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By Matthew DeGeorge

It’s a rare night in the Central League that features intrigue at both ends of the standings, but Thursday delivered.

Garnet Valley walloped Lower Merion, 77-32, to claim the regular-season title, and Springfield bested Marple Newtown, 66-57, to end to a 44-game losing streak.

First, the pinnacle of the Central League, where Garnet Valley (18-1, 14-1 Central) ran out to 24-8 lead after one quarter and 51-10 at half to avenge its only loss of the season and clinch its first Central League crown.

The Jaguars hit 14 3-pointers on the night. Chris Coyne led the onslaught with a career-high 18 points. Neel Beniwal supplied all 16 of his points in the first half. Valantis Apstolopoulos added 14 points, and Carl Schaller made the operation run with nine points and 10 assists.

Also in the Central League:

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By Mitchell Gladstone

Garnet Valley had gone more than three years without a win against Lower Merion. Six games, six losses, including a 13-point defeat on the Aces’ home floor more than a month ago.

But with a Central League regular-season title for the taking, the Jaguars put that streak to bed and did so with a performance that will undoubtedly grab the attention of everyone in District 1.

Garnet Valley smashed Lower Merion 77-32 Thursday at home, starting out the night on fire and never cooling off in winnings its first-ever Central League regular-season crown. The Jags led by 16 at the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to 51-10 by halftime, knocking down nine of their 17 3-point attempts before intermission.

Four different Garnet Valley players put up double-figure points, led by senior Chris Coyne’s game-high 18, and although the Jaguars knew the crown was theirs almost from the get-go, there was still plenty to celebrate afterward.

Webmaster’s note: The Central League Boy’s and Girl’s Basketball Championships on February 11th will be audio broadcast LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com! 

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By Mitchell Gladstone

Matt Shuler often gets a relatively straightforward task from coach Chris Conlan: shut down the other team’s best offensive player. 

It’s something that Shuler does well. As a cornerback for Strath Haven, he’s used to going up against a wideout 1-on-1, with the sole objective of ensuring his man can’t make a play.

But according to Conlan, Shuler’s offensive game on the hardwood is still a work in progress.

You just wouldn’t have known that by watching Tuesday night.

With a pair of offensive outbursts in the second and fourth quarters, Shuler racked up 16 of his 19 points to lead the Panthers to a vital 55-46 win against Marple Newtown. Strath Haven, which entered the night looking to at least stay in a tie for one of the final Central League playoff spots, closed things out by shooting 12-for-17 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes. 

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The Chester locker room wasn’t the happiest of places at halftime Tuesday evening. But any displeasure carried a substantial caveat.

Yes, Chester had shot barely north of 30 percent in the first half. Yes, it had frittered away 11 turnovers against an Academy Park team that hadn’t even thrown its best full-court pressure the Clippers’ way. And yes, the Clippers’ three starting guards had as many points as fouls (six) in allowing the Knights to grab a four-point intermission edge.

But the Clippers have proven to themselves this season that they are capable of more than they showed in the first 16 minutes Tuesday. And in the second half, particularly one scorching stretch of it, they proved it to AP as well.

Chester unleashed a hellacious run after the break, scoring 48 points in 10 minutes, 34 seconds to turn a deficit that was as large as seven into an 82-56 victory to clinch the Del Val League title.

Chester (14-3) has won all six of its Del Val contests. With AP (12-6, 4-3) and Penn Wood carrying three losses each in the league, Chester can’t be passed, since the five-team conference plays only eight games in its first season without Glen Mills.

Webmaster’s note: Tomorrow, January 30th, Chichester visits Chester for our Game-of-the-Week broadcast. Our broadcast begins at 7:15 PM.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

A 10-point deficit after one quarter left Sun Valley undaunted Tuesday.

Billy Fisher hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left as the Vanguards came from behind to top Kennett, 41-40.

Fisher (12 points) and Dom Valente (14 points) hit three 3-pointers each. Nick Giannakopoulos added eight points for Sun Valley.

In the Central League:

Haverford 38, Conestoga 36 >> Sean Reynolds’ only points of the game were a tip-in at the buzzer as the Fords (10-8, 6-7) scored a thrilling win on the road.

John Seidman led the way with 11 points. Nick Colucci scored a season-high 10, and Hunter Krazia added eight.

Strath Haven 55, Marple Newtown 46 >> Matt Shuler scored 19 points, and Luke Edwards added six of his 11 in the fourth quarter as the Panthers (12-6, 7-6) won for a third straight outing.

Eric McKee led Marple Newtown with 16 points. Mike Tansey added 12 and Ben Davis chipped in 10 for the Tigers, who hit nine 3-pointers.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

For the first 80 percent of the fourth quarter and the first half of overtime Monday night, it would’ve been easy to confuse which team held which pedigree at Cardinal O’Hara High School.

The team that went nearly seven minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter, that bricked three of four free throws to start overtime – surely that had to be the nine-win team last year. And the team that made clutch shots, leading by six with 1:28 to play in regulation and by four in overtime, wasn’t that the team that made a state final last year?

The roles were temporarily reversed Monday. And if not for a couple of veteran moments provided by Malik Edwards and Connor Eagan, it might have finished that way.

Instead, Edwards, the Bonner-Prendergast junior guard, scored seven points in the final 70 seconds of regulation, then Eagan provided both a knockdown 3-pointer to put Bonner up for good and a block to keep them up in a thrilling, 66-64 overtime win before a raucous, packed house at O’Hara.

Edwards stepped to the fore first. Bonner (13-4, 8-2 Catholic League) had led by as many as 15 points in the first half, including a 16-2 margin after one quarter. But it found itself down six points with less than two minutes to play in regulation, thanks to going 6:51 without a field goal to start the final quarter, leading to a 17-4 O’Hara run.

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. Matthew DeGeorge was our halftime guest (59:10) and #3 Malik Edwards was our post game interview (2:12:40).

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