Delcohoops.com

By Mike Mayer, Delcohoops.com

In a classic “old school” style of basketball the Penncrest Lions and Haverford Fords fought a close battle with no team leading by more than 5 points the entire night through four quarters and two overtimes. Penncrest finally came out on top 51-49.

Neither team had great success shooting the ball all night.  Haverford shot only 39% from the field while Penncrest had an even harder time completing only 29% of their shots.

Defense was tenacious for both teams preventing easy lay-ups and fade shots. Neither team found a game rhythm all night long and it showed in unbalanced shooting attempts from all over the court.  

However, it was from the line on free throws that the Fords struggled and gave the Lions the win.  Haverford made only 8 free throws out of 20 attempts while Penncrest managed to make 24 out of 34. All 9 Penncrest points in the final O.T. were free throws.

Hunter Kraiza led the Fords with 13 points followed by John Seidman with 9 points. Sean Reynolds led with 8 rebounds.

The Lion’s point leader was Marquis Tomlin with 15 followed by Ben Stanton with 12.  Denzel Boyer led on defense with 8 rebounds.

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Once Akeem Taylor got hot there was no stopping Chester Thursday night.

Taylor scored seven of his 15 points in the second quarter to lead the Clippers to a 77-55 victory over Academy Park in Del Val League boys basketball action.

Taylor’s outburst helped Chester (8-2, 2-0) take a 13-point lead into the locker room at halftime. Karell Watkins led the attack with 18 points, 14 rebounds and two steals. Faheem Berry had 12 points and Zahmir Carroll added 11 points for Chester.

Tahriq Marrero hit three 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 27 points and Ki Henson had nine for the Knights. Marrero hit a triple at the buzzer for Academy Park’s only points in that quarter.

Penn Wood 72, Interboro 25 >> Desman Johnson Jr. was one of three players in double figures for the Patriots (5-3) with 13 points. Shamir Baunes had 11 points and Naim Powell had six of his 10 points in the first quarter as Penn Wood poured in 23 and never looked back.

Jason McWilliams led the Bucs with 10 points in the loss.

In the Central League:

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

By Mitchell Gladstone

It’s been three weeks since Garnet Valley’s lone loss this season.

And while the Jaguars have been plenty successful in the meantime — ripping off six straight victories by an average margin of more than 20 points —  that 69-56 loss at Lower Merion still eats at them.

“We didn’t have a good night,” Garnet Valley coach Mike Brown said of that Dec. 17 matchup. “To be honest, we haven’t talked about it much. … In this league, you play a game every two days.”

For all the progress the Jaguars have made, going from 8-14 five years ago to double-digit victories each of the past four seasons, Garnet Valley is still looking to get over that Central League hump and win a title for the first time since joining the league in 2008.

To do that, it almost certainly means getting past the Aces, who have captured five of the past seven Central League crowns and beaten the Jags in the six games since guard Carl Schaller arrived at Garnet Valley.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Carter Fillman 

Archbishop Wood isn’t a stranger to close games.

Early in the season, it was a hard-fought PCL opener against Bishop McDevitt and coming away with a three-point win at home. It was just a short three weeks ago when they took national power Paul VI into a seven overtime thriller, but fell short in a game where both teams soared into triple digits. Just last week, they took New Jersey power Wildwood Catholic down to the wire and came away with a two-point win in enemy territory.

And their most recent game against upstart and undefeated Cardinal O’Hara? Well, the Vikings can just add it to their rolodex of nail biters after pulling out a 67-63 win in Delaware County on Wednesday night.

“We play a tough schedule,” said Wood coach John Mosco, specifically referencing the Paul VI game. “We also have practiced situations everyday and we try to have them prepared for [anything].”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt DeGeorge

Grant Sareyka hit 1,000 career points Wednesday, but Chester Charter Scholars Academy spoiled the party.

Breon Showell scored a career-high 17 points, and Tyler Howard dominated in the paint as the Sabers pulled out a 62-56 road win.

Howard scored 14 points to go with 17 rebounds, eight blocks and three steals. Showell added four steals and five assists for CCSA (8-2), which has won five straight.

Sareyka led the Crusaders with 18 points. He’s the 13th player in school history to hit the milestone, a group that includes his uncle, Kevin Sareyka.

Isaiah Mitchell added 13 points, and Jordan Greene had 10 for TCA (9-3).

Webmaster’s note: Our Game-of-the-Week next week, January 13th, features W.C. East vs Chester Charter Scholars Academy.

By Carter Fillman & Josh Verlin

This offseason, the preseason buzz around the Philadelphia Catholic League centered around three teams: Roman Catholic, Neumann-Goretti, and Archbishop Wood, each loaded with promise and high-major Division I talent. Early in the season, Cardinal O’Hara entered the fray as a top team, still unbeaten on the season. 

And now, Bonner-Prendergast has left a message loud and clear: don’t forget about the Friars.

With the loss of two time Catholic League MVP Isaiah Wong (Miami), Tariq Ingraham (Wake Forest) and fellow starters Mike Peretta and Chris Haynes, it would not have been crazy for the average follower to forget about Bonner. 

But there was depth on that team last year, and now seniors Tyreese Watson, Donovan Rodriguez, Connor Eagan, and Oscar Uduma have stepped into the starting lineup and have paced Bonner-Prendie to a 10-1 (4-0) start to the season after knocking off fellow unbeaten Roman Catholic on the road, 81-75 in overtime on Tuesday afternoon.

(click on this link for the full story)