter what. Everyone comes through in their role and how they play. And we had no doubts it was our game.”

Sixth-seeded Radnor now gets ready for its home contest with No. 7 Villa Maria. The No. 3 Bears can still earn one of the five states spots, and will go into district playbacks Friday.

“I told the girls, our goals are not over,” Bears coach Matt Carroll said. “The only goal we can’t accomplish is to be district champs. We can still make it to states.”

(click on this link for the full story)

 

By Zak Wolf

At this point, you might as well call Garnet Valley the comeback kids. The Jaguars pulled off yet another miraculous comeback to advance to the District 1 quarterfinal, clinching a state playoff berth in their 53-50 win over Spring-Ford on Tuesday. 

Once again, Garnet showed its grit and determination, never giving up even when they found themselves down big. 

It was almost deja vu for Garnet Valley. Garnet was down 18 to Upper Dublin in the third quarter of Friday’s first round, but clawed their way back to win right at the end. The same thing happened on Tuesday, with the No. 24 seed seemingly dead and buried. Down by 16 at one point in the third, Garnet finally found their groove late and stole the game right at the death. 

“Unfortunately it was kind of like the start to Upper Dublin,” junior guard Max Koehler said. “It wasn’t looking great the entire third quarter. We brought it back just like we did last game — what can I say? Never count us out.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Bryan Davis

In a defensive struggle that would’ve made any member of the Pat Riley-era New York Knicks teams proud to witness, Haverford High found enough offense to make it where they haven’t been for a long time.

The ninth-seeded Fords held off No. 8 Downingtown East, despite not making a field goal in the fourth quarter, to record a 31-29 victory in the second round of the District 1 Class 6A tourname at the Robert A. Boyer Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Haverford (20-5) advances to the quarterfinals where they await Wednesday’s winner between Great Valley and unbeaten top seed Plymouth Whitemarsh.

“This is the first time since 2012 when two of our coaches (assistants Erin Knox and Jaclyn Gantz) played on that team,” Haverford coach Lauren Pellicane said on making the quarters. “It’s pretty cool to get back here. It’s been a gap. We thought before the season we had the opportunity to do something special and we have a great group of kids who work hard each and every day, so this is a testament to them and how hard they work. Today, it just worked out for us.”

(click on this link for the full story)

Billy Rayer hit four times from beyond the arc en route to a 14-point performance and Dan Springman added 11 points as Haverford School ran out to a 43-33 victory over Abington Friends Tuesday night.

Debarrin Norman led AFS with 11 points while Ife West-Ingram added 10 in this PAISAA tournament play-in game.

Also at the PAISAA tournament:

EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 72, SHIPLEY SCHOOL 61 » Sam Malloy scored 23 points and Kevin McCarthy added 19 as EA defeated Shipley.

TJ Lamb added 16 points for the Churchmen, while Darrien Grady had 18 and Iman Jackson 12 for Shipley.

Girls Basketball

Sacred Heart started fast Tuesday night and cruised past Morrisville, 39-30, in a District 1 Class 2A girls basketball playoff game.

The Lions posted a pair of 13-point quarters en route to a 26-15 lead at halftime behind a balanced scoring effort. By the time it was over, Ainsley Davis led SH scorers with 13 points, while M.J. Donohue added 10.

Morrisville was led by Ella Quince, who scored a game-high 20 points.

In the Inter-Ac League:

GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 60, NOTRE DAME 55 » Jessica Aponik scored 17 points and Jenna Aponik added seven as GA defeated the Irish despite a fourth-quarter surge by ND.

The Irish were led by Annie Greek, who scored 23 points. Julia Dever added 15 points.

By Matt Smith

As the District 1 playoffs roll on this week, the Catholic League is down to its final four teams.

The girls semifinal doubleheader is set for Tuesday evening at Conwell-Egan High in Falls Township, Bucks County.

Top-seeded Archbishop Carroll, which is undefeated in league play, meets No. 4 Neumann-Goretti at 5:30.

Carroll clobbered West Catholic in the quarterfinal round as Taylor Wilson poured in 19 points for the Patriots in a 57-19 victory. N-G advanced to the semifinals with a 66-52 win over Lansdale Catholic.

Wilson and senior guard Grace O’Neill have been excellent for Patriots (17-4), who’ve won 13 of their last 14 contests.

“I think a lot of people did kind of sleep on us this year and we’ve come out and really proved ourselves,” Wilson said recently.

(click on this link for the full story and more playoff updates)

By Delcohoops.com Staff

Lots of schools are streaming their playoff games which is giving basketball fans lots of choices including an ability to bounce back and forth from game-to-game.  Here are the You Tube addresses for school that are streaming their games:

The Christian Academy

Haverford High School

Marple Newtown

Radnor

Springfield

Streaming is done by the home team. If your team is traveling go on You Tube and search for the home school team and you may find a link to tonight’s game.

  

By Matt Smith

After taking last year off to train for rowing, Ellie Davis was convinced she had to return to the Radnor girls basketball team this season. Her teammates are happy she’s back and playing well.

Davis, a forward/center, has been integral to the Raptors’ success under new head coach Rob Baxter. On Friday night she scored eight points, grabbed eight rebounds and came away with five steals to help No. 6 Radnor to a 44-30 win over 11th-seeded Penncrest in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A tournament. The Raptors travel to No. 3 Upper Moreland Tuesday.

“From my perspective this is probably my last chance to play basketball. I know it’s not something I’m not going to keep on doing,” Davis said. “I’m going into rowing, so I’ve got nothing to lose and I’m just looking to have fun out there. It’s been something I’ve been doing for a really long time and it’s a lot like riding a bike. It’s fun to have it as a secondary sport.”

Davis is a multi-faceted student-athlete with a bright future ahead. She is editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, the Radnorite, and in 2020 won a Keystone Press Award for her reporting on the disparity within Pennsylvania’s educational system. Davis also helmed a student-led organization called Radnor for Reform, which had a major impact on the decision to change the school’s mascot, from Raider to Raptor.

“Maybe I’ll even write for the sports page in college,” said Davis, who will attend Williams College in Massachusetts. 

(click on this link for the full story)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

 

By Bruce Adams

It would have been a tall order for No. 24 seed Kennett to defeat host Haverford Friday evening in the PIAA District 1 Class 6A tournament opener. The ninth-seeded Fords had a height advantage on the Blue Demons, led by 6-foot-1 junior forward Caroline Dotsey, 6-1 junior forward/center Mollie Carpenter and 5-8 senior guard Emma Rowland.

Despite a slow start, the Fords used a quick 9-0 run late in the second period to earn a 36-26 win and advance to the tourney’s second round. The Fords will face No. 8 seed Downingtown East Tuesday.

“We knew we had an advantage height-wise against Kennett, and we wanted to take advantage of that,” Haverford coach Lauren Pellicane said. “Defensively our goal was to limit Kennett’s threes, and limit them to one shot. We missed a lot of easy shots, I thought, but we did enough in the second half to finish a few shots and maintain our lead.”

In the first quarter, Kennett forced numerous Haverford turnovers, and the Fords trailed until Rowland’s layup tied the score at 5-5 just before the quarter ended. With a little under three minutes to go before halftime, however, Haverford went on its nine-point run in a span of 96 seconds to go ahead, 16-6.

(click on this link for the full story)