Delcohoops.com

By Matthew DeGeorge

Sun Valley coach Steve Maloney and his players weren’t happy when they left the court against West Chester East on Jan. 5.

After leading for long stretches, they let the game slip away in double-overtime, their third loss in four games after an 8-0 start.

But if the disappointment of that night doesn’t add any fuel to the fire of Saturday’s rematch in the District 1 Class 5A final, it’s only because the Vanguards don’t lack for motivation.

“I think it helped us,” Maloney said Friday. “We were able to see where we made mistakes before. We were up five or seven the whole game, made some mistakes on our end, both offensively and defensively, and they capitalized on it.”

The top-seeded Vikings (21-5) and No. 6 Sun Valley (18-7) square off at 2 p.m. at Temple. For both teams, reaching the Liacouras Center was among the primary season goals. Sun Valley’s path has included what fifth-year coach Maloney calls a “chip on their shoulders” stemming from his first team going 4-17.

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Webmaster’s note: Delcohoops.com will audio broadcast LIVE today’s Sun Valley PIAA District One’s championship game.  Our broadcast begins at 1:45 PM.

By Matt Smith

Garnet Valley has had many excellent girls basketball teams in the last decade.

In the last six years, for instance, the Jaguars have dominated in the regular season. No other team in Delco has matched the success the Jags have had against league opponents. They’ve lost to only one Central League team since the start of the 2013-14 campaign and have captured five conference titles in six years.

Before this season, though, the Jags always have met their match somewhere in the first few rounds of the district tournament. Last season they reached the Class 6A semifinals, but couldn’t conquer mighty Souderton. The Jags have won a few games in the state tournament over the years, but haven’t advanced to the semifinal round or beyond.

This year, in a return trip to Bensalem High School for the final four of the district tournament, the Jaguars finally checked off that one box. Wednesday’s hard-fought 42-40 win over Spring-Ford opened a new door for the Jags. For the first time in program history, the team was going to play for a District 1 title.

And it was about time.

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Webmaster’s note: Delcohoops.com will audio broadcast LIVE today’s Garnet Valley PIAA District One’s championship game.  Our broadcast begins at 3:45 PM.

By Ed Morlock

Pennridge had no answer for Lower Merion’s four corners offense.

The Aces spaced out the Rams defense and took advantage of matchups. The ball-handlers consistently beat their defenders and either finished at the rim, kicked to the three-point line or dropped a pass to a wide-open teammate under the basket.

Lower Merion used this approach for much of the game to help grab a 67-58 win over Pennridge in the District 1-6A third place game at Lower Merion High School’s Bryant Gymnasium.

“Their offense,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said, “that four corners they had they made a basket almost every time. We didn’t do a great job of handling that. That was a concern that I had.

“We had a difficult time staying in front of our man. We lunged at the ball too much. We still have that middle-school mentality that we can steal those passes — not at this level. This is new for most of our guys except for Jon Post and Sean Yoder. Everyone else this is brand new.”

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Bonner & Prendergast overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to claim a 59-57 victory over Imhotep Charter in the District 12 Class 4A championship game Friday night.

Isaiah Wong paced the Friars with 17 points and Tariq Ingraham tossed in 11 points for the Friars (286), who were playing for the first time since falling to Neumann-Goretti in the Catholic League quarterfinals last month.

Wong’s free throw in the final seconds of regulation tied the score and forced overtime. The Friars outscored the Panthers, 5-3, in the extra session and went ahead to stay with two foul shots in the final minute.

Michael Per re t t a , Tyreese Watson and Malik Edwards all scored eight points for Bonner & Prendergast. The Friars play District 3 fifth-place finisher Littlestown in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament next week.

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By Neil Geoghegan

Growth spurts are often accompanied by some growing pains.

During his freshman year at West Chester East, Andrew Carr sprouted up seven full inches. Two years later, he’s further blossomed into a 6-foot-8 star forward for the Vikings.

“I remember really feeling the growing pains in my knees,” Carr reported.

And during the 2018-18 basketball season, much like Carr himself, West Chester East has developed rather quickly, ascending from an also-ran into a district power.

“Adversity is something you have to go through,” said silky smooth swingman Tym Richardson, who along with Carr has been a big-time reason for the program’s ascension. “This has been a great learning experience for everybody.”

Carr and Richardson led the way on Tuesday as the top-seeded Vikings shook off a truly challenging first half and eventually topped Penncrest, 40-32, to advance to Saturday’s District 1 5A Title Game. That means an all Ches-Mont final, with East taking on Sun Valley at 2 p.m. at Temple’s Liacouras Center.

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Webmaster’s note: Delcohoops.com will audio broadcast LIVE today’s West Chester East PIAA District One’s championship game.  Our broadcast begins at 1:45 PM.

By Matthew DeGeorge

There are myriad ways to qualify how impressive the 1,000-point club at Chester High School is. Michael Smith’s preferred method highlighted the last person to enter the pantheon before Thursday night.

With 21 points, Smith joined that elite brotherhood, despite the Clippers falling in the District 1 Class 5A fifth-place game, 67-60 at Norristown.

“It’s a real big accomplishment because there’s a lot of people that made it, but there hasn’t been a lot of people that made it since Rondae,” Smith said. “So it’s a big accomplishment for me because I’m that next one.”

Point of fact: Smith is the first Clipper to score 1,000 points since Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a 2013 grad, two-time Daily Times Player of the Year and a current Brooklyn Net. Both Mahir Johnson and Tyrell Sturdivant in 2014 scored their 1,000th points with Chester, but most of their scoring came at high schools in Delaware. Smith is the next one after an all-everything legend to do it, which makes him the answer to a trivia question in living rooms all over Chester for decades.

The point guard, an All-Delco last year, stalled slightly as he neared the mark. He scored eight points in the first nine minutes but struggled to hit shots as the milestone neared. The Clippers derailed with him.

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