Category: Latest News

The Upper Darby girls basketball team went out in winning style Tuesday.

Senior guard Aubrey Ennis produced 20 points, six assists, five steals and five rebounds as the Royals ended its season with a 52-10 victory Interboro.

Kareemah McCafferty supplied 14 points, four steals and three assists for Upper Darby (4-17). Alliyiah Jean-Baptiste contributed 12 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

In the Inter-Ac League:

PENN CHARTER 63, EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 32 » The Quakers wrapped up the league title behind Aleah Snead’s 21-point performance.

Amanda Purcell led the Churchwomen with 10 points. Riley Cassidy

added nine.

Boys Basketball

Josh Parks got to his 1,000th career point in style Monday night. The Delco Christian senior guard scored 27 points to lead Delco Christian to a 50-35 win over Calvary Christian in the first round of the Bicentennial Athletic League playoffs.

Parks hit three 3-pointers and got past the mark in the third quarter.

Jace Kees and Caleb Jameson hit three 3-pointers each for nine points for the Knights (11-12).

Also in the BAL tournament:

COLLEGIUM CHARTER 86, DELCO CHRISTIAN 31 » A 24-5 disadvantage in the second quarter ended the Knights’ run in the tournament in Tuesday’s second round. They allowed Collegium to hit 14 3-pointers.

Jameson led the way with 10 points. Parks scored eight for the Knights (11-13).

By Matt Smith

The big game atmosphere didn’t faze Haylie Adamski. Not in the least.

Garnet Valley’s freshman sensation came ready to dominate in the Central League final Monday.

The 5-11 Adamski was simply unstoppable Monday night before a packed crowd at Ridley High.

Adamski went off for a game-high 22 points as the Jaguars routed Marple Newtown, 39-27. It’s the program’s sixth Central League title in eight years.

After two up-and-down seasons, the Jags have won 14 of their last 17 games after a 4-4 start. Who knows where they would be without their budding star, Adamski, who shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc and had 11 points after the first quarter.

“I had to stay composed because I knew that the other team’s crowd (student section) was going insane and they were really loud,” Adamski said. “Our crowd helped us and our bench has been the best that it’s ever been. My teammates really helped me throughout the game.”

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By Joseph Santoliquito

The chants from the behind the Garnet Valley bench grew louder and louder, “She’s a freshman,” reminding the rest of the Ridley gym that what they were seeing was going to be happening for a few years more.

A few months ago, Haylie Adamski was not as assured where her shot was going each time the ball left her fingertips. On Monday night, the 5-foot-11 Garnet Valley freshman knew where it would go—translating into a game-high 21 points in leading the Jaguars to their sixth Central League girls’ basketball title in the last eight years with a dominant 39-27 victory over Marple Newtown.

The Jaguars (18-7) have now won Central League titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019—when they won the District 1 Class 6A championship and finished as state runner-up—and now 2021.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

It’s been awhile since Radnor defeated Lower Merion in basketball.

The best guess right now according to modern historians is roughly 1984. That’s at least a lifetime and change ago for the current Raptor players, although the way they battled Monday, that’s certainly subject to change.

Two minutes into the third quarter of the Central League championship game between the teams at Ridley High, right around the time the concession stand was low on hot dogs, pizza and the latest rage, walking tacos, the Raptors scored eight straight points to erase what had been a 12-point deficit late in the first half.

Though it was still a one-point game early in the final frame, the Raptors couldn’t keep up, the Aces working hard for a 59-49 victory and yet another Central League title thanks largely to 6-10 senior Demetrius Lilley, who scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including thundering back-to-back dunks.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The change in numbers felt right for Demetrius Lilley. He had come to love No. 35, chosen in part because it was one of the few in the Lower Merion storage closet that would fit his 6-10 frame. But when principal Sean Hughes died in a car accident in November, and a grieving Lower Merion community sought ways to memorialize their beloved principal, Lilley knew how he wanted to do that.

Instead of 35, the Penn State commit would don No. 14, for the 14 years that Hughes spent as principal, an on-court counterpoint to the “Hughes 14” warmups shirts and the shirseys coaches would sport on the sidelines.

Another change in number beckoned for Lilley Monday night, for a much less profound reason. But the sense of purpose behind his performance remained unflinching.

Wearing No. 25, the Aces blood jersey after a first-half cut on his wrist, Lilley scored 20 points and 17 rebounds, hauling top-seeded Lower Merion to a 59-49 win over a game Radnor in the Central League final at Ridley High School.

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: Listen to our interview with Lilley at the end of Lower Merion’s victory. Listen on our archive below at the 1:31:10 mark.

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By Ty Daubert

Lower Merion’s Demetrius Lilley is back at full strength.

Hampered by back issues that cost him the first four games of the season, the 6-foot-9 center feels like he’s at his best once again when it matters most for the Aces. Vying for the Central League title on Monday night, Lilley appeared just fine physically as he slammed home back-to-back dunks to help Lower Merion pull away late in the game.

“My back feels amazing right now,” Lilley said. “That’s why I can get back to my teammates and help them win.”

Lilley’s pair of emphatic dunks capped a 10-point fourth quarter for the senior as he led the Aces to a 59-49 victory over Radnor in the league championship game at Ridley High School.

“It feels amazing,” Lilley said. “Any way I can help my team win, I can bring to the table. I guess those two dunks were the spark to the fourth quarter.”

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Webmaster’s Note: Listen to our interview with Lilley at the 1:31:10 mark on the archive below.

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By Matt Smith

Garnet Valley’s path to the Central League championship game was not predictable and there were many speed bumps along the way. Such is the case with a young team.

The Jaguars have been rebuilding ever since the final buzzer sounded in the 2019 PIAA Class 6A final at Hershey’s Giant Center. The loss in the state title game marked the end of an incredible era that included multiple league titles and a District 1 championship.

Ava Possenti was a bench player on that 2018-19 team, so she understands what it’s like to be a freshman on a veteran-laden squad. The combo guard is now a third-year starter and co-captain, a leader and mentor for the underclassmen.

“It’s definitely been awesome to be a part of a young team,” said Possenti, who has recruiting interest from Coastal Carolina. “I could tell at the beginning of this season that this team is completely different. This team is amazing. We’ve definitely built so much chemistry throughout the year and you could see that with the past couple of games. We’ve finally been playing like a team.”

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Webmaster’s note: Both the Girls and Boys Central League Championship game will be audio broadcast LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com!

By Matt Smith

The Radnor and Chester boys basketball teams have earned the top two seeds in the District 1 Class 5A tournament.

Top-seeded Radnor (21-2), which plays Lower Merion in the Central League final Monday, meets the winner of No. 8 Sun Valley (14-9) and No. 9 Holy Ghost Prep (13-9) in the quarterfinal round on Feb. 22.

Del Val League champion and No. 2 Chester (15-3) awaits the winner of No. 7 Marple Newtown (13-8) and 10th-seedes Rustin (11-11) in the quarterfinals.

No. 12 Chichester (9-12) travels to fifth-seeded Penncrest (14-8) in the opening round on Friday.

Six teams qualify for the PIAA Class 5A tournament.

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: Selected PIAA District One playoff games will be broadcast LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com. Check out our Schedules page for which games will be broadcast! 

By Matthew DeGeorge

The mantra from the Radnor bench Saturday, as it has been most of the season, was getting to three. Three straight stops, the rallying cry goes, and you can create serious cushion on the scoreboard.

In a raucous first quarter of the Central League semifinal against Haverford Saturday afternoon, those stops eluded them. But once the Raptors dutifully ground out one, then two, then three stout defensive possessions in a row, the momentum snowballed … all the way into a Central League final.

Radnor put the clamps on Haverford over the fin

al three quarters, riding 21 points and 14 rebounds from Jackson Hicke to a 53-38 win.

Second-seeded Radnor (20-2) advances to Monday night’s final against top-seeded Lower Merion. The game is at Ridley at 7:45. The Aces routed No. 4 Conestoga, 55-33, in the other semifinal.

Radnor led, 20-17, after an opening quarter in which both offenses had the run of the gym. But Radnor’s defense adjusted more quickly and more thoroughly to grab the advantage.

“I think we just have to keep talking together, staying together and committing,” point guard Danny Rosenblum said. “We always say, three stops in a row, because our offense really feeds from our defense, and just committing to it is our game plan.”

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By Jerome Taylor

Once Jackson Hicke pulled down the defensive rebound, he hit his stride quickly and got to the rim for a coast-to-coast finish. 

The very next play, he drove down the middle of the lane, finished a layup through contact and completed the and-one. Hicke’s personal 5-0 run sent Radnor to the locker room at halftime with an eight-point lead over Haverford. 

And they didn’t look back. 

The junior finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds in the 53-38 victory, and now the Raptors are heading to the Central League finals. 

“Jackson has had that in him all year…he’s so intelligent, and he learned this whole year how to get himself ready for this moment,” Radnor head coach Jamie Chadwin said. “[Haverford] is one of the best defensive teams you’re going to see, and it didn’t matter to him. He’s going to find a way to get the space he needed and be aggressive and put his best out there against their best.”

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