Delcohoops.com

By Matt Smith

After they made five of their first 10 attempts from the floor, the Lions cooled off considerably. Spring-Ford stormed back on the back of sensational junior guard Lucy Olsen, who poured in 12 of her game-high 18 points in the second period.

Looking for a boost before halftime, sophomore Maggie Doogan drilled a 3-pointer before time expired, giving the Lions a 23-19 advantage after two quarters.

“We had to stay calm and collected and not let our frustration get the best of us,” said Doogan, who produced nine points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals. “Our shots just weren’t falling in the second quarter, so I think that making that shot at the end gave us a little confidence to get going again.”

Olsen was fantastic in the second quarter, scoring four straight points in the third to pull the Rams even, but the Lions made adjustments on her. Olsen was held to four points on 2 of 11 shooting from the field. Everyone had a hand in disrupting Olsen’s game in the second half.

“(Olsen) is so tall. Syd is real guick, but (Olsen) can elevate over her and get her shot off,” O’Hara coach Chrissie Doogan said. “We thought Siobhan had good length and I thought Amaris (Baker) was locked in to make her hit tough shots. We didn’t put her on the foul line a lot, especially in the second half. And then with Maggie’s long arms helping, I felt like Maggie altered a couple shots when she did get into the lane.”

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By Matthew DeGeorge 

You can take your pick of which stat is more illustrative of what transpired between Valley View and Bonner-Prendergast in the PIAA Class 4A Round of 16 Tuesday night.

Option A: By the end of the third quarter, Valley View had two starters foul out. Zach Kovalchik got his marching orders to the bench with 3:57 left in the frame. TJ Noto followed three minutes later.

Option B: It took until a 3-pointer by LV Pegula in the final two minutes for Valley View to get on the right side of the ledger … in the battle for points as opposed to turnovers. It finished with 33 of the former against 31 turnovers.

Either way, in a game where more Valley View energy was spent fighting the refs than the opponent, Bonner-Prendergast used its defense to dispatch its opponent, 67-33, at Bethlehem Liberty High.

The ringleader was Tyreese Watson, who went off for a game-high 27 points. He was 10-for-14 from the field, including a pair of thunderous fast-break dunks in the third quarter, making his final six shot attempts and tallying 15 in the quarter before watching the game’s final eight minutes.

As the anger of the Cougars (18-9) ratcheted up, so did the defensive intensity of the Friars.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

A fair amount has changed from year two to year three in the life of Chester Charter Scholars Academy’s boys basketball programs. Among the highlights: The school’s name and the team’s coach.

But the most visible change for the Sabers, to augment the across-the-board improvement of a young squad, wore No. 1 Tuesday night. And it’s a prime reason why their first state tournament journey will last until at least the quarterfinals.

The Sabers spanked Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg, 72-55, in the PIAA Class A tournament’s Round of 16 at Bethlehem Liberty High, following the lead of junior point guard Malik Cook-Stephens.

He scored 12 points, part of a balanced offensive output. But he dished a team-high five assists, orchestrating a devastating offense that put the Sabers up 13 points after one quarter on the way to a runaway victory.

“Malik is a great point guard,” forward Damir Baez said. “He can see everything. He can see the whole floor without even looking at you. I love Malik as a point guard. … I just know he’s going to come to me, so I’ve got to be ready and finish.”

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By Sam Istvan 

Christian Isopi’s voice could be heard echoing off the walls of a half-empty gym in Coatesville all night. He barked out instructions like a quarterback calling audibles at the line of scrimmage.

“Corner, corner, corner!”
“Screen coming!”
“Cutter middle!”

His teammates listened and followed his words with action during a second-round PIAA state tournament game against Elizabethtown on Tuesday night, closing passing lanes, causing deflections and creating turnovers. On a night, when Archbishop Ryan’s 1-3-1 zone looked like a finely-tuned machine, Isopi was pulling the levers.

“He’s our unquestioned vocal leader out there,” Ryan coach Joe Zeglinski said of the senior forward. “He’s been great to have around, one of the best leaders I’ve been around since I started coaching. The guys follow him, follow his voice, especially on the defensive end.”

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By Josh Verlin

The first round of the PIAA state tournaments are over, and half the fields have been knocked out; what was a group of 192 teams with state title hopes –– spread across six brackets –– entering the weekend is now 96 remaining, each four wins away from hoisting that trophy.

Class 1A, 4A and 5A continue their brackets on Tuesday night; Class 2A, 3A and 6A on Wednesday.

Chester (1-3) vs. Simon Gratz (12-1)
Cardinal O’Hara, 7:30 PM
The top seed out of District 12, Simon Gratz, fields one of the area’s best backcourts with Pub MVP Yassir Stover, alongside fellow seniors and all-Pub second team selectees, Yasir Rowell and Edward Harris. The Bulldogs have more experience inside, with senior forwards Duane Satchel and Kyonn Gordon on the block. They round out the rotation with senior wing Ross Carter. The end of Gratz’s Pub season was spoiled by MCS, who beat Lynard Stewart’s team in the regular season finale, and league championship. Gratz has moved past that tough loss, recording a major win over Roman Catholic in the District 12 championship, and beating Garnet Valley 56-51 in the first round of States. Chester, coming off of a 76-63 victory over William Allen, does much of its damage inside courtesy of 1,000-point scorer Karell Watkins as well as Senior forward Zahmir Carroll. The Clippers, historically one of the winningest programs in the area, has a formidable backcourt of its own, consisting of long range shooter, senior Faheem Berry, senior point guard Akeem Taylor, nephew of Chester coach Keith Taylor. The Clippers have had a solid year by their lofty expectations. They were on a ten game undefeated streak before losing big to a Methacton team that has made a habit of running up the score against whoever they face. The Clippers have more than enough talent to pose a real threat to Simon Gratz’s chances of advancing. 

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Webmaster’s note: Delcohoops.com will audio the Chester vs Simon Gratz game LIVE tomorrow. Our broadcast begins at 7:15 PM.

By CoBL Staff

Notre Dame East Stroudsburg (11-2) vs. Chester Charter (1-1)
Liberty High School, 6 PM
After getting its first state playoff victory in school history Friday against Greenwood, the competition is going to really ratchet up for Chester Charter. Notre Dame (13-13), which plays mostly 4A-6A schools during the regular season, is under the direction of head coach Bob Mullen, who used to coach with Phil Martelli back at Bishop Kenrick and is now in his third stint with the Spartans. Notre Dame, which is on the smaller side of things, will try to push the pace but could struggle with the Sabers’ depth — coach Dan Spangler likes to use 11 or 12 players — and size, most notably 6-5 senior Damir Baez and 6-7 senior Tyler Howard. Chester Charter has a trio of juniors that will get to the basket as much as possible in Malik Cook-Stevens, Breon Showell and Sean Deshields. 

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