Delcohoops.com

By Matthew DeGeorge

Niymire Brown saw the right side of the basketball court open up before him in the fourth quarter Thursday evening, a lane that might as well have been lined with runway lights.

Throughout their Central League playoff opening-round game, Harriton had struggled to keep the Upper Darby forward earthbound. And the last installment of a 28-point, eight-rebound, three-block evening was by far the most emphatic.

Brown slammed home for two points in the open court, then got a curtain call on the way to the bench, his work done in a 83-61 win for the third-seeded Royals. It sends Upper Darby (17-6) to Saturday’s semifinal at No. 2 Lower Merion.

“Once the lane opens,” Brown said, “I like to fly.”

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By Sean Barnard

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a catalyst as “an event or person that causes great change.” 

The Radnor girls basketball team defines it as Mary Sareen. 

“She’s sort of like our catalyst,” head coach Rob Baxter said of Sareen. “We go as far as she goes. She can play the whole game, she doesn’t get tired, she plays good defense, she makes foul shots, she does a little bit of everything for us.”

In Radnor’s opening playoff matchup, Sareen was all over the court and making her impact felt. She led the team in scoring with 16 points and was the driving force of the 50-32 victory as fifth-seeded Randor upset fourth-seeded Garnet Valley. 

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Its district fate still unresolved, Springfield could’ve been playing its final game Thursday night in the opening round of the Central League playoffs. Without need of intervention from the district math, though, the Cougars possessed a certain power to make sure the encounter with Garnet Valley wasn’t the end of the road.

“Our message for the past couple of weeks has been to control what you can control, win every game you can,” senior guard Michael O’Donnell said. “We’ve just been treating every game like a playoff game. That’s what we did tonight; not thinking about districts, we just had our eyes on winning this game.”

Thursday, control meant O’Donnell taking over, with a game-high 22 points to lead Springfield to a 48-29 victory. It gives the fifth-seeded Cougars (12-11) five wins in a row and at least one more game, Saturday against top-seeded and unbeaten Radnor in the semis.

The Cougars’ postseason fate in the District 1 Class 6A playoffs won’t be decided by then, potentially depending on the result of Chester’s game with Chester Charter Scholars Academy that day.

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Lexi Aaron powered third-seeded Springfield to a 47-36 victory over Penncrest in a Central League quarterfinal game Thursday.

Aaron scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Cougars (19-4) to their second win over the Lions in three days. Springfield pinned a 44-27 loss on Penncrest Tuesday night. The win sends the Cougars into Saturday’s semifinals against second-seeded Conestoga. The Pioneers won the only meeting between the teams in the regular season.

Senior forward Anabel Kreydt produced eight points and 12 rebounds. Taylor Hunyet chipped in with seven points for the Cougars.

Emily Harrison paced the Lions (14-9) with 14 points. Bailey Garrison added eight points, while Cora Fattori and Kaitlyn Kearney had six apiece.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The leaders on the Springfield boys basketball team understood the deal once they had traversed the first 13 mostly unlucky games.

The Cougars, 4-9 to that point, began the season slowly while their core of football players got into form. They had gone winless in six games decided by seven points or fewer, and had been handed a daunting schedule to start the new year, resulting in a five-game skid. So right about the second week of January, the Cougars came to grasp the dire consequences each additional loss would have for their postseason hopes.

The team’s response has been stellar. The results, as yet, remain unclear.

Springfield is the fifth seed in the Central League playoffs, traveling to Garnet Valley Thursday for an opening-round game. It may be the last game of the season, depending on what the District 1 Class 6A spreadsheets say. As of Wednesday afternoon, Springfield is the precarious occupant of the 24th and final districts spot. But that could change before the seeds become official Sunday.

Webmaster’s note:  Delcohoops.com will be video streaming both the boy’s and girl’s Central League Championship games on Monday, February 13th! Tune in at 5:50 for the girl’s game and 7:20 for the boy’s game for our LIVE video broadcast!

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By Matt Smith

Penncrest’s Kyra Curci remembers what it was like to win one game her sophomore season.

Not fun at all.

Believe Curci when she tells you this isn’t the same down-on-its-luck Penncrest team that struggled to stay out of the Central League basement for years and years. Observing the Lions last winter, one may have thought they were on the right track. Rebuilding, but they had a ways to go.

Larry Johnson, the longtime women’s coach at PSU-Brandywine, was brought in last year to change the culture. He has won four PSUAC championships at Brandywine where he still serves as head coach. He splits his time between Brandywine and Penncrest.

After winning 10 games a season ago, nine more than the year prior, the Penncrest Lions started to think that maybe they could compete with the Central League’s top programs.

Webmaster’s note:  Delcohoops.com will be video streaming both the boy’s and girl’s Central League Championship games on Monday, February 13th! Tune in at 5:50 for the girl’s game and 7:20 for the boy’s game for our LIVE video broadcast!

(click on this link for the full story)