The All-Delco Boy’s Basketball Team

 

By Matthew De George

First Team

Tyler Norwood, Jr. G, Penncrest
Conner Delaney, Sr. G, Episcopal Academy
A.J. Hoggard, Fr. G, Arch. Carroll
Jamar Sudan, Sr. F, Chester
Nick Alikakos, Sr. F, Episcopal Academy
John Harrar, Sr. F, Strath Haven

Second Team

Ahrod Carter, Sr. G, Chester
Austin Laughlin, Jr. G, Garnet Valley
Kharon Randolph, Jr. G, Haverford School
Christian Ray, So. F, Haverford School
Pernell Ghee, Sr. F, Penn Wood
Ajiri Johnson, Jr. F, Bonner & Prendergast

(click on this link for the Third Team and Honorable Mention listings)

 

It’s been a great season – Thank you!

By Mike Mayer, Webmaster

Another season has come and gone for us here at Delcohoops.com.

Unfortunately none of the 23 high school teams we cover made it to Hershey this year but that is the unknown nature of sports. We followed all the boys’ teams (and occasionally girls’ team as well) for almost four months, over 400 games and we broadcast 20 games this year including the Central League Championship games (boys and girls). We covered the PIAA District One playoffs including the finals and got deep into the PIAA state playoffs despite snow postponements.

Over 150,000 people checked our pages during the season and more than 15,000 of you tuned into our weekly LIVE audio game broadcasts (or listened to the archived version).

By any standard it has been an outstanding year for our little project we call Delcohoops.com. The positive responses we get from players, coaches, friends and family as well as the fans make our efforts all the more worthwhile.  We know what we do is appreciated but it’s always nice to hear it from our viewers and listeners.

A big thank-you to our sponsors who are listed on the right side of this page. A special thanks to Burman Medical Supplies who steps up every year and underwrites these pages and broadcasts to guarantee that we can afford to do what we do and make sure we are able to cover the playoffs as deep as our teams compete.  Please patronize all our sponsors whenever possible.  It cost several thousand dollars to do everything we do and you reap the benefit of their generosity.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

Walker, Red Knights bring state championship to Reading

  

By Michael Bullock

Finally …

Back in a state championship setting for the first time in 44 seasons, when a one-point reversal at Harrisburg’s Farm Show Arena spoiled a celebration, Reading’s Red Knights took the Giant Center floor Saturday night hoping to erase those lingering memories.

And with a huge crowd offering all sorts of high-decibel support throughout — many of them fittingly decked out in red — let’s just say those pulling for the Berks Countians were not disappointed when they hopped in their cars and headed for home.

Lonnie Walker (above) puts the punctuation mark on Reading’s first-ever state championship. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Lonnie Walker was not about to let that happen.

Not to his team.

And certainly not to those who call Reading home.

Stuffing the stat sheet in the final game of his splendid high school career, Walker scored 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists and registered four steals as Reading downed Pine-Richland 64-60 in the PIAA’s Class 6A championship game before a record crowd that spent the night hooting and hollering.

“We finally did it,” a grinning Walker cracked. “This is just for the city of Reading. There’s nothing I can really explain that’s going through my head, but I finally got that ring. I finally brought that state ‘chip to the city of Reading.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

Wood finishes off dream season with state championship

  

By Josh Verlin

For anything to happen other than Archbishop Wood hoisting the PIAA Class 5A trophy at the conclusion of Friday night would mean Meadville would have managed to find a way to get one of the most confident and most consistent teams in the state off its game.

It didn’t happen.

Collin Gillespie (above) flirted with a triple-double as Archbishop Wood captured its first-ever state championship. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Not even for a minute.

A Vikings squad that set sky-high expectations with impressive early-season play lived up to them through the final game of the year, putting on a dominant performance against the Bulldogs, capturing the program’s first state championship with a 73-40 win.

“It’s crazy, it’s always a dream of every kid playing high school basketball, especially in Pennsylvania, to get here and win on the biggest stage there is, and we did it,” senior Matt Cerruti said afterwards. “Pretty good feeling to go out, last game for our four seniors of our career, to win the state championship, you can’t really describe that.”

“We worked hard for this all summer, all year, and it just feels good to go out on top,” senior Collin Gillespie, the Vikings’ stalwart Villanova commit, said with his typical stone-faced expression.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

Boyertown wins first state championship, 46-35, over North Allegheny

  

By Tom Nash

Her teammates were out of control.

Boyertown celebrates their victory over North Allegheny in the PIAA Class 6A girls’ basketball championship game at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA on Friday, March 24, 2017. (Mark Palczewski | Special to PA Prep Live)

The moment was just too much for them.

“Guys! We haven’t even gotten the trophy yet,” said Abby Kapp with a bright smile pointing to the shining trophy still yet to be presented at midcourt.

Behind Kapp, Boyertown overcame a slow start Friday night and claimed the program’s first PIAA Class 6A Championship with a 46-35 win over North Allegheny at the Giant Center in Hershey.

“No one could contain their excitement,” said Kapp with a laugh of the postgame celebration. “That was such a special moment.”

Similar to the postgame festivities, Kapp kept the Lady Bears level throughout the early goings of the game Friday night, scoring 10 of her team’s 14 first-half points as Boyertown took a five-point deficit into the locker rooms. North Allegheny, the District 7 champion, was hardly dominant, but looked plenty in control early on.

That all changed during the second half. Boyertown, the sixth seed out of District 1, utilized an eight-minute, 18-2 advantage between the third and fourth quarters to ultimately seal it.

The opening 16 minutes looked to be anything but the team that played its way through the district and state playoffs earlier this month. Boyertown committed 13 turnovers and shot just 4-for-18 from the field in the first half, that effort polished a bit by Kylie Webb’s 3-pointer a minute before the halftime buzzer sounded.

(click on this link for the full article)