Delcohoops.com

By Joseph Santoliquito

Jake Manigault had to find a way to cancel it out. Each second seemed to increase the volume that was throbbing through Widener’s Schwartz Athletic Center Monday night. Complicating matters more was Manigault, Abington’s 5-foot-11 senior guard, had to weave through the sticky web Chester’s press has put on opponents for decades.

As a sophomore and junior, Manigault had received sparse minutes off the bench. This time, his senior year, he wanted, no, demanded, the ball in his hands.

He literally put his head down and when the game reached its most crucial moments, it was Manigault who responded, scoring seven of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, including three of the Ghosts’ final four points in Abington’s impressive 59-57 victory over Chester.

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By Joseph Santoliquito

As the web of twisted arms and legs began to unfold under the basket, it was the smallest girl on the bottom of the pile with the ball. It’s usually that way when Brigid MacGillivray is on the court.

It’s why the Cardinal O’Hara girls’ basketball team looks to her. It’s why her coaches look to her. It’s why her classmates look to her. It’s why her family looks to her.

The 5-foot-4 senior guard plays with a tenacity that belies her size. She hears the clock ticking on her basketball career. It may explain why she played with the ferocity she did Sunday night, in O’Hara’s hard-fought 57-51 loss to visiting Gloucester Catholic at the Cardinal O’Hara Holiday Showcase.

MacGillivray also plays with a heavy heart and a burning motivation. The third of eight children to La Salle women’s basketball coach Mountain MacGillivray and his wife, Grace, Brigid carries the constant thought of her baby 5-year-old sister Emily with her everywhere.

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By Joseph Santoliquito

It would gnaw at Roe Falcone. The Ridley coach would see so much in her team that they could not yet see in themselves. They would come together at moments in practices and in games. If only the moments would splice together in extended strands, if only her team full of athletes who play other sports would piece together basketball plays.

The 2024 Green Raiders, whose sum are better than their individual parts, were always scrappy and able to squeeze the last ounce of their talents in every game with little payback.  

On Friday, the moments were extended. On Friday, the payback arrived in the form of a 42-38 victory over a good North Penn team at Ridley High School.

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By Jeremy Goode + Josh Verlin

Game Two: Garnet Valley 71, Chichester 52

A few slow minutes to open the game were quickly forgotten, as the host Jaguars raced past the Eagles behind a well-balanced effort. 

Jake Sniras led Garnet Valley (6-1) with 15 points, followed closely behind by Grayson Golek (13), Brady Krautzel (12) and Cole Boruk (10). Golek, Garnet’s 6-foot-5 sophomore and second-year starter, stuffed the stat sheet with nine rebounds, five blocks, three steals and two assists. 

“He’s a great kid, he works hard. He’s moved his game outside, he didn’t hit a 3 tonight but he generally does,” Brown said. “We have him defending smaller players so he can grow his game that way, and inside he’s always had a knack for blocking shots. You either have it or you don’t, the shot blocking, and he’s good at it.”

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Khamai Orange caught fire in the second half, pouring in 28 points, including his 1,000th career, to lead Delco Christian to a 67-65 win over Nazareth in the Zephyr Holiday Tournament at Whitehall High Friday.

By Josh Verlin

The CoBL Girls’ Winter Classic returns on Sunday, Jan. 12 with a six-game affair at Ursinus College. A dozen of the area’s best girls’ basketball teams will be coming up to Collegeville, representing the Philadelphia Public League, Inter-Ac, Catholic League, Friends’ Schools League and multiple District 1 leagues — at least one participant from all five counties in our home base. 

It’s an event absolutely stacked with college-level talent, including more than a dozen committed seniors (and one junior) along with plenty of girls in all four classes who will be playing at the next level.

We’ll have a complete preview of the event the week of, with a closer look at each of the six games. For now, here’s the schedule and a list of both committed college basketball players and prospects to watch:

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