Delcohoops.com

By Pete Digiovanni

The old adage that defense wins championships could certainly apply to Penncrest’s 41-33 victory over Great Valley on Wednesday night at Temple’s Liacouras Center in the District 1 Class 5A semifinals. Although no championship was claimed Wednesday, it may lead to one.

The third-seeded Lions (20-6) harassed the second-seeded Patriots into a one-for-10 shooting nightmare in the fourth period, outscoring them, 12-5, to punch their ticket into the disrirct championship game against No. 8 Upper Merion on Saturday at The Pavilion at Villanova University.

“I mean shooting like that in the fourth period is not going to get it done,” Great Valley coach Paul Girone said. ”They took our back screens away and we had to settle for too many jump shots tonight. They out-rebounded us, and had 12 second-chance points.”

Junior Tyler Norwood led all scorers with 21 points, while Mike Mallon added 11. It was Norwood’s six-for-seven at the foul line in the decisive fourth period that was key for the Lions. Alex Capitano and Gavin Frankenheimer had nine points each.

“It is great for the community, the school and the kids that worked so hard to be going to Villanova,” Penncrest coach Mike Doyle said. “We thought at the beginning of the season that we wanted two home games and get to Temple, and now, I guess it is Villanova. We are very excited to be playing for a district title.

(click on this link for the full article)

(Webmaster’s note: The Penncrest vs Great Valley game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard on our Archives link on the left hand side of the page.)

 

By Bob Grotz

The last time Chester played, senior Jordan Camper looked at the clock winding down in a loss to Upper Merion and mistakenly thought the season was over.

The PIAA’s eccentric District 1 5A playoff system will do that to you.

Camper obviously was relieved that he had been wrong. You could see it in the way he answered with 16 points and a powerful low post presence Wednesday night, sparking the Clippers to a 64-45 win over West Chester Rustin and a berth in the state tournament.

“We all wanted to play as hard as we could,” Camper said. “We didn’t want to have that same feeling tonight.”

The Clippers (19-6) host Delaware County neighbor Springfield Friday night for seeding in the state tourney. The Golden Knights must beat Wissahickon to qualify for states.

The Clippers had to work to get this victory, as they trailed after one quarter and led by just four points at the intermission.

A 14-3 run to end the third quarter ended the suspense. Camper, Ahrod Carter (15 points) and Jamar Sudan (12 points) scored four points each in that outburst, one fueled by full- and half-court presses and a blistering tempo. It sure looks like the Clippers are back.

“It was our defense,” Carter said. “We played hard and well on defense. We slid on every rotation right. We got the proper spacing on the floor. We just got the job done tonight. I think (the press) made them nervous. I don’t think they had a ball-handler, in my opinion. And when you don’t have a ball-handler, you can go haywire. They made their run. We knew we were going to make our run. We’re known for defense and getting on the break and run and hustle. We’re not really a half-court team.”

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Austin Petolillo

In the sports world, perhaps no four words invite more drama than “win or go home.”

That was the case for both Pennsbury and Lower Merion boy’s basketball teams, who met Tuesday night in a District 1 6A playback: winner moves onto states, loser is done for the year.

With the stakes at it’s highest, one team showed that no matter the deficit, they were not going to let this be their last game of the season,

That team was the Lower Merion Aces, who stormed back from down as much as 10 points to come out on top over the Pennsbury Falcons, 58-55.

Leading the Aces comeback was senior wing guard Terrell Jones, who scored 24 points for Lower Merion, while also adding seven rebounds.

As a senior, Jones is used to these pressure filled, raucous crowd, win or go home type of games.

“I love the pressure, I love the big moments, their fan section was crazy, our fan section was crazy, they came out an hour away to cheer us on.” Jones said. “People don’t realize how much fans really help.”

Lower Merion head coach Gregg Downer and the rest of the Aces squad have shown that they perform best in a win or go home situation, going 3-0 in elimination games this season.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Harry Chaykun

Springfield basketball coach Kevin McCormick was happy to see the school’s student body well-represented in the stands as the Cougars hosted Wissahickon in a PIAA District One Class 5A playback game Wednesday night.

The students who watched the home team earn a 68-62 decision were happy to join in a post-game celebration as Springfield earned the chance to compete in the state tournament for the first time since 2010.

It wasn’t easy, though.

The Cougars won despite falling behind by 14 points in the third period, when they made only one field goal in eight minutes. There was an intentional foul against Springfield that helped Wissahickon built its lead by scoring 12 consecutive points.

The strangest situation during all of this craziness occurred when Trojans junior Marlyn Jordan was fouled on his way to the hoop. The ball never did go through the basket, but the officials conferred before ruling that the goal counted. They never did make it clear that they were awarding two points because of a violation such as goaltending.

“I’m glad it didn’t turn out to be a one- or two-point game in their favor,” McCormick said with a smile.

Springfield will visit Chester Friday night in the district’s fifth-place game. Among the things that made that possible was senior Zach Chevalier tossing in a 3-point shot at the buzzer ending the third period to cut Wissahickon’s lead to 10. The Cougars got hot from the floor from there and took advantage of the double-bonus from the foul line for the final 5:43 of the game.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Josh Verlin

The opening two quarters of a District 1 5A semifinal between No. 4 seed Bishop Shanahan and No. 8 Upper Merion couldn’t have been much uglier.

With every young athlete playing on by far the biggest stage of his career, both teams came out ice cold, combining for a grand total of 21 points in the game’s opening 16 minutes.

“A combination of defense and nerves,” Upper Merion head coach Jason Quenzer called it, though he admitted it was “maybe a little bit more nerves.”

With the way both the Vikings and Eagles were shooting the ball, it was only a matter of time before one of the two put something together.

Finally, after 13 missed 3-pointers over the game’s first 29 minutes, Upper Merion’s Andrew Persaud connected. And then, 30 seconds later, he hit from deep again.

The senior guard’s pair of 3-pointers in the game’s closing minutes sealed the deal as the Vikings advanced to the district championship game with a 45-30 win over the Eagles.

(click on this link for the full article)

(Webmaster’s note: The Upper Merion vs Bishops Shanagan game was our Game-of-the-Week and can be heard on our Archives link on the left hand side of the page.)

 

By Anthony Dabbundo & Will Slover 

In a quarterfinal round that saw all but one game decided by four or less points, and all but one game won by the higher seed, four more than deserving teams advanced to the District 1 5A Quarterfinals, which will take place on Wednesday night at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

Here’s a look at the night’s matchups:

Game 1: No. 2 Great Valley vs. No. 3 Penncrest (6:00 PM)
Penncrest is no stranger to fighting its way to wins in close contests.

Of its 24 games played this season, 16 of them were decided by single digits, and Penncrest came out on top in ten of those close-knit affairs.

With their last three games all being in that category of single-digit differences, the Lions (18-6) are getting ready to make a long playoff run using that close-game experience to battle through the dog days of late February and March.

After falling to Lower Merion on a buzzer-beater in the Central League semifinals and then topping Harriton by a score of 51-44 in the first-round of District play, Penncrest had quite possibly its toughest challenge yet in its quarterfinal contest with Wissahickon.

Thirty-two minutes of basketball weren’t enough in that one, as it took Penncrest until overtime to top the Trojans by a score of 60-56 and advance to the district semifinals.

“It’s kind of like we’ve been in that mode for a little while now,” Penncrest head coach Mike Doyle said. “We’re not built for blowouts and we’ve had a tremendous amount of close games. It’s just the way this team is built, we’re not going to blow anybody out. We’re in it for the long haul, that’s kind of what we try to do.”

(click on this link for the full article on both games)

(Webmaster’s note: Both PIAA, District 1, 5A semi-final games will be broadcast tonight on our Game-of-the-Week broadcast and will be heard LIVE and on our Archives by using the links on the left hand side of the page.)