Delcohoops.com

Strath Haven girls basketball coach Brandi Johnson was succinct in describing her team’s opening round victory Saturday in the PIAA Class 5A tournament.

“We came ready to play,” Johnson summarized.

That was clearly illustrated in Haven’s 66-36 win over Bangor.

The Panthers were led by Maddie Fanning’s 18 points and Maryella Gill’s 16, but contributions were seen across the board.

Haven had 21 steals and forced 15 turnovers. In addition to the points put up by Fanning and Gill, Olivia Voshell scored 12 points and Kate Fox added 10.

The Panthers will take on Central League neighbor Radnor, a 45-33 winner over Northern York, in Wednesday’s second round.

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By Josh Verlin

As a freshman, Shareef Jackson was the sixth man on Roman Catholic’s state championship squad. With at most four games left in his outstanding high school career, the Cahillites’ senior wants to end his time at Broad and Vine the way he started it: by going out on top. 

And he wants to do it with his brother, junior wing Sammy Jackson, right by his side.

“I’m not trying to play my last game with my brother as a loss,” Sammy Jackson said. “We talk about it sometimes but we just know in the back of our heads, we both know we’re thinking the same thing.”

The Jackson brothers made sure Roman took the first step towards that goal, as the Cahillites came into the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium and took out Lower Merion, 74-63 in the opening round of the PIAA 6A Tournament on Saturday afternoon. 

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By Joseph Santoliquito

On Friday afternoon, Father Judge coach Chris Roantree gathered his team around him at midcourt before practice as he usually does. He spoke to them about staying with the message of legacy this season and pointed to the few scant basketball banners hanging in the Judge gym.

Roantree reminded them that they were not the first Judge team to win the Catholic League championship, something the Crusaders accomplished a few weeks ago for the first time in 27 years. What begins on Saturday, Roantree stressed, is something that they alone could own; that they could have their names up in the rafters as the first Judge team to ever win a PIAA state basketball championship.

Then it was back to the grind.

Maybe it’s why when Judge beat Garnet Valley, 71-52, in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A state playoffs in Judge’s packed gym on Saturday the significance of the Crusaders’ history-making, first-ever PIAA state playoff game victory seemed to be lost.

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By Matt Smith

Leah Hudak and Cardinal O’Hara knew they couldn’t afford to keep playing at the breakneck pace set in the opening quarter.

In their PIAA Class 6A tournament opener against Central Bucks East, the defending state champions found themselves in a fast-paced shootout early. The teams combined for 11 field goals – six from beyond the arc – and 30 points in the first eight minutes. Hudak’s late drive trimmed C.B. East’s lead to two, but the Lions knew they had to make some changes on the defensive end.

O’Hara wasn’t going to let the Patriots keep getting clean looks. C.B. East had four legitimate shooters, led by Natalie Berndt, who knocked down two triples in the first, alongside Jess Lockwood and Haley Moran, the team’s top all-around playmaker. Out of the first-quarter huddle, O’Hara locked in defensively, turning up the pressure with tight face-guarding, making it nearly impossible for the Patriots to get into their sets.

“We talked about it as a team. They were making a lot of shots,” said Hudak, a sophomore. “We couldn’t let them get as many shots off. We had to play better defense, because defense wins games.”

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By Joseph Santoliquito 

Archbishop Carroll 61, Council Rock South 42

The Patriots, District 12’s No. 1 seed in PIAA Class 6A, started strong and never had to look back, getting out to an 11-0 lead and maintaining a double-digit lead throughout much of the opening round Class 6A playoff game.

Carroll (18-9) will now advance to play District 3 No. 5-seed Wilson in the second round on Tuesday.

The Pats were led by junior Alexis Eberz game-high 16 points, followed by freshman Kayla Eberz’s 15, and sophomore Abbie McFillin’s 13. Council Rock South (21-6) ended a highly successful season, winning the Suburban One League Patriot Conference and qualifying for the state playoffs for the first time since 2012.

The Pats reached the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals last season. This season, they are a far younger team, placing a lot on players like freshman Kayla Eberz and sophomore McFillin. The victory over Council Rock South was Kayla’s first state playoff game.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

The play in the fourth quarter had broken down, and Bishop Shanahan was looking for a fix.

Archbishop Carroll had turned up its pressure, the defensive energy that got it back in front in the third quarter of its PIAA Class 4A opening-round affair Friday night. Two Carroll players surrounded the ball just inside the halfcourt line, and Shanahan needed an out.

The find was to Anthony Aquino, the sixth man in a rotation that only rolls six deep. And while other Carroll defenders took to more conventional targets, Aquino found the lane open wide for him and laid in off the glass with his right, a confident blow-by that belied where he might have fallen on the chart of offensive options.

The basket was part of a 13-3 fourth quarter run that ultimately sent the District 1 champion Eagles past Carroll, 72-63. It tidily typified the difference between the teams Friday: Where Bishop Shanahan got contributions from everyone and anyone who stepped on the floor in a cohesive offensive performance, Carroll’s (arguably superior) talent was undone by the lack of connection wrought by a season of ill-timed injuries.

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