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By Matt Chandik

Cole Palis knew he that there was a chance that he’d be the guy to take the shot.

A tie game that’s in overtime isn’t the usual setting for sophomores to be stepping up, but Palis noticed that Ridley had been sending help defense to Garnet Valley sharpshooter Austin Laughlin all night. The Jaguars set up a pick and roll for Laughlin, and true to form, the Green Raiders sent an extra defender his way, which meant a wide-open Palis.

No problem whatsoever.

He cooly drilled the 3-pointer with 39.4 seconds to go, Brandon Starr added a late free throw and Ridley settled for a 2-pointer instead of the long ball to cement Garnet Valley’s 61-60 overtime win.

If Ridley can’t bounce back on Thursday with a win over Upper Darby, that more than likely seals its fate on the outside of the District 1 6A tournament. They were in the final qualification spot (No. 24) in the latest update on Monday, but several teams below them still have opportunities to jump them with wins.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Matthew De George

Even without leading scorer Nick Simmons, Academy Park managed to impact the Del Val League title race Tuesday, thanks in large part to Marq Greenwood.

Greenwood hit the game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left as Academy Park defeated Chester for a second time in three years, 69-66.

Greenwood scored 14 points, as did Shermik Lofton, who grabbed 10 rebounds. Nasiem Harley led the way with 19 points for Academy Park (12-9, 6-3 Del Val), which was playing without Simmons after two technical fouls in Saturday’s game.

Jamar Sudan scored 21 points for Chester, while Ahrod Carter added 20. The loss means Chester (16-5, 7-2) cedes control of its destiny in the league title picture. The Clippers now need a win Thursday against Glen Mills and a loss by Penn Wood, which clinched a share of the title Tuesday.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Matthew De George

With Archbishop Carroll desperate to halt a four-game skid, Mark Bradshaw picked an ideal time to have a career game Sunday.

Bradshaw scored a career-best 24 points, including a layup with 10 seconds left in regulation to push the game to overtime, as Carroll survived with a 68-65 victory over Lansdale Catholic in double OT.

Sunday was just Bradshaw’s second double-figures game of the season; he added 12 rebounds.

The Patriots (13-7, 5-6 Catholic League) squandered a six-point lead to start the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth affair, requiring Bradshaw’s heroics to push the game to the extra frame. Carroll led by three points late in the first overtime before Mike Ottomano hit one of his six 3-pointers to knot the score.

In the second OT, Justin Anderson canned a 3-pointer to put Carroll up five. But four missed free throws left the door open for the Crusaders, but they couldn’t capitalize.

Anderson scored 15 points to go with five assists and six rebounds. Colin Daly contributed 15 points and seven rebounds for Carroll.

Ottomano finished with 22 points for LC. Starkey Gabel added 18 points, and Jack Kusters provided 13.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Anthony Dabbundo

It seemed as though Germantown Academy’s run of four straight Inter-Ac titles was coming to an end when the Patriots were trailing by 19 midway through the second quarter against Malvern Prep back on January 20.

After winning the league title each of their first three seasons at GA, that’s not how this group of seniors — led by Kyle McCloskey and Evan-Eric Longino — wanted to go out.

The Patriots battled back to win that game and the next four — none more important than Friday night, when they overcame an early first-quarter deficit to defeat Episcopal Academy 54-50.

“We just wanted to come out and give ourselves a shot to stay in this race,” Patriots’ head coach Jim Fenerty said.

Germantown Academy (18-6, 7-2) now finds itself sitting tied with Episcopal (14-10, 7-2) at the top of the Inter-Ac standings. With the two teams having split their two regular season meetings, they will share the league title if both teams win Tuesday night in the league finale.

Just a few short weeks ago, it seemed as though the Patriots were out of it.

“We were staring down the barrel at our hopes to win the Inter-Ac,” McCloskey said. “We knew every single game after that was a must-win if we wanted to win the Inter-Ac.”

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Michael Bullock

Here’s installment No. 8 of City of Basketball Love’s state rankings, a package that will appear on Mondays throughout the remainder of the regular season.

We did showcase a set of preseason rankings leading up to the opening weekend (Dec. 9-10) and those groupings served as a starting point — since we’re going to continue to shuffle things around after each weekly cycle.

Appearing below are all six of our top 10s, with PIAA district and this season’s record displayed in parentheses. Only those schools competing for PIAA state championships are eligible for ranking purposes.

(click on this link for the full list of power rankings)

 

By Matthew De George

At first blush, the starting five Tony Bacon assembled for Glen Mills’ senior day seemed little more than ceremonial.

Conveniently, Bacon had five seniors to honor Saturday. Less convenient was that four are forwards, and the quintet excluded both of Glen Mills’ tempo-controlling guards against a backcourt-heavy Upper Darby squad.

So how long was the first shift’s leash in a game of vital importance for the Battling Bulls’ playoff aspirations? Try the whole first quarter, a blitzkrieg that ensured Glen Mills never trailed in a 52-41 nonleague victory.

When a platoon of reserves entered to start the second, the Bulls held a 15-6 advantage. And the tone set early would resonate throughout the game.

“It was fun,” senior forward Myron Sanders said. “We just had fun. We played up and down the court, we outhustled, we all worked hard and we did it.”

Sanders’ early intensity stretched the full four quarters. He led all scorers with a season-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. Most importantly, though, the low-post grit that Bacon deployed from the opening tip set the stage for a 50-21 domination on the boards that helped Glen Mills (11-8) weather a sub-par shooting day.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Matthew De George

Lower Merion’s kill-the-clock strategy was going swimmingly, right up until the moment that Steve Payne released his free throw on the front end of a one-and-one.

Up six points on Ridley with 3:04 to play Friday, the Aces had ground down a minute of clock and earned a trip to the line for their point guard to extend the cushion to eight. But Payne’s shot clanged off the left side of the iron and fell toward the floor, presumably for Ridley to jet up the floor for a chance to cut the deficit to one possession.

Instead, Terrell Jones swooped in, grabbed the rebound and turned the tide of momentum irretrievably back to the Aces.

Jones’ putback keyed an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter to help Lower Merion survive with a 63-62 margin over Ridley.

“That’s a really big momentum play,” Payne said. “That’s crazy. That was the game-changer, honestly.”

The back-breaking lay-in was compounded by a Noah Fennell steal on the next possession and a behind-the-back bounce pass to Payne for a layup in transition that put the Aces up double-digits at 54-44.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)

By Josh Verlin

Several weeks back, Father Judge coach Sean Tait brought a few certain players into his office at the school, where he also teaches social studies.

Not included were his seniors and leading scorers Marc Rodriguez, Mike Power and Matt O’Conner. Instead, Tait wanted to talk to his role players: starters junior Drew Riley and sophomore Shane Dooley, as well as a few underclassman reserves.

After Judge had begun Catholic League play with eye-opening wins over Archbishop Wood and St. Joseph’s Prep, the Crusaders hadn’t looked quite as steady in their next few games, and Tait knew his stars needed some support.

“I said ‘look guys, in those wins against (Wood and Prep), you did something special, you made a 3, stepped up, got a rebound,’” Tait said. “‘These last few games you’ve just stood around and watched Marc, Matt and Mike, and we need you to do a little extra.’”

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Aaron Carter

No athlete wants to lead the team that allows a dynasty to crumble.

And make no mistake about it, Germantown Academy’s basketball program has reigned supreme in the Inter-Ac long enough to be considered dynastic.

Friday night’s 54-50 triumph at Episcopal Academy might have ensured the four-time defending champions a rare championship coup.

“One of the things we said to them before the game was, ‘We’ve been in this spot before,’ ” said Patriots coach Jim Fenerty.

Well, seniors Evan-Eric Longino and Kyle McCloskey had been.

Both had started games as freshmen, and both were desperate not to break GA’s string of championships.

“This is huge,” said McCloskey, who led all scorers with 22 points. “We’ve played in these games for four years now with crowds coming at you and saying stuff about you, and you learn how to zone it out.”

(click on this link for the full article)

 

Freshman Jackson Piotrowski is quickly making a name for himself.

Piotrowski scored a career-high 19 points as Delco Christian topped Morrisville, 39-22, in a Bicentennial League game Friday night.

Piotrowski helped DC pull away after a halftime break that they entered trailing 11-10 after a plodding first 16 minutes of basketball. The Knights went 19-for-26 from the line to seal the victory.

Jordan Parks added nine points, and Tyler Penley was 7-for-7 at the charity stripe for DC (12-8, 10-6).

Also in the Bicentennial League:

Faith Christian 78, Christian Academy 46 >> Sam Geathers scored 14 points and Tehron Phillips added 13, but TCA had no answer for 6-foot-8 Zeke Snowden, who accounted for 30 points.

(click on this link for more game stories and scores)