Delcohoops.com

By Matt Chandik

 Marquis Tomlin was still breathing a little heavy some 20 minutes after his Penncrest team cemented a spot in the PIAA Class 5A state tournament with a 43-34 win over rival Strath Haven at Kaufman Gymnasium.

Because of Tomlin, though, the Lions were breathing a lot easier after having to fend off the Panthers for the third time in four meetings this year. With starting guard Saahir Lee out of the lineup due to an injury sustained against Lower Merion, coach Mike Doyle leaned heavily on Tomlin to do, well, just about everything.

The senior guard poured in 13 of his game-high 16 points in the second half and effectively shut off Strath Haven’s main source of offense by limiting Luke Edwards to one field goal and two attempts in the final three quarters. The points are always nice and they were needed Saturday night, but Tomlin has always prided himself on his defensive work, and it was on full display.

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By Mitchell Gladstone

Three years ago, Chester Charter didn’t exist.

But when the school opened up just two miles down 9th Street from Chester High, there were going to be expectations. That’s just what happens when you play in a community that can lay claim to eight PIAA state championships and another 10 runner-up finishes.

The question was how the Sabers were going to live up to those expectations.

It started by building a program. Chester Charter played nine guys Saturday afternoon, all of whom were juniors or seniors.

Then came challenging themselves. The Sabers took on much bigger schools like Penncrest, West Chester East and Unionville, only to get blown out.

But it’s all lead to winning, and with its second victory of the season against The Christian Academy, Chester Charter secured its first District 1 Class 1A title in school history. After trailing by as many as 10 in the second quarter, the No. 2 seed Sabers surged with a 16-4 spurt out of the half and took down the top-seeded Crusaders 63-56 at Lower Merion.

“It means everything for our school,” coach Daniel Spangler said of winning the district crown. “If you know the city of Chester, they support us almost as much as they support Chester High. We’re still new on the scene, but we’re getting a lot of love from the city.”

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By Bill Rudick

Top-seeded West Chester East jumped out to a big early lead against No. 8 Radnor, then cruised to a decisive 68-48 victory in front of a capacity home crowd Saturday in the quarterfinals of the District 1 Class 5A championships.

With the win, the Vikings (22-2) move on to the semifinals against Rustin, a 62-51 winner over No. 4 Unionville, and guarantee themselves a return trip to the state tournament.

“I’m a senior, so for my last season, I really wanted to get another chance to play in states, so to know we’re going feels great,” said the Vikings’ Tym Richardson. “We also still have a shot at a district title, and after losing in the finals last year, it shows the kind of work we put in (during) the offseason to be in a position to get back to the finals. Winning one this year as a senior would be a great way to go out.”

Richardson had a great night, matching his jersey number with 21 points, 18 from the field and a perfect 3 for 3 from the line. But for Richardson, it was the job he and his teammates did on the other end that spelled the difference.

“We work hard on defense,” Richardson said. “We believe that defense turns our offense. We knew we had a size advantage, and we took advantage of it.”

Behind that defense, the Vikings opened the game on a 17-2 run, and led 19-7 at the break. They never looked back.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

If you were measuring just the battle of the bigs in the first half Friday night, you might’ve thought the scoreboard at the Fred Pickett Memorial Gymnasium was a little off.

On one side, Lower Merion’s sensational 6-9 sophomore Demetrius Lilley was dominant, accounting for 13 points. On the other, Chester’s 6-7 Karell Watkins was just OK, by his lofty standards – four points, four boards, as many baskets made as he’d had attempts swatted away by Lilley (two).

But Watkins had the last laugh, with Lilley rooted to the bench, in a battle of underclassmen who seem destined to stamp their names in the history book of District 1’s most exalted rivalry.

Watkins was unstoppable in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of his game-high 23 points in the frame as Chester withstood a run by Lower Merion to pull out a 54-46 win in the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals.

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: Missed the game? Listen to the entire game on our archive file listed below. Go to our Broadcast Archives page for all game archives.

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By Matt Smith

Jack Cavanaugh received high praise from coach Bob Miller after Upper Darby’s 73-68 victory over Plymouth Whitemarsh in a District 1 Class 6A playback game Friday night.

“That was the best game he’s had all season,” Miller said.

And in the biggest game of the 19th-seeded Royals’ season, where a win kept them alive for a berth in next month’s PIAA tournament and a loss would send them home for good, Cavanaugh delivered in the clutch.

Cavanugh, a sharpshooting senior guard, buried the go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter after Plymouth Whitemarsh went ahead on a trey by exciting freshman guard Qudire Bennett.

“If you watched him all offseason and every day in practice, he’s a kid who makes shot after shot. He just hasn’t had a night like this,” Miller said. “I told my assistant coaches that when we lost (junior guard) Shareef Jones (to a season-ending injury) for playoffs, that we really need Jack to step up and make some shots.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Josh Verlin

3) Penncrest vs. 6) Strath Haven
The other league matchup in the 5A quarterfinals is this battle of Central League foes, who met twice during the regular season and again during the playoffs. Penncrest (20-6) won two of the three meetings, as Mike Doyle’s Lions captured a 57-52 win at Haven on Dec. 17 and a 48-44 decision at home in the first round of the Central League playoffs, though the Panthers (16-8) beat Penncrest on their home court 50-47 on Jan. 30. So no matter what, expect this one to be close, as Penncrest goes for its fourth straight 5A state appearance (the Lions won the district in ‘17 and ‘18), while Haven just won a district 5A game for the first time in three tries since the state changed classification systems four years ago.

(click on this link for all the 5A game previews)

Webmaster’s note: The Strath Haven vs Penncrest 5A Quarter-final will be audio broadcast LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com tonight at 6:45!