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By Andrew Robinson

For Bridget DiMartile, the message was essentially to just wait.

The Upper Dublin girls’ basketball coaching staff knew the freshman was going to contribute in some way this winter, they just needed some time. As the first player off the bench all year, DiMartile would flash some of what her coaches saw until, suddenly, there was no more time to wait.

DiMartile had quite the impactful performance Wednesday as No. 3 Upper Dublin downed No. 19 Penncrest 60-34 in the second round of the District 1 6A tournament.

“I’m just trying to help out my team as much as I can,” DiMartile said. “I’m not really worried about what I’m doing personally, it’s more what’s best for the team.”

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By Jared Leveson

For the past two years, Colin Treude and Springfield (Delco.) have knocked on the District 1 6A tournament door.

The Cougars fell short of a top-24 finish in 2022 and 2023, with a final District ranking of 28 and 27, respectively.

Treude and his squad snuck into the tournament this year despite missing the Central League tournament. They finished the regular season ranked No. 24 in the district, claiming the District tournament’s last spot.

Now, Springfield is taking advantage of their opportunity. The Cougars upset No. 9 Abington last Friday with nothing to lose and continued their Cinderella run on Tuesday night, pulling together for a gritty, closely-contested, 46-42 win over No. 8 Bensalem in the District 1 6A second round. 

With the win, Springfield (Delco.) qualified for its first PIAA state tournament since 2017, when they made the 5A field; members of the 2017 team were at the game Tuesday night.

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By Ed Morrone

The seeding numbers will call it an upset, but good luck convincing Jack Krautzel and Jake Sniras that their Garnet Valley basketball team is an underdog against any team in District 1 or the state of Pennsylvania.

While the Jaguars entered Tuesday night’s second-round district playoff game at Spring-Ford as the tournament’s 14th seed, the duo combined for 39 of Garnet Valley’s 63 points and Garnet Valley left bound for the quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive season after outscoring the third-seeded Rams by a dozen in the second half en route to an impressive 63-49 win.

Garnet Valley has made it this far the last four seasons as a 14-seed, an 8-seed, a 4-seed and even once as the 24th and final seed, so they care very little about the number next to their name in the bracket.

“The seed only means something to everybody outside of Garnet Valley,” Krautzel said after pouring in a team-high 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting. “We know how good we are, so we don’t care about the seed. It just shows how well-coached we are every single year, because I don’t know how many teams can say they’ve made it to the district quarterfinals four years in a row.”

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By Matt Smith

No lead is safe when Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara go head to head.

Carroll almost learned that the hard way. Brooke Wilson made sure the Patriots survived a furious O’Hara comeback bid Tuesday evening at Saint Joseph’s University City campus.

Leading by 20 points at intermission, the Patriots were well on their way – or so they thought – to The Palestra next Monday to play for the Philadelphia Catholic League championship. O’Hara had other intentions.

Wilson drove to the basket and scored twice on successive possessions in the fourth quarter, shortly after Molly Rullo had made a bucket to pull O’Hara within three points. Wilson, a senior guard/forward and Army commit, pushed her team across the finish line. Despite being outscored by 13 points in the second half, Carroll defeated rival O’Hara, 45-38.

Carroll will meet Archbishop Wood in the Catholic League final.

“I’ve played so many years of Carroll basketball, so many games. I’m finally starting to learn to take a deep breath and slow down,” said Wilson, who scored five of her eight points in the final quarter. She added five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

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By Bob Grotz

The Harris twins gave Chester a turbo boost in the second half of their 59-54 District 1 Class 6A triumph over defending district champion Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday night at Ninth and Barclay.

The win advances the fourth-seeded Clippers (19-2) to the quarterfinals and a rematch with Coatesville, which defeated Cheltenham 77-60. That game is on Friday at 7 p.m. at Chester.

Coatesville, you may recall, handed the Clippers a 66-62 defeat on Jan. 26 at the Clip Joint, snapping their 16-game winning streak.

“It is what it is,” Clippers coach Keith Taylor said. “Let’s get it. People can talk all that noise that they want. Let’s get it.”

On this Tuesday evening the Clippers were a bit lethargic, which wasn’t surprising considering they haven’t played in weeks. The 12th-seeded Colonials weren’t going to go quietly, either particularly the young core headed by 6-5 sophomore Manik Sajid, who scored a game-high 26 points.

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By CoBL Staff

The PIAA state playoffs are only a win away for the 16 teams left in District 1 6A. All eight second-round winners next Tuesday night 

Here’s a look at all eight second-round games; all games are scheduled for 7 PM at the higher seed:

1) Lower Merion vs. 16) Conestoga
The 2021 and 2022 District 1 champs are back as the No. 1 seed, Gregg Downer’s group getting a bye through the first round after a 21-1 regular season and a Central League championship. Now the Aces get to start the next phase of their postseason with a familiar opponent in the league rival Pioneers, whom they’ve already dispatched twice this season: 42-37 at Conestoga on Dec. 14 and 90-60 at Lower Merion on Jan. 30. Conestoga’s into the second round after a suffocating defensive effort against Neshaminy leading to a 53-19 win on Friday night. They’ll try to replicate that type of effort Tuesday, though besides that first matchup nobody’s held Lower Merion below 59 points all season, and the Aces have hit 75+ on 14 different occasions. 

(click on this link for all the team previews)

By CoBL Staff

The District 1 5A girls field is down to eight heading to Tuesday night. Each squad remaining has at least two more games to play this season with a win guaranteeing even more.

Tuesday night’s winners will advance to Friday’s semifinal round and clinch four of the district’s six spots in states, while the four losers will head to the state playback bracket and battle for the last two bids.

Here’s a look at all four second-round games:

3) Radnor vs. 6) Villa Maria
Radnor got a first round-bye this season after an upset first-round loss ended the Raptors’ season a year ago. The Raptors have had a lot of time to stew on a first-round Central League playoff loss to Penncrest two weeks ago, while the Hurricanes, last season’s district runner-up, enter following a lopsided AACA title loss to Gwynedd Mercy. Seniors Kate Gallagher and Caroline Monahan are joined by sophomores Nyah Yao and Anna Reger in the rotation for the Raptors. They’ll miss the inside presence of senior forward  Blayse Jennings, who spent her first three high school seasons playing in New York, after an unfortunate PIAA ruling.

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By Matt Smith

Aaron Freeman didn’t factor into Sun Valley’s plans at the start of the season. He was a junior up from JV and wasn’t expected to play a lot of minutes.

Those plans changed quickly.

“Aaron at the beginning of the season wasn’t necessarily in the rotation,” coach Steve Maloney said. “Shows how smart I am.”

Maloney, a known wisecracker, was being facetious.

Freeman eventually forced himself into the starting lineup and provided the Vanguards with another versatile and speedy ball handler alongside senior Noah Griffin, who is every team’s worst nightmare when facing Sun Valley.

When the game was on the line Friday night, in the final moments of a District 1 Class 5A first-round slugfest with Marple Newtown, Maloney entrusted Freeman with the ball.

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Bailey Garrison’s and Lila Curci’s clutch free-throw shooting helped No. 19 Penncrest to a 60-59 victory over 14th-seeded Coatesville in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs Friday evening.

Garrison hit two foul shots with two-tenths of a second left in the fourth quarter, tying the game. In the extra session, Curci made one foul to extend the Lions’ lead to three points with 14 seconds remaining. Penncrest power forward Kathryn Harding dominated with 22 points. Garrison (13 points) finished 11-for-12 at the charity stripe, while Emily Huggins and Alex Bruce tossed in 10 points each.

Curci and Makayla Johnson played outstanding defense on Coatesville’s best shooter, Gianna Jackson, who was limited to five points.

Elsewhere in the District 1 Class 6A tournament:

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By Justin Procope

Larenzo Jerkins knows the importance of setting a tone. 

The first drop of sweat had yet to emerge on the forehead of the chiseled 6-foot-5 junior before he was up in the grill of 6-9 Archbishop Carroll forward Drew Corrao, daring him to try to score on him. 

“We needed somebody to set the tone, show that we’re here and we’re not gonna leave,” Jerkins said. “So in order to set that tone, I need to show examples. I need to block shots, I need to yell in people’s ear. I need to do anything possible to get that juice going for us and to up uplift us.”

Neumann-Goretti needed every ounce of his intensity down the stretch Friday night against a young and talented Caroll team eager to make a name for itself. 

With the game hanging in the balance late and Neumann-Goretti clinging to a single-digit lead, it was Jerkins who made the biggest plays in the final period. None bigger than the two free throws he knocked down with the same composure and maturity he has off the court to put his team up five with just five seconds left in the contest. 

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