Category: Latest News

By Jack McCaffery

If a career in and around high school basketball coaching has taught Mike Brown anything, it is that plans can be fuzzy but adjustments can always provide clarity.

The stunning 48-46 victory that he guided 24th-seeded Garnet Valley to Friday night at No. 9-seed Upper Dublin in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class 6A tournament only fortified that belief.

Concerned about the Cardinals’ speed and the films having shown them to occasionally struggle from deep, Brown ordered an old-fashioned, one-foot-in-the-lane, hands-up 3-2 zone for most of the first three quarters.

“Then, they lit us up,” he shrugged. “So much for my scouting report.”

That, Upper Dublin did, going over the top for five first-half three-pointers and building a 30-14 lead on a Colin O’Sullivan triple early in the third. That’s when the Cardinals chose to go four corners.

The idea was to shorten the game. The effect was to widen the defense, the Jaguars springing both into a man-to-man and a frenzied effort to prove they were better than their seeding reflected. With Upper Dublin turning cold, Garnet Valley sizzled … and every role was reversed.

(click on this link for the full story)

 

By Bob Grotz

 It wasn’t a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt, but Marple Newtown certainly delivered Friday in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs, painting a 57-47 decision over West Chester Rustin.

The Tigers trailed three baskets to nothing when senior Justin “Bones” DiBona said enough is enough with a three-point bomb that woke his teammates and a partisan crowd at Marple Newtown High.

“When that first shot went in, it was just another basketball game,” Tigers coach Sean Spratt said. “We executed the game plan and it just kind of played itself out.”

By the end of the first quarter the seventh-seeded Tigers (14-9) began finding open men. Eric McKee got them within 12-10 entering the second frame with five of his team-high 18 points.

The Tigers never looked back after scoring 10 of the last 12 points in the first half to grab a 24-21 lead at the intermission. Jordan Bochanski, DiBona, McKee and Owen Mathes all had points in the run.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Zaiyin Keys tried to contain his grin as he fielded questions. Maz Sayed dropped all pretense of anything but elation, smiling ear-to-ear throughout.

Sayed had seen enough to understand, perhaps better than his teammate, just what transpired at Penncrest’s Kaufman Gymnasium. Twice in his career, including as a freshman at this very gym, Sayed had seen Chichester’s boys basketball team stumble at their first District 1 hurdle.

Sometimes the games were close, something not so much. But four times in five years, Clyde Jones’ Eagles had reached the first round of the postseason and progressed no further.

Keys and Sayed played starring roles in ending that futility Friday night.

Sayed scored 17 points, and Keys paired with Eddie Swinton to clamp down on Penncrest’s Saahir Lee as No. 12 Chichester upended No. 5 Penncrest, 50-43, in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.

“This feeling is amazing,” Sayed said. “It’s the first playoff win since, I don’t even know how long. I’m just very excited for my teammates.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Joseph Santoliquito

For someone who had about 90 minutes of sleep over two days, Sun Valley coach Steve Maloney looked pretty good Friday night. He was riding an adrenaline rush after his wife Amanda gave birth to their second child, a 6-pound, 14-ounce baby girl named Raelynn at 3:40 a.m. Friday morning.

Maloney wanted to stay by his wife’s side and had no intention of coaching the Vanguards on Fright night in their opening-round PIAA District 1 Class 5A playoff game against visiting Holy Ghost Prep and legendary coach Tony Chapman.

But in a scene stolen straight out of Rocky II, Amanda whispered to Steve at bedside, “Just win, and come back at 9:30.”

That’s what Sun Valley did, 54-45, behind some clutch shooting from junior Chris Kwaidah, dropping in a game-high 17, and some big plays by Todd Harper, Noah Griffin and Nick Gianakopoulos, one the Sun Valley’s two seniors.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

No. 6 Radnor (13-8) hosts 11th-seeded Penncrest (10-12) in a first-round game. Tip off is 7 p.m.

The Raptors won both meetings with the Lions during the regular season, but each contest was determined by three points or less.

Paige Yurchak made the winning basket with four seconds to give Radnor a 55-54 win Dec. 14. On Jan. 27, the Raptors stormed back from a 10-point halftime deficit to claim a 47-45 decision.

Penncrest has received solid play all season from its underclassmen, most notably freshman forward Kathryn Harding and sophomores Emily Huggins and Baily Garrison. Junior guard Kyra Curci has played well, too.

The winner of Penncrest-Radnor travels to No. 3 Upper Moreland in the quarterfinals.

Webmaster’s note:  The first round Penncrest vs Radnor game is tonight’s Game-of-the-Week. Listen to the game, LIVE, right here on Delcohoops.com!

(click on this link for all the girl’s playoff game reviews)

By Matthew DeGeorge

Garnet Valley’s boys basketball team has already felt its season end.

The Jaguars walked off the court in last Thursday’s Central League first-round game having stomached a draining double-overtime loss at Conestoga. When Ryan Mackey’s go-ahead free throws hit, the Jaguars sat 26th in the District 1 Class 6A rankings – better than the 28th they’d been a week earlier but still shy of the 24-team field.

In the coming 48 hours, mathematical machinations around the district would have to go the Jags’ way to prolong their season. It would be the final, hair-raising turns on a roller coaster they’d ridden for the last two weeks.

“It was a little nerve-wracking to be honest because we were right on the edge,” coach Mike Brown said. “The numbers seemed to change every couple of hours, every time somebody’s score comes in.”

(click on this link for the full story for all the boy’s playoff reviews)

Archbishop Carroll made quick work of West Catholic in the quarterfinal round of the Catholic League playoffs. Taylor Wilson poured in 19 points as the Patriots rolled to a 57-19 win Thursday.

Grace O’Neill produced 15 points and four assists and Maggie Grant added eight points for the top-seeded Patriots (18-4). Carroll plays Neumann-Goretti in the semifinals Tuesday at Conwell- Egan.

Wilson and O’Neill were selected to the All-Catholic League first team Thursday.

In the other PCL quarterfinal:

CARDINAL O’HARA 55, ST. HUBERT 25 » Maggie Doogan provided 14 points and Sydni Scott finished with 10 to pace the No. 2 Lions, who led 41-6 at halftime. Doogan and Scott were named firstteam All-Catholic earlier in the day.

Molly Rullo tallied eight points for O’Hara. Joanie Quinn, Greta Miller and Maria McCallen added seven points each.

O’Hara will meet Archbishop Wood in the semifinals Tuesday at Conwell-Egan.

In the Inter-Ac League:

NOTRE DAME 47, BALDWIN 27» Chloe Knox and Grace Hannah each scored nine points for the Irish, who outscored Baldwin, 26-11, in the second half. Katie Halligan contributed eight points.

By Matthew DeGeorge

 In short order, Izaiah Pasha has become central to the plan for Cardinal O’Hara. Even on a night like Wednesday, when the game wasn’t coming to him quite as easily as it has during the junior guard’s All-Catholic season, the presence of Pasha opened space for others.

It also went a long way toward opening up a 49-47 win for the eighth-seeded Lions in a Catholic League playoff affair with Bonner-Prendergast.

On a night when the Friars hung tough despite missing two starters, O’Hara needed everything it could get. And often that meant making the most of what Pasha can do, particularly when defenders flocked to him and opened space in behind for others to fill.

“With his length and his speed, he really opens up the floor,” forward Pearse McGuinn said. “He makes everything a lot easier for everyone else. You can always get an easy bucket when he facilitates.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Jerome Taylor

Even though it’s only his second time in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs, IV Pettit plays with a confidence that suggests he’s been in the league his whole high school career. 

In the first PCL playoff game ever at Devon Prep, the senior dropped 24 points, scoring with crafty finishes, dribble pull-up mid/long-range jumpers and catch-and-shoot threes. And the seventh-seeded Devon Prep needed every ounce of Pettit’s scoring to hold off tenth-seeded Archbishop Carroll for a 70-67 win in the first round of the PCL playoffs. 

The scoring started early for Pettit as the Tide jumped out to a 13-9 lead in the first quarter. But in the second frame, Blake Deegan checked in for the Patriots, and his energy played a huge role in Carroll taking a 31-30 lead into halftime.

“I told them that they need to calm down a little bit, they were really hyped with the crowd and environment,” Devon Prep head coach Jason Fisher said about what he said in the locker room at halftime. 

(click on this link for the full story)

Riley Cassidy shot 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help Episcopal Academy hold off Harriton, 49-43, in nonleague girls basketball action Wednesday night.

The Churchwomen were 11-for-13 from the line in the final period. Cassidy paced the offense with 14 points. Amanda Purcell chipped in with 10 points.

Maretta Smith topped Harriton with 11 points. Olivia Kanzinger added 10.