Delcohoops.com

By Bob Grotz

The wakeup call came Saturday at 7 a.m.

It was Chester High coach Keith Taylor phoning assistant Durrell Moore to say he didn’t feel well and was going to see the doctor.

The “good luck, you’re the coach” call from Taylor came while the Clippers were on their way to Coatesville High, where they would take on the Imhotep Panthers in the semifinal round of the Class 5A state playoffs. It gave Moore, a Clippers assistant for five seasons, just enough time to take a deep breath.

“That really helped me get through this,” Moore said. “And it was tough. Coming in, state semifinals, Imhotep, packed house. But Coach Taylor and I spent a lot of time on preparation, so he had confidence in me.”

Truth be told, the way the Panthers were flying up the court in transition and making three-pointers Saturday, the Clippers could have had Larry Brown strategizing and it wouldn’t have made a difference.

The only good news after the brutal 66-41 loss to the Panthers is that Taylor phoned again to tell the coaches he’s going to be fine. May we suggest a few days of rest before reviewing the video?

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

It’s common for a basketball team dominating a game at halftime to become content or lackadaisical.

When one team is trouncing the opposition, mistakes can happen that could give the losing team new life in a game it has no business winning. Except when that winning team is Cardinal O’Hara.

The Lions showed their championship pedigree from start to finish Saturday afternoon at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School. District 3’s Mechanicsburg had zero chance of winning or making it a semi-competitive affair. The Lions came, wreaked havoc, and left after a 50-18 shellacking of Mechanicsburg.

O’Hara will return to Hershey next weekend to defend its PIAA Class 5A championship. The Lions will go to battle against Chartiers Valley in a rematch of last year’s final.

(click on this link for the full story)

By Jack McCaffery

One by one, they left the locker room at Coatesville Area High School Saturday, some with heads down, some with reddened eyes, all in far less than celebratory spirit. The basketball season was over for the players on the ninth consecutive Chester team to not do what was expected if not demanded. As it had been since 2012, there would be no state championship.

“We came up short today,” said Durrell Moore, who had filled in for hospitalized head coach Keith Taylor. “We fought through a lot of adversity this year. I am proud of them. They played hard.”

That was the proper attitude for any coach at the high school level. Remember the good times and praise the effort, then collect the uniforms and the memories, hardly in that order.

The Clippers did what they could in a 66-41 loss to Imhotep in the PIAA Class 5A Final Four, and that should have been enough. Yet that’s not how it works at Chester, and Moore had to know that, too. There, no season is satisfactory unless it ends with a banner ceremony in the Fred Pickett Jr. Gym. Coaches have said that. Athletic directors have said that. Fans, assistant coaches and players have said that. It’s not imagined. It’s real, and for many years, it has had value.

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By Jerome Taylor

Roman’s rotation isn’t deep, but the six-man lineup is far from shallow. 

Three Cahillites (22-4) will likely be at the top of any opposing coaches’ scouting report: Cincinnati commit Daniel Skillings Jr., Hofstra commit Khalil Farmer and junior point guard Xzayvier Brown, who is also garnering significant Division I interest. 

But in a PIAA 6A semifinal game against Lower Merion, Skillings Jr. was held in check, so the other half of Chris McNesby’s rotation made a major impact.

Among those impact players was Quadir Brown, whose 10 points kept Roman afloat in the first half before they took control down the stretch in the 53-41 win over Lower Merion. 

Roman started the game slow, going 1-of-9 from the field in the first quarter, and they found themselves down 13-4 to the Aces (27-3). 

And if it weren’t for Quadir Brown’s shotmaking in the first two quarters (3-4 FG, 2-3 3PT), the Cahillites would’ve been down more than three at halftime. 

(click on this link for the full story)

By Kyle J. Andrews 

Archbishop Carroll found themselves in a tough stretch from Jan. 11-21, losing four consecutive games in a four-game span, part of a stretch of losing seven in nine during Catholic League play. They thought their season was over on Feb. 16 when they lost to Devon Prep, but were given another chance after Martin Luther King decided not to play in the state tournament.

Despite their ups and downs throughout the year, they found themselves in the PIAA 4A state semifinals against a 26-0 Quaker Valley team. The Patriots fought valiantly, but to no avail, losing 67-60 on Friday night to end their season. 

While Archbishop Carroll lost, head coach Francis Bowe has a lot to look forward to with eight of 12 players returning next season, including some impressive young talent.

“It’s youth to me,” Bowe said. “At the end of the day, (Quaker Valley’s) a senior-laden team. You see it – they’ve got one junior that starts and the rest are seniors. They took care of the ball at the end of the game and we didn’t. 

(click on this link for the full story)

By Matt Smith

During its run in the PIAA Class 5A tournament, Cardinal O’Hara has leaned on its bench players to give the team big minutes in must-win games.

Greta Miller had her chance to start in Wednesday’s 38-22 victory over Springfield. She was in a starting five with the Lions’ big four: seniors Maggie Doogan, Sydni Scott and Annie Welde, and freshman sensation Molly Rullo.

“I was a little nervous, but I’ve been playing with them all season, so the nerves definitely calmed down and I’ve gotten a lot more confident,” said Miller, a sophomore guard who will be with the Lions when they take on Mechanicsburg in a Class 5A state semifinal Saturday at 1 at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School. “And it’s been easier playing with them and getting into a fast pace with them.”

Miller failed to score Wednesday but provided solid defense, rebounding and passing. Fellow sophomore guards Joanie Quinn and Carly Coleman are seeing more action on the floor in the state tourney as well. This was necessitated after O’Hara required someone to take the place of junior Bridget Dawson, ineligible for the remainder of the season.

(click on this link for the full story and Boy’s preview)