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:
By Chad Graham
Day 2 of the 2024 Pete + Jameer Nelson Classic was even better than the first, with several games coming down to the wire and a myriad of great individual performances. Here are the day’s results, and the standouts:
Garnet Valley 74, St. Georges, Del. 65
Penncrest 54, Bartram 33
Marple Newtown 60, Episcopal Academy 43
Central Dauphin 53, Parkland 36
Abington 59, Chester 57
Haverford School 80, Rocktop Academy 22
Jacob Becker (2025 | Haverford School)
Becker played with an extra pep in his step against Rocktop and it showed on the stat sheet. He ripped a number of offensive boards out of the air to keep possessions alive. Then, he took things up a notch with an alley-oop and a two-hand jam. In the big win, Becker finished with an 11-point double-double.
Harriton senior Anna Chimento has helped the Rams to a 7-3 start, surpassing their win total from 2023-24 (CoBL Photo/Josh Verlin)
By Josh Verlin
Anna Chimento’s second season back at Harriton is going much better than her first.
The senior, who transferred back home last year following one year at Archbishop Carroll, and her Rams teammates have already accomplished quite a bit and the calendar hasn’t even turned to January yet. Considering they didn’t have too many expectations coming into the season, that’s all been a welcome surprise.
The start’s been good, but Chimento and the Rams are starting to think a little bigger.
“We grew a lot over the summer,” Chimento said. “We’ve been putting in the work. It feels good, it’s gotten me a lot of confidence, it’s something I had to grow from my freshman year when I didn’t have a lot so getting that has helped me get to where I am today.”
Webmaster note: Harriton is not in Delaware County but is in the Central League and will play many schools in Delco.
Moyin Ogbo scored all five of Ridley’s overtime points, leading the Green Raiders to a 43-40 win over Bishop Shanahan in their holiday tournament championship game last weekend.
Nadia Henkel tallied 15 points and hit the game-tying basket to force OT. Henkel and Ogbo both made all-tournament team.
At the Cardinal O’Hara Tournament:
Gloucester Catholic 57, O’Hara 51 >> Molly Rullo dropped 21 points, BrigidAnne Donohue added 14 and Leah Hudak contrbuted 11 for the Lions.
Jahzara Green led GC with 27 points.
Audenreid 60, Arch. Carroll 56 >> Kayla Eberz amassed 16 points and 16 rebounds, but the Patriots couldn’t come all the way back from a 13-point halftime deficit. Alexis Eberz tossed in 13 points and Olivia Nandi added 12.
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Matt Gardler posted his second triple-double of the season, and freshman Michael Rush scored a career-high 23 points as Marple Newtown defeated Episcopal Academy, 60-43, Monday at the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University.
Gardler produced 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Ryan Keating added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
Langston Foster tallied 20 points for Episcopal Academy.
In other action at the Nelson Classic:
Penncrest 54, John Bartram 33 >> Mikey Mita recorded 19 points and 13 rebounds for the undefeated Lions (9-0). Theo Gladue and Sean Benson had 10 points apiece.
Haverford School 80, Rocktop Academy 22 >> Silas Graham scored 19 points and Jacob Becker added 11 for the unbeaten Fords (13-0), who led 44-10 at halftime.
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Garnet Valley senior Jake Sniras scored 29 points to break the school’s boys scoring record Monday. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)
By Owen McCue
In the middle of a shooting slump with his team coming off a loss, Garnet Valley senior Jake Sniras didn’t head into Monday thinking about making it a record-setting day.
The 6-4 wing just wanted him and his teammates to get back on track.
Sniras found his groove early in a 74-65 win over St. Georges (Del.) at the Pete and Jameer Nelson Play-By-Play Classic and managed to make a little Jaguars history in the process.
A free throw with 19 seconds left helped wrap up the victory and gave Sniras 29 points on the day and 1,481 career points in his career — one more than 2018 grad Austin Laughlin — making him the top scorer in Garnet Valley boys basketball history.
“My freshman and sophomore year, I was in a laidback role,” Sniras told CoBL after the win. “I didn’t believe I was the No. 1 scoring option, not even last year. It’s been hard adjusting when my shot isn’t falling. What am I doing to contribute? How am I affecting the game? How am I boosting my teammates’ confidence?”
