Delcohoops.com

By Konner Metz

Every time a white jersey caught the basketball beyond the 3-point line with a bubble of space, the Marple Newtown faithful were visibly and audibly antsy to see the ball through the net. 

Most of the time Saturday night, those wishes from the home crowd were answered. 

Marple Newtown shot lights out from deep, drilling 14 three-pointers on 20 attempts en route to a hard-fought, high energy 74-64 victory over Strath Haven. The green light, trigger-happy mentality from beyond the arc was exactly what the Tigers needed after scoring just 40 points in a loss to Penncrest two nights prior.

“That’s this year’s approach, we’re big on being shot ready off the ball,” coach Sean Spratt said. “I think the big thing is, we were here two nights ago and it was our worst shooting night of the year. 

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

A year ago, Chris Kwaidah was one of Delco’s most prolific 3-point shooters as a junior at Sun Valley.

A year older and stronger, Kwaidah’s shooting touch remains. But the skillet surrounding his long-range ability is so much more complete. So in games like Saturday’s 66-59 win over Upper Merion, you might have expected the back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to stem the tide of a Vikings’ rally – one a catch-and-shoot on the wing; one an in-your-face transition triple.

But the other plays that made a difference, like Kwaidah swooping in for a put-back and-1 in a rampant first half for the Vanguards, are newer aspects to his game. With it comes hope that the Vanguards can reach a new level this postseason.

Kwaidah led all scorers with 22 points. Sixteen came in a first half when Sun Valley led by as many as 25 and built a 40-20 lead over the sleep-walking visiting Vikings, in a nonleague clash of teams sitting ninth and 12th in the District 1 Class 5A power rankings. He then added a pair of triples just when Upper Merion had charged back to within 55-52, putting the game away in the final three minutes.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

Haverford added another win to the total Saturday, in sight of the regular-season linished line.
Caroline Dotsey scored 16 points as the Fords moved to 19-0 with a 36-33 win over Conestoga and earned the 300th career win for head coach Lauren Pellicane. It’s the second narrow win for the Fords (13-0 Central) over the Pioneers this season« with a two-point overtime win in December. Sky Newman tossed in eight points, and Mollie Carpenter and Rian Dotsey added six points apiece.

Also in the Central League:

Springfield 54, Harriton 27 » Kaitlyn Kearney poured in 19 points as the Cougars moved into a tie for second place in the league with Conestoga at two league losses. Mia Valerio paired 10 points with five steals« and Cora Fattori chipped in eight points.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

As we close in on the last three weeks of the regular season we will begin to post the PIAA District One rankings to keep track of those teams qualifying for the District Championship playoffs.

Click on this link: D1 Playoff Brackets

By Matt Smith

Academy of Notre Dame’s Lizzie Halligan scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the second quarter en route to a 60-37 win over Agnes Irwin School.

Annie Greek had nine points in the second quarter and six in the third period on the way to a 17-point performance. Chloe Knox and Katie Halligan each contributed six points. Simone Harvey netted a team-high 14 points for the Owls, who received a nine-point effort by Gabrielle Seibert.

In other Inter-Ac League action:

Penn Charter 52, Episcopal Academy 31 >> Gaeli Keffer-Scharpf tallied eight of her team-high 12 points in the second half, but the Churchwomen couldn’t keep up with the first-place Quakers. Bella Notaro chipped in eight points.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Josh Verlin

After seeing more than 70 high school games already this season, I figured it would be a good time to mention some players who I felt have taken a significant step forward over the last year.

Keep in mind: this isn’t every player I’ve liked this year, or anything like that. I tried to limit it to players who felt in a specific range: someone I’d seen play previously (in the summer or beforehand), and have now seen again recently, who have clearly made steps in their progression as a player. 

(It goes without saying this doesn’t include players I haven’t yet seen this year, players I felt were already performing at a high level, or players who I don’t have a point of comparison with from earlier in their high school careers.)

(click on this link for the full story)