Delcohoops.com

By Terry Toohey

If you sleep on Cooper Mueller, the 6-3 senior from Radnor will make you pay. West Philadelphia Speedboys found that out the hard way Tuesday night at Bensalem High School.

Mueller scored six of his game-high 18 points in a two-minute span to give the Raptors some breathing room and pull away for a 75-61 victory over the Speedboys in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament and make program history in the process.

With the win, Radnor improved to 29-0, breaking the program record for wins in a season set by the 1945-46 squad that went 28-2 and lost to Allentown in the Eastern Regional final.

“We just found out about that (the record) after the game,” Mueller said. “Some guys knew before, but I didn’t. It’s really special. I’m sure that was a great team that set that record but we’re proud of what we’ve done.”

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By Matt Gafney

March Madness was in full swing at the Geigle Complex in Reading on Tuesday night.

Lucas Mushrush’s buzzer-beating three propelled Allentown Central Catholic to a thrilling 49-46 win over Cardinal O’Hara in the second round of the PIAA 4A playoffs.  

The shot was a dagger to the heart for O’Hara as the loss ended the Lions’ season (18-9) while Central Catholic (22-8) moves on to the quarterfinals against Eastern York on Friday at a site to be determined.

While silver linings are hard to come by in a state tournament loss, O’Hara coach Ryan Nemetz should be happy with his team’s effort because the Lions went down swinging.

They were not ready for their season to end but their late rally was not enough to overcome a cold shooting spell in the first quarter.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Kevin Miller is quick to offer a qualifier.

Yes, the first quarter from Chester Charter Scholars Academy in Tuesday night’s PIAA Class A second-round game with Northumberland Christian was pretty bad. One point and 0-for-12 shooting is kind of hard to argue against. But then again …

“Defensively,” the senior point guard said, “we played pretty good.”

Good enough that they could weather nine minutes without a bucket and end up in control by the third quarter. Good enough to create 18 turnovers and hold their opponents to 2-for-18 from 3-point range.

And good enough to be back where they were three years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic brought an end to the state tournament – the PIAA quarterfinals, via a 56-38 win at Hamburg Area High School.

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By Matt Smith

Fans of Philadelphia college men’s basketball were disappointed to learn that no City 6 school is going dancing this year. Drexel, La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph’s, Temple and Villanova are going fishing instead. Well, at least ‘Nova is in the NIT Tournament. That’s better than nothing.

According to research done by the Philadelphia Inquirer, this year marks the first time since 1977 that none of those programs qualified for the NCAA Tournament. That’s both sad and embarrassing.

On the women’s side, Villanova certainly has earned its place in the spotlight. Maddy Siegrist and Co. are the No. 4 seed in the Greenville 2 regional bracket. The Wildcats (28-6) will host No. 13 Cleveland State on Saturday.

If you’re really itching for March Madness, Delco’s best high school teams have you covered. The PIAA tournaments are in full swing and the county is well-represented.

If last weekend’s opening round was any indication, the underdogs are having their moment in the sun.

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By Terry Toohey

Every basketball player fantasizes about hitting a shot at the buzzer to win a game, especially if it’s a playoff or championship contest.

Some players get to live that dream. Few get to do it twice.

Garnet Valley’s Jake Sniras is among the lucky few.

The 6-4 sophomore forward hit a 3-pointer as time expired Saturday to give the Jaguars a stunning, 46-45 victory over Cumberland Valley in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs Saturday afternoon.

It was Sniras’ second game-winning buzzer-beater of the season. He hit a 3-pointer to give the Jaguars a 65-63 win over Coatesville in double overtime in the Pete & Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener in December.

“This wasn’t even like a shot,” Sniras said later to the Daily Times. “I threw it over my head almost.”

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By Matt Smith

The Christian Academy’s entire offensive strategy revolves around its G-foot-3 senior center.

Head coach Jason Wilt doesn’t try to make it a secret. For the Crusaders to have success, Amber Bullard has to touch the ball as often as possible in the low post. Teams such as High Point Baptist Academy can try to dou- blc-and triple-team her until the cows come home, but that approach fails when the players doing the defending are significantly smaller than Bullard.

And that’s when you get games like Saturday.

Bullard dominated with 30 points, 24 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead District 1 champion TCA to a 55-33 win in the first round of the 1*1 A A Class A tournament. It is TCA’s first victory in the PIAA playoffs since 2018.

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