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By Matthew De George

With the benefit of hindsight, instances of promise were obvious in Delco Christian’s up-and-down season. Few shone as brightly as the Jan. 6 encounter with Phil-Mont Christian.

Shorthanded due to injuries, the Knights hung tight with the Falcons — who were then soaring toward Bicentennial League supremacy — in a 79-70 setback.

The Knights can rectify that near-miss Saturday at noon, when they play for the District One Class A title against top-seeded Phil-Mont at Council Rock South High.

Though the vagaries of the Bicentennial’s hodgepodge membership makes district seeding notoriously unreliable, there’s little doubting that Phil-Mont deserved the No. 1 ranking. The Falcons are riding a 24-game winning streak, last losing to Church Farm Dec. 10, the only blemish on a 27-1 record.

Phil-Mont trounced No. 4 Collegium Charter, 67-34, in Tuesday’s semifinal, booking passage to states.

The Falcons are a daunting matchup. They play fast with four players averaging in double-figures, led by 6-foot-8 forward Sean Griffin’s 15.5 points per game. The length of 6-foot-5 Osaze Thornton and 6-foot-4 David Giuliani create problems, while senior guard Noah Baldez helps keep all the offensive horses pulling in the same direction.

Delco Christian, however, is no stranger to the underdog drill. As the No. 4 seed last year, it upset No. 1 Christopher Dock in double-overtime in the semis to get to states before handling Jenkintown, 50-41, in the final.

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By Matthew De George

Nearly 14 months ago, Chester’s 2014-15 boys basketball season crumpled to the ground against Plymouth Whitemarsh.

Without Khaleeq Campbell, who tore his ACL at Widener University Dec. 29, 2014, the Clippers were a rudderless ship, lacking a vocal leader and the true point guard to orchestrate an arsenal of talented but youthful talents needing on-court stability and direction.

Fast forward to the present — to a Chester team a day from renewing acquaintances with PW in Friday’s District One Class AAAA title game — and having Campbell sit the bench for foul trouble or a brief rest still isn’t viewed as ideal. But where last year Campbell’s absence invited chaos, this year, it’s just another sub in the 12-man rotation.

One major reason for that shift is Stanley Davis.

Davis’ ability was on full display Tuesday in No. 9 seed Chester’s 74-62 handling of No. 4 Ridley in the semifinals, powered by Davis’ 16 points and 10 rebounds. The game pivoted on a 10-4 run to finish the first half (part of a 19-6 spurt bridging the interval) that turned a tight game into one where Chester never trailed by fewer than eight. Davis fueled the distancing as Campbell sat with two fouls in a whistle-marred first stanza.

“Right now, he’s playing a little bit better with his head than with his heart, because he’s a Chester guy,” coach Larry Yarbray said. “He’ll give you 120 percent. He’s going all out, he wants to win so bad, he’s trying everything, and sometimes he tries to do it by himself. But he’s slowing down a little bit and making good decisions.”

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By Dennis C. Way

Last year Plymouth Whitemarsh High’s basketball team got a taste of the pressure, the pace and yes, the fun of the PIAA District One Class AAAA playoffs.
This year, the Colonials want to see the gold medal.
They moved one step closer Tuesday night with a 53-42 win over Lower Merion in a contest that gave the championship hopefuls a mouthful of what it takes to win it all.
With the victory, the Colonials moved into the district final, where they’ll play the winner of Tuesday’s second semifinal between Chester and Ridley.
And to their credit, the Colonials looked in the face of some early adversity and responded just like a seasoned team should – with calm when it was needed, with explosiveness when it was needed and with the look of a team that knew what it will take.
“Last year, at this point in the season (the Colonials) were still cheering on the bench,” said Colonials head coach Jim Donofrio. “We were happy to be here.
“This year these guys have that confidence. It’s there.”
There was reason for it not to be.
The Aces rattled the Colonials early with full-court pressure, and PW did not respond favorably.
“We were so awesomely bad,” Donofrio said. “When you’re a team that traps and presses, teams tend not to trap and press you.”
But PW would not stay dazzled.
Instead, they overcame their early shakiness, and came back strong, primarily behind the scoring of Xavier Malone.

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By Mike Cabrey

After winning as many games as it lost in the regular season, the Hatboro-Horsham boys basketball team has found something that works in the District 1-AAAA Tournament.

“We always had the talent, but it was kind of like selfishness. Now, we’re starting to play as a team,” Hatters junior Clifton Moore said. “Everybody’s getting an even distribution of points and we’re trusting each other.”

And after Tuesday night, Hatboro-Horsham now finds itself in PIAA postseason play for the first time in 13 seasons after knocking off its third top-eight seeded team in districts, this time Suburban One League Continental Conference rival Pennridge.

Brian McEachern’s layup in the final minute of the 9th/10th place semifinal put the Hatters up one while a Davis steal led to two free throws for a three-point edge with 12.4 seconds left. The Rams had a look at a game-tying three, but the shot hit iron and visiting Hatboro-Horsham held on for a 46-43 victory.

“We’re back on the map,” Moore said. “We got the guys, we got the guys. We plan on going far in states, too.”

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By Matthew De George

A junior by age and a battle-hardened veteran by reputation, Jamar Sudan grasped quickly the gameplan points the Chester coaching staff were drilling home this week.

It took all of one possession for the forward to put them into action, setting the tone for an authoritative Clippers performance.

Sudan was one of two Clippers with double-doubles, scoring 16 points to go with 11 rebounds in pacing No. 9 Chester to a 74-62 win over No. 4 Ridley in a District One Class AAAA semifinal at Temple University.

The win moves Chester (20-6) into Friday’s final against No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh, which downed Lower Merion, 53-42, in the first semi. The final is 8 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.

Sudan set the tone immediately, attacking the hoop off the bounce for a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays to tally Chester’s first six points. Even though the foul trouble that plagued a whistle-happy affair encroached on him in the second quarter, he stayed true to his coaches’ mantra.

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By Jeff Griffith & Kyle Loedel

After one surprising “down” year where Chester didn’t make the PIAA state playoffs for the first time in over two decades, the Clippers are proving the orange and black is still very much a force in southeastern Pennsylvania boys’ basketball.

A 74-62 District 1 AAAA semifinal victory over the fourth-seeded Ridley Raiders Tuesday night at the Liacouras Center, has put No. 9 Chester within one win of adding another district title to a trophy case that already includes 11 of them.

This, of course, is just one year removed from an underwhelming finish for Chester; the 2014-15 Clippers ducked out early in last year’s district playoffs and fell two wins short of locking up a state bid.

It wasn’t a horrible season by any means, especially factoring in the loss of point guard Khaleeq Campbell in mid-Decemebr to a season-ending injury. It just wasn’t the Chester people are used to.

However, Tuesday night was a bit more remnant of the Clippers that have ruled district one over the past several decades.

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