Delcohoops.com

By Matthew DeGeorge

Kylie Mulholland trudged to the bench at James Buchanan High School with 28.1 seconds left Friday night and buried her head in the top of her Garnet Valley jersey.

When Savannah Saunders joined her less than eight seconds of game clock later, the comeback they had tried to inspire definitively dashed, they comprised a poignant symbol of how the Jaguars’ run ended.

The Jaguars struggled to meter their physicality in the PIAA Class 6A semifinal against Upper St. Clair. Combined with a stellar shooting performance from the Panthers from 3-point range, Garnet Valley’s journey ended one win shy of Hershey with a 53-49 setback.

“I mean, it was 5-0 in both quarters on fouls, which didn’t help us,” Mulholland said. “Sav was on the bench most of the game, which we need her in the game. Having those fouls on us, they were very frustrating and flustering, and I think we kind of got off our game a little, and we didn’t play our best.”

Mulholland, Garnet Valley’s sparkplug point guard, wields the information as explanation, not excuse. Garnet Valley was whistled for 21 fouls to Upper St. Clair’s 10. The Jaguars committed the first 10 fouls of the second half, in the estimation of the officials, the District 7 champion’s defense judged pristine from halftime until 1:57 remained in regulation.

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By Andrew Robinson

Grace Miley was going to shoot, right up until she didn’t.

Instead, the Perkiomen Valley senior saw Quinn Boettinger and in a show of what’s made this Vikings team so good, Miley gave up the ball at the biggest juncture of Friday’s PIAA Class 6A semifinals. Boettinger drew a foul in a tie game, stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws for a PV lead it wouldn’t give back.

It took every measure they had in them, but the Vikings were finally able to put away Archbishop Carroll 52-45 at Plymouth Whitemarsh, securing their first trip to Hershey and a PIAA title game after an exceptional high school basketball game Friday night.

“We all just know, some of our shots may be good, but there are always better shots,” Miley said. “In a game like this, when it’s so close, taking the best shot is the most important thing. You might have a good shot, but you also have to know if someone else has a better shot because that’s the one more likely to get what you want.”

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By Matt Smith

Archbishop Carroll was a bounce away Friday night from potentially returning to Hershey for the PIAA Class 6A title game for the second time in three years.

With 1:15 left in regulation and the Patriots down a bucket, junior star Alexis Eberz attempted a 3-pointer that hit off the back of the rim and out. Perkiomen Valley corralled the rebound, then began the process of pulling away at the free-throw line.

After two straight seasons falling short against Catholic League opponents in the state tournament, the Vikings got over the hump, earning a 52-45 victory in the state semifinals at Plymouth Whitemarsh. They will face Upper St. Clair, which defeated Garnet Valley in the other semifinal, at the Giant Center next Friday at 6 p.m.

The Patriots finished with a 19-10 record.

“They’re a great team,” said Eberz, who accumulated seven points, seven rebounds and five assists. “We gave everything we had. Back in December, we never thought we would be in this position right now. We played our minds out, gave it all that we could, but we just fell a little short.”

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By Matt Smith

Only two teams from Delaware County are still standing in the PIAA basketball playoffs, and if this postseason feels like it’s dragging, you’re not imagining things.

A scheduling conflict with Cirque du Soleil at Hershey’s Giant Center forced the PIAA to hit the pause button after last weekend’s quarterfinals. That means after this weekend’s semifinal matchups, teams will have to wait another full week before the championship games tip off from March 20-23.

Archbishop Carroll and Garnet Valley are hoping to punch their tickets to Hershey once the circus leaves town. Here’s a breakdown of their matchups in the Class 6A semifinals Friday.

Arch. Carroll vs. Perkiomen Valley at Plymouth Whitemarsh, 7:30 p.m.

The Patriots (20-9) are where they expected to be, which is on the doorstep of another state championship appearance. Two years removed from winning it all in Class 6A, Carroll once again finds itself facing mighty Perk Valley, a team it knocked off en route to the 2023 title.

For Perk Valley, the pressure to win is enormous. The Vikings (28-3) have dominated District 1, winning three straight championships, including last month against Garnet Valley. But they’ve stumbled in states the past two seasons, losing to Carroll two years ago and Cardinal O’Hara last March. This game will go a long way in shaping the legacy of the Vikings, who boast arguably the strongest starting five left in the 6A tournament.

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By Josh Verlin

The Sweetest Place on Earth is just one win away.

The PIAA state semifinals take place this upcoming weekend — Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 — at high school gyms across the state, with 48 teams still alive in 12 different brackets across six classifications on the boys and girls’ sides. That includes 16 teams from the Philadelphia area still alive, with eight local squads playing on Friday and eight on Saturday. 

Here’s a look at each of Saturday’s semifinals involving local teams:

Boys 3A
West Catholic (12-1) vs. Holy Cross (2-2)
Parkland HS, 2:30 PM

Both of these teams have made deep postseason runs in recent memory. For West Catholic, that was a state championship two years back, the Burrs capturing the 2023 3A crown with an 83-55 win over Deer Lake. Holy Cross was in the 2A title game just last March, losing to Aliquippa, with the entire starting lineup back in the mix. West Catholic doesn’t have that Hershey experience on the roster, with only a couple pieces still remaining from that title run, but a Catholic League battle-tested team is always a threat this time of year. 

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By Josh Verlin

The Sweetest Place on Earth is just one win away.

The PIAA state semifinals take place this upcoming weekend — Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 — at high school gyms across the state, with 48 teams still alive in 12 different brackets across six classifications on the boys and girls’ sides. That includes 16 teams from the Philadelphia area still alive, with eight local squads playing on Friday and eight on Saturday. 

Here’s a look at each of Friday’s semifinals involving local teams:

Boys’ 1A
Sankofa Freedom (12-1) vs. Lancaster Country Day (3-4)
Plymouth Whitemarsh HS, 5:30 PM

Sankofa Freedom is back in the state semifinals for the first time since winning the 2019 PIAA Class 1A title, the Warriors’ first and only state championship run. Sankofa’s had a quality run so far, taking out a one-loss York Country Day squad by 29, then beating District 11 champs Bethlehem Christian 75-66 and District 1 champs Chester Charter 67-56. 

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