Delcohoops.com

By Matt Smith

The Sun Valley girls basketball team has made a habit of staging comebacks this season.

When the Vanguards fall behind, they never count themselves out.

“Coming back is kind of our thing,” said junior Luci Damico, the team’s versatile guard/forward. “We’re usually a slow-starting team, and we usually come back. That’s what we all had on our minds today. We just weren’t going to stop. I knew before the fourth quarter that we had to stay calm because I knew we were still in it.”

Trailing by nine points in the fourth quarter, Sun Valley stormed back to earn a 57-55 victory over Academy Park. Damico hit a 3-pointer to give the Vanguards a 52-50 lead, highlighting a 19-8 run to close the game.

Samantha Baron, who tallied seven of her 14 points in the final quarter, was clutch on defense by getting a hand on Alaysia Kinlaw’s last-second 3-point attempt.

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Kristian Chambers scored 12 points to help the Chester boys basketball team snap a three-game skid with a 52-47 victory over visiting Mount Pleasant (Del.) Saturday afternoon.

Dallas Thompson contributed 11 points, while Ra’Shaad Dorsey chipped in eight for the Clippers (5-5).

In other nonleague action:

Sun Valley 70, Academy Park 43 >> Solid efforts by Aaron Freeman (18 points) and Dino Demidio (15) helped carry the Vanguards to a blowout of the Knights.

Chester Charter SA 76, Mt. Calvary Christian 40 >> Zion Robinson powered CCSA with 20 points. Jah Sabb added 18.

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By Andrew Robinson

Janie Preston prefers taking on people her own size.

The Conestoga senior would much rather go one-on-one against another strong frontcourt player, as she did Friday night against Haverford and Rian Dotsey, then have two or even three smaller defenders come swarming on every touch.

“I definitely like it. When we play smaller teams, it feels like it’s always a triple team where tonight was me verses Rian,” Preston said. “It helps my game a lot because I’ll see that more at the next level than I have in a lot of games here.”

Preston’s poise and experience went a long way as the Pioneers won a Central League slugfest 38-32, handing the host Fords their first loss of the season.

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The Penncrest boys basketball team stayed perfect Friday night.

Mikey Mita and Sean Benson each scored 13 points, powering the Lions to a 59-34 Central League win over Radnor and improving their record to 10-0 on the campaign.

Will Stanton and Theo Gladue both chipped in eight points for the Lions, who held a 34-6 lead at halftime.

Matt Szychulski had a team-high eight points for the Raptors.

Garnet Valley 56, Ridley 47 >> Jake Sniras erupted for 21 points as the Jaguars overcame a three-point halftime deficit to take down the Green Raiders. Grayson Golek added 11 points for the Jaguars.

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Molly Rullo scored 17 points to move ahead of coach Chrissie Doogan on Cardinal O’Hara’s all-time scoring list and lead the Lions to a 58-29 victory over Bonner-Prendergast on Thursday.

Rullo is now second on O’Hara’s all-time scoring list to Kristen Clement.

Leah Hudak added 12 points for the Lions, while BrigidAnne Donohue scored 11 points. For the Pandas,Kayla Epps led the way with 10 points.

Sun Valley 57, Renaissance Academy 31 >> The Vanguards (7-3) were down by three at halftime but outscored their opponent by 27-7 in the third quarter to cruise to victory.

Junior Luci Damico scored a career high 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Sun Valley. Brielle Wright had 12 points and Rylee Hoesch scored 10.

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By Josh Verlin

January is the month of girls’ basketball showcases, with terrific events on each of the next four weekends showcasing many of the area’s top teams and players. It starts this upcoming Sunday with the annual Blue Star Invitational, which will have two courts at Jefferson University going all day long, with some of the nation’s top teams taking the courts.

Here’s the complete schedule, followed by a closer look at several of the top matchups:

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