Delcohoops.com

By Matthew DeGeorge

The dunk was almost the least of it from Cooper Mueller, even before he took flight from the floor at Radnor High School Wednesday night.

Countless times this season, the junior guard has jumped a passing lane or picked a pocket, turning those loose balls into easy baskets. When he jarred the ball loose in the second quarter against Sun Valley, he was well on his way to another momentum-injecting passage of play, no matter how he elected to finish it at the other end.

The dunk, and the resultant surge of electricity through the Radnor bench, was just a bonus; an extra exclamation point. Mueller’s defense keyed an early rout by the Raptors, dashing past the No. 8 Vanguards, 53-28, to book a place in the District 1 Class 5A semifinals and a first states berth for Radnor since 2006.

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By Matt Smith

When Brooke Wilson collapsed to the floor and clutched her knee, the Conwell-Egan High School gymnasium fell silent.

Archbishop Carroll’s sophomore standout writhed in pain for several minutes in the second quarter of Tuesday’s Catholic League semifinal. When she was able to walk off under her own power, the Patriots breathed a sigh of relief and refocused. They had a job to finish.

Even so, senior forward Taylor Wilson knew the immediate impact her sister’s absence would have on the team.

“She’s a huge, huge part of our defense and we kind of had to make up for her not being there,” Taylor Wilson said. “Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game of basketball. So you kind of just have to adapt when it does happen. I think we did a good job.”

Brooke will have six days to rest and hopefully make a comeback at the Palestra next Monday. Carroll, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, advanced to the league championship with a convincing 50-35 win over fifth-seeded Neumann-Goretti Tuesday.

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By Rob Rose

The chant that emerged from the Cardinal O’Hara student section with 10 seconds left on the clock Tuesday night described exactly what the Lions felt.

It was really just one word, a place that despite being less than 10 miles from the school has seemed so distant to the senior class that doubt crept in if they would ever get a chance to play there.

“Palestra! Palestra! Palestra!,” the students shouted as smiles sprang onto the faces of the Lions on the court as they dribbled away the last seconds that separated seniors Maggie Doogan, Annie Welde and Sydni Scott from the a second straight PCL championship game and first trip to Philadelphia’s famous hoops facility after a 55-48 win over Archbishop Wood.

“It’s our senior year, me Annie and Syd, we all have a common goal,” Doogan said. “We’ve been playing together for four years now. We’ve played so many games, so you kind of feed off of each other’s energy and we’re really excited to get a chance to play at The Palestra.”

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By Terry Toohey

Once again Springfield found a way to win. That’s what the Cougars do. It night be often pretty, but it’s effective.

On a night when their shots weren’t falling, the top-seeded Cougars relied on their relentless defense and solid free-throw shooting to pull out a 29-25 victory over ninth-seeded Merion Mercy in the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals Tuesday night.

“It’s not as much skill as hard work,” said junior forward Anabel Kreydt, who scored eight points, pulled down nine rebounds and handed out an assist. “That’s what we do.”

The two-time defending district champion Cougars (16-7) followed that script to the letter to extend their district playoff winning streak to eight games and advance to the district semifinals for the fourth year in a row. Springfield will host fourth-seeded Bishop Shanahan, a 42-39 winner over No. 5 Harriton Friday night. The Cougars beat the Eagles, 46-38, a little more than a month ago.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

You hear it often from coaches and, more frequently, from players that those coaches instruct: “It starts with defense,” the script goes.

DJ Johnson didn’t have to say it Tuesday night. He and his Norristown teammates showed it so vividly for 32 minutes at Haverford that it spoke for itself.

No. 12 Norristown made the adjustments it needed to on defense, checking the early momentum of Haverford and rallying into the PIAA Class 6A tournament with a 46-39 win.

The win sends the Eagles (18-6) into states and into the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals Friday against No. 4 Bensalem, which beat West Chester Henderson, 57-42. No. 5 Haverford (17-6) hosts Henderson for a chance to grab one of the remaining 12 states berths most generously appointed to District 1.

For a quarter and a half, Haverford got whatever it wanted offensively, leading 18-5 with 3:22 left until halftime. That’s when Norristown switched to a 3-2 zone to slow the game down. Haverford voluntarily slowed itself down further and the Eagles found a way to get easy baskets and get back in the game.

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By Kev Hunter

On a day dubbed “Twosday,” it was only fitting there were two celebrations for the Radnor girls basketball team Tuesday night.

The first came with its thrilling 46-42 victory over Upper Moreland in the District Class 5A quarter, securing a spot in states. The second came just moments after when the Raptors learned that thanks to Villa Maria’s upset of Marple Newtown, they would be home for Friday’s semifinal contest.

“Amazing. We knew we had this game from the beginning but they scared us at the end,” Radnor’s Mary Sareen said of the Bears’ fourth-quarter comeback. “They scared us, but we pulled through. We kept playing hard. We never give up no matter what. Everyone comes through in their role and how they play. And we had no doubts it was our game.”

Sixth-seeded Radnor now gets ready for its home contest with No. 7 Villa Maria. The No. 3 Bears can still earn one of the five states spots, and will go into district playbacks Friday.

“I told the girls, our goals are not over,” Bears coach Matt Carroll said. “The only goal we can’t accomplish is to be district champs. We can still make it to states.”

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