Delcohoops.com

By Matt Smith

Strath Haven’s Luke Edwards wanted to be more assertive in the second half Wednesday night. The junior guard knew he had to keep shooting and build upon a solid first half in which he scored six points.

But he knew he had to be better to ensure his team’s victory in the opening round of the District 1 Class 5A tournament.

“I just kept on thinking that I have to keep attacking, keep setting plays for the teammates,” Edwards said. “Read and react. I knew I had to get to the basket or to pull up and shoot. Just trying to react and make a play any way I can.”

Edwards made quite a few plays during a third-quarter run that changed the complexion of Haven’s battle with No. 11 Phoenixville. He poured in 10 of his game-high 18 points in the third period to help No. 6 Strath Haven to a 45-40 victory.

“Everyone contributes, it wasn’t just me,” Edwards said. “We look to attack holes. If one guy attacks the hole, and if my guy collapses, we look to kick out and move the ball around. That’s what we do. We’re always trying to make plays for each other.”

Despite Edwards’ 4-for-5 shooting performance in the third quarter, the Panthers weren’t in the clear yet. They led by seven points going into the final stanza, but the Phantoms (13-10) clawed back to make it a one-point game with 3:30 to go.

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By Bob Grotz

Penncrest was favored to defeat Chichester in the first round of District 1 Class 5A playoffs Wednesday.

After all, the Lions were seeded third, the Eagles 14th. Nobody expected a 57-23 beatdown that looked worse than the math.

Certainly not with the Lions missing point guard Saahir Lee, out with an injury. High school starting lineups can be fragile.

The Lions (20-6) didn’t miss a beat as they turned to Marquis Tomlin to do much of the ball-handling and Aidan Carroll to make Chi’s leading scorer, Josh Hankins, wish somebody else was guarding him.

“Hankins was one of the leading scorers in the county,” Lions coach Mike Doyle said. “And Carroll just gave up himself to play him. Carroll’s a shooter and we asked him just to run around and chase (Hankins) the entire game. And it really stymied them. They had no one else to go to.

“Hankins is their facilitator, he’s their engine. When he has it going on, he’s getting everyone else involved. He couldn’t’ get the ball and nobody else was involved. That was a key.”

The Lions take on Strath Haven, the sixth seed that beat Phoenixville in the first round, Saturday in the next round at Kaufman Gymnasium. They’ve played three times, the Lions losing once, on a buzzer-beater at home. Better get there early for the preferred seating.

Webmaster’s note: The District One, 5A quarter-final this Saturday between Strath Haven and Penncrest will be audio broadcast right here on Delcohoops.com. Our broadcast begins at 6:45 PM.

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By Bruce Adams

Church Farm, the No. 3 seed in the PIAA District 1 2A boys’ basketball tournament, had a tall order on its hands coming into Delco Christian’s gym Wednesday evening for the district semifinal.

The Griffins (10-10) faced the star senior twin towers of 6-foot-6 Jackson Piotrowski (the MVP of the Bicentennial League’s Presidents Division) and 6-foot-4 Obinna Nwobodo (first team All-BAL) anchoring a high-scoring Knights’ squad that had won the last two District 1 2A titles.

Trailing by eight points at halftime, the Griffins revved up their defense in the second half to spark a 65-44 win that put them into the district final against No. 1 Dock Mennonite (scheduled for Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. at Lower Merion High School), and locked up a PIAA 2A state tournament berth.

For No. 2 seed Delco Christian (17-9), aiming for its seventh state tourney berth in eight years, the loss meant the season was over. In the second half, Church Farm outscored the Knights, 44-15.

“I think it was attention to detail; we took a lot of charges in the second half,” said Church Farm head coach Jonathan Guarente. “We were able to get [Piotrowski and Nwobodo] in foul trouble, and once we did that we were able to take control of the game.”

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By Jack McCaffery

Just before Radnor was about to lose its only playoff basketball game last season, the key juniors were removed from the game.

The thinking began at that point.

It has yet to end.

So it was on the eve of what would be a 50-41 first-round victory Wednesday over visiting Upper Moreland in the PIAA District One Class 5A tournament that the Raiders’ captains would recall that scene one last time.

“We were down double digits, about a minute left, at Unionville,” Jack d’Entremont would recall. “I just remember that feeling. We said we would not go through that again. So we really used that to motivate us tonight to get the job done.”

That pregame conversation involving d’Entremont, Pat Boujoukos and Josh Savadove resonated and the Raiders responded, taking an early lead, keeping command for most of the game, holding off a tidy Upper Moreland fourth-quarter rally and earning a quarterfinal date Saturday at top-seeded West Chester East.

The rangy, 6-5 d’Entremont, who is receiving intense interest from several Division 3 programs, scored 22 points and used his length to key multiple successful Radnor defenses.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

You can call it a District 1 game. You can add whatever classification you want. But make no mistake, what transpired between Academy Park and Penn Wood Wednesday night was first and foremost Del Val basketball.

Twice this season the teams had met, the home team winning by two each time. And through 33 turnovers, 30 fouls and dozens more hard but clean plays in the rubber match, there emerged just enough shot-making to lead the No. 7 Patriots to a 46-38 win over the Knights in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A tournament.

It’s only fitting, given the hard-nosed nature of things, that the game’s leading scorer entered halftime with just three shot attempts. Jerry Flynn came out for the third quarter not just sporting a new jersey – No. 25, after a cut on his right arm had blood-stained his usual No. 10 – but with a renewed commitment to get involved on offense.

Flynn hit all three of those attempts in the first half to stake Penn Wood to a three-point lead. But after the break, he asserted himself on more than just the offensive glass.

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By Kevin Cooney

From the earliest parts of the morning on Monday until the last class on Wednesday afternoon, there was that gnawing feeling sitting in the pit of Steve Cianci’s stomach.

“I worked in school, but it was always there in the back of your mind,” the senior center for Holy Ghost Prep said. “It’s a mix of excitement and terror.”

He wasn’t the only Firebird who felt that way. From the time his team left the court on Saturday after beating The Christian Academy for the Bicentennial Athletic League title, Tony Chapman’s gut was in full churn.

“I was very concerned about the whole situation,” Chapman said. “So much emotion went into the four league games. If we had a week off, that would have been different. We played Saturday, took off Sunday and our practice on Monday was one of the poorest practices of the year. (Tuesday) was a little better, but not great. So I was really concerned.”

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