Delcohoops.com

By Matt Smith

The best rivalry in Delaware County girls basketball, featuring Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara, will be renewed Monday on a grand stage. The Catholic League counterparts will pair off this time in a PIAA Class 6A semifinal game at Garnet Valley High. The game starts at 7.

It’s fitting that O’Hara and Carroll are the only teams left from eastern Pennsylvania competing for a chance to win a state title in PIAA’s highest classification. They are the most recent Delaware County girls hoops teams with PIAA titles.

While Carroll hasn’t played for a PIAA championship since 2019, O’Hara is aiming for a three-peat. The Lions captured the Class 5A championship – their first in team history – in 2021 and 2022.

Under the old PIAA classification system, the Patriots captured a Class AAA title in 2009 and a Class AAAA crown two years later. Carroll head coach Renie Shields was an assistant for the Patriots during those years. Carroll fell to Chartiers Valley, 53-40, in the Class 5A final in 2019.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

It made sense that the game would find Darren Williams at its most crucial juncture.

All day, the Archbishop Ryan wing had been outstanding on the offensive end. His length and aggressiveness on defense was a big reason why Radnor struggled to establish rhythm in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal Friday night.

But with Ryan leading by three and the clock ticking under 15 seconds, the end-to-end chess match that had engrossed for 31-plus minutes distilled into one bout of isolation one-on-one.

Jackson Hicke driving the ball. Williams backpedaling in defense. A fair few of those in attendance at Bensalem High School holding their breaths.

Williams did the job defensively, contesting Hicke’s drive so that he couldn’t get a shot off, the ball caroming off his body and out of bounds for a turnover. It was the final rebuttal from Ryan in an outstanding state quarterfinal, won by the District 12 runner-up, 69-65.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matthew DeGeorge

The clock at Bensalem High School showed 15 seconds when Brooke Wilson allowed herself to crack a smile. The senior guard and her Archbishop Carroll teammates had just been winging the ball around the half court for 30 seconds, tying to avoid Abington’s last-ditch attempts to foul.

Up double-digits, in a matchup of teams you might not have expected to be playing for a PIAA Class 6A semifinal berth a month ago, Wilson had done the hard work to get her team in position to advance, and guarantee a Delaware County team will play for a state title this year.

Wilson orchestrated a pristine second half, threatening a triple double with 12 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists as Carroll rallied to top Abington, 55-43. The Patriots (14-11) advance to the semifinals to take on rival Cardinal O’Hara, which dispatched Central York, 61-49.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Bob Grotz

Pulsating tempo, physical defense, thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

There was a little of everything in Chester Charter Scholars Academy’s 63-58 loss Friday to Linville Hill Christian in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA Class A boys basketball game at Avon Grove High.

And a lot of heartache for the Sabers, with the exception of senior guard Kevin Miller becoming the first player in school history to hit the 1,000-point mark.

“It’s super-disappointing,” Sabers coach Daniel Spangler said of the loss. “We felt like we had the talent to get to Hershey. But what’s not disappointing is the way we played. The energy, the effort, the lack of quit. That’s not disappointing.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

Molly Rullo scored 31 points in Cardinal O’Hara’s 61-49 victory over Central York at the Geigle Complex Friday night.

The sophomore didn’t care all too much about her individual accomplishment. Never before in her relatively brief high school career had Rullo produced 30 points in a game before Friday.

The only thing that mattered to Rullo was the fact that the Lions were advancing in the PIAA Class 6A tournament. O’Hara will meet Delaware County and Catholic League rival Archbishop Carroll, which claimed a 55-43 win over Abington Friday, in the 6A Eastern final Monday night. Time and location will be determined later.

“Getting the win and going to the (state) semifinals is huge,” Rullo said. “Whatever I can do to help my team out, that’s the goal.”

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

Nadir Myers did everything in his power to keep Upper Darby alive in the PIAA Class 6A tournament.

Facing a defensively explosive Reading High Wednesday night at Coatesville, Myers, a senior guard, showed a fearlessness that Royals coach Bob Miller won’t soon forget.

Myers carried the Royals on his shoulders, scoring 31 points in an 83-58 loss to the District 3 champion Red Knights (29-1). Reading advances to the quarterfinal round Saturday against New Castle, a 65-56 winner over Downingtown West.

“There is no quit,” Miller said of his Royals. “And how about the little kid (Myers) out there? They were doubling and tripling Nadir. … He’s such an amazing player and colleges out there that aren’t involved with him, it just blows my mind. 

(click on this link for the full story)

Webmaster’s note: If you missed the game you can watch it on NFHS Network (there is a monthly pass fee required).