Delcohoops.com

By Bruce Adams

After scoring 25 points in Westtown’s 64-49 victory against Episcopal Academy in the Pa. Independent Schools Athletic Association boys’ basketball championship game Saturday evening at Malvern Prep, Moose senior Brandon Randolph reflected on his team’s second consecutive PAISAA title as well as the final game of his illustrious high school career.

“When the [final] buzzer sounded, it was crazy,” said Randolph. “I was thinking how we made history, we won it again, and it was great to see how much all of [our teammates] had grown during my time here.”

Senior teammate Anthony Ochefu added, “This championship meant so much, winning it back-to-back with this group of seniors, and seeing how far we have come [in the last few years].”

Episcopal Academy (18-11) proved a tough foe for Westtown 32-2) in the final, and the Churchmen took a 32-30 lead with 3:42 left in the third quarter.

“I wasn’t surprised [that EA was leading],” said Westtown head coach Seth Berger. “We couldn’t run [at that point] — EA’s transition game was awesome and they were very patient on offense. EA is a talented and well-coached team. But then our talent took over, and [our players] turned it on.”

The talented Westtown squad responded with a 23-4 run that gave the Moose a 53-36 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Westtown, with a roster stacked with talented Division I level players, has been drawing large crowds as of late, and Saturday evening at Malvern Prep was no exception. Once the gym was filled to capacity, would-be attendees had to be turned away.

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By Steve Moore

As the throng of Great Valley students poured from the stands at the final buzzer and surrounded their victorious schoolmates, one final, simple chant engulfed the circle of jumping, happy teenagers.

“Temple, Temple.”

It signified the obvious, that the Patriots will head into Philadelphia for the District 1 Class 5A boys basketball semifinals Wednesday night.

Second-seeded Great Valley snapped a tie with under two minutes to go, while scoring four of the game’s last points, to outlast No. 10 Springfield (Delco), 41-38. The Patriots head to the Liacouras Center to face No. 3 Penncrest in the first semifinal on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Springfield falls into the consolation round with a chance to make the PIAA tournament still in the offing.

“It feels great to be going to Temple knowing that we played most of our season without Alex Capitano (who missed significant time due to a broken hand),” said Nate Graeff. “We came together as a team. Team ball pays off.”

Great Valley (18-6) came up with some key defensive stops in the fourth quarter, holding the Cougars (14-11) without a field goal for the final four minutes, 57 seconds of the game. They took lead for good on a perfectly executed backdoor layup by Capitano with 1:42 left.

The Patriots held a tenuous 28-27 lead after three quarters, which they quickly extended to three on a Capitano basket. They held the advantage at 35-31 with 5:07 left following a 3-point basket by Gavin Frankenheimer. Jordan McKenzie quickly silenced the home crowd by rebounding a missed shot for the bucket and the foul. The resultant free throw made it 35-34 with under five minutes to play. What nobody in the gym would know at the time would be that was the last basket for Springfield.

“We played it right,” Graeff said in amazement when told about the feat. “They’re a well-rounded team with a lot of guys eho can score, so to hold them without a basket for that long is incredible.”

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By Tyler Sandora

You will never find Great Valley’s best attribute on the stat sheet.

They have shooters, rebounders, and passers, but there is one piece missing from the engine that powers the Patriots game.

Intensity.

They definitely brought that intensity on Saturday night as they defeated Springfield (Delco.), 41-38.

With the win, Great Valley punched its ticket to Temple University for the 5A district Final Four, where it will meet the No. 3 seed Penncrest Lions. The Patriots also qualified for a spot in the PIAA 5A state playoffs.

The main catalyst of the intense game play was junior forward Nate Graeff. At 6-foot-2, Graeff needed to play shut-down defense to make up for his lack of height.

Whether it was diving on the floor after loose balls, boxing out Springfield’s big man Great Orjih, or making shots just as the score was getting closer, Graeff was seemingly everywhere on the court

“Nate Graeff played the game of his life,” coach Paul Girone said. “I thought he defended their big men well. He is three or four inches shorter but he took him right out of the game. He did exactly what we needed.”

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By Matt Smith

Six weeks.

That’s how long Upper Merion senior Matt Faw spent inactive and deprived of basketball action. The two months off was precisely what his doctors ordered after Faw suffered a bone injury in his foot following an awkward landing in a Dec. 20 meeting with Upper Perkiomen.

He returned just in time for the playoffs. And the Vikings sure are happy to have their 6-8 superstar back in the fold.

When No. 8 Upper Merion walked into Chester High’s Clip Joint for Saturday’s District 1 Class 5A quarterfinal, not many folks were expecting an upset. The Clippers were the top seed and a perennial contender for a PIAA championship.

Faw and the Vikings didn’t care.

“I believed as soon as I got in here, that we were going to win this game,” Faw said.

He was right.

Faw was perfect at the free-throw line down the stretch, going 8-for-8 in the fourth quarter to lead the Vikings to a thrilling 53-50 victory. UM (15-9) advances to the semifinal round Wednesday to face No. 4 Bishop Shanahan at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

Faw poured in a game-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Clippers (18-6) will have to kick the bitter taste of a stunning defeat and battle for a berth in the PIAA tournament out of the losers bracket. The Clippers will prepare to tackle fifth-seeded West Chester Rustin Wednesday.

With 29.1 seconds to play, and Chester clinging to a one-point lead, Clippers point guard Michael Smith missed a 1-and-1 and Faw came down with the rebound. He was fouled, inadvertently, and strolled to the foul line where he made two to put the Vikings in front, 51-50.

Chester fumbled an opportunity to take the win in dramatic fashion. A loose ball led to a mad scrum underneath the basket. A jump ball was called, with the possession arrow in Upper Merion’s favor with 2.1 seconds to go.

Faw received the ensuing inbound pass and was hacked with 0.8 seconds. He calmly swished both freebies to make it 53-50.

While Upper Merion was effective from the charity stripe  (18-for-22), Chester struggled mightily in far fewer opportunities (2-for-9).

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By Matthew De George

Over 24 games, finding qualitative differences between Archbishop Carroll and Bonner & Prendergast posed a distinct challenge. Mathematically, the Philadelphia Catholic League’s points system couldn’t either, hence an impromptu meeting Friday night at Cardinal O’Hara.

But in the course of two head-to-head meetings in as many weeks, two glaring disparities emerged: The superior depth possessed by Carroll, and its propensity for devastating stretches of explosive offense.

Both were on clinical display Friday in a 66-48 win that vaults Carroll into the District 12 Class 5A third-place game with Mastery Charter North next Wednesday for the district’s final PIAA tournament bid.

Bonner & Prendergast’s resurgent season concludes with a 16-9 record.

Though numerically it fell short of the 73-50 pasting Carroll hung on its Delco rivals on home court two Fridays ago, this win-or-go-home affair showed the best of what Carroll can do, starting with freshman point guard A.J. Hoggard.

Hoggard was the best player on the court, amassing the stat line to prove it — 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. He orchestrated a heady but composed attack that staggered Bonner & Prendergast with a 14-0 second-quarter run, then knocked them to the canvas with a 16-2 opening to the third.

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By Tom Nash

In order to take a step forward Friday night, Episcopal Academy senior Conner Delaney first needed to take a step back.

A step back in time, that is.

“I wasn’t having too much fun early on and it showed,” he said. “Once I got things going, it felt like I was playing eighth grade basketball again.”

The Johns Hopkins University commit went on a 15-point surge during the fourth quarter and eventually sealed it in overtime at the free-throw line during Episcopal Academy’s 59-58 win over the Hill School in the semifinal round of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) playoffs.

Delaney scored 18 of the No. 3 seeded Churchmens’ final 21 points, kick-starting it with a 3-pointer two minutes into the fourth quarter. Even with the Hill defense selling out to put a hand on him, Delaney was locked in from all over the court. He’d finish with a game-high 25 points, that after going scoreless through the first quarter.

“That first 3-pointer went down and I knew I was back on track,” he said. “I got hot at the right time. Coach (Craig Conlin) said I was controlling the game and I think that helped keep me in it.”

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