Delcohoops.com

By Rich Flanagan

Kyle Long had seen this story before.

A slow start leading to uncoordinated offense and an inability to mount a comeback had been the encompassing theme of Springfield’s season. In tight games, including twice against Penncrest in the regular season, Springfield would fall behind and finally hit its stride, but the gap was already too large to rally.

Long was not about to allow that to happen again.

Behind 16 points and four steals from Long, the Cougars shook off another slow start and picked up the District 1 Class 5A victory over Holy Ghost Prep, 58-42. It was Springfield’s first District 1 victory in two years, when they were previously in Class AAA.

Long hit a layup and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions during the Cougars’ 14-5 second-quarter run, in which they held the Firebirds scoreless for 5:42. Long feels the second quarter has been the point where his team tends to win or lose games and jumped on the opportunity to lead the comeback.

“We’ve had a couple of games where we’ve started out slow but we usually pick things up in the second quarter and our offense really starts picking up after that,” the junior point guard said. “We knew we came out slow so we had to push the pace.”

When Long wasn’t scoring, he was finding teammates, as he did early in the third when he recorded a steal and found guard Kyle Sullivan (eight points) in transition to push Springfield’s lead to 30-16 only 1:22 in.

Sullivan, who hit a three-pointer on the previous possession, was held scoreless in the first half. But Long kept looking for him to shoot his way out of an 0-for-4 start.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Eddie Levin

When the PIAA District 1 Class 5A brackets were released on February 12, the last team Penncrest coach Mike Doyle wanted to see was Harriton — and for good reason.

The last time Harriton traveled to Penncrest, the Rams defeated the hosts while scoring 69 points — a season high allowed by the Lions.

“You are the No. 3 seed and you have to play a team that beat you in your home gym by eight points two weeks ago,” Doyle said. “It was the one team we did not want to play but the draw tells you how strong the Central League is. Jesse (Rappaport) does a great job with his team.”

Rappaport, the Harriton coach, responded in kind.

“We talked about it. Coach Doyle and I are friends,” Rappaport said. “We didn’t want them and they didn’t want us but this is the way it is. It’s a point system and you play who is front of you.”

With 10 days to prepare for their district opener, the Lions turned their focus to defense, which turned out to be the right approach in holding off a game Harriton squad, 51-44, in front of a raucous home crowd.

“It means a lot,” said junior guard Tyler Norwood, who finished with a game-high 23 points. “We wanted to get the seniors to Temple University (site of district semifinals) before they go out and we got one step closer tonight.”

“Our key tonight was to guard,” said senior Justin Ross, who chipped in 14 points. “We gave up the most points all season the last time we played Harriton so we knew if we played defense we would be fine.”

With the win, Penncrest (17-7) will host 11th-seeded Wissahickon Saturday, after the Trojans’ 67-48 upset of No. 6 seed Phoenixville.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Matthew De George

All that stood between Davoughnte Brown and the basket was 40 feet of open hardwood Wednesday night.

In the closing seconds of the first half, the Academy Park forward picked the pocket of Bishop Shanahan guard David Angelo, stretched low to the ground to keep alive a dribble and eyed the open basket for a fast-break slam that would’ve offered consolation and momentum from an otherwise dour first 16 minutes.

That is, until the whistle blew for a double-dribble.

It was that kind of night for the No. 13 seed Knights, who couldn’t get out of their own way in a 59-39 handling at the hands of No. 4 Shanahan in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A tournament.

In an affair that was rarely pretty, an Eagles first-half onslaught accrued a 33-14 lead sufficient to coast through some choppy waters after the break to secure a second-round date with No. 5 Rustin, which beat Glen Mills, 57-50, Tuesday.

The third quarter was the nadir for action. Shanahan (18-7) hospitably offered Academy Park a lifeline with just two points in the first five minutes of the half. The Knights didn’t oblige, hitting just one field goal in that stretch on a generally poor night.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Josh Verlin

There was a feeling that Upper Merion waited an entire year and a few extra days to try and experience. It was elusive, teasing, leaving the Vikings unsure all season long whether or not they would get a chance to taste it.

And then finally, it came, as sweet as ambrosia.

Redemption.

Emotion hit the Vikings like a wave at the final buzzer of their District 1 5A first-round home game against Strath Haven on Wednesday night, as a group whose season ended in disappointment in that same gym a year ago finally got to taste postseason success with a 55-45 win.

“Best feeling in the world,” senior forward Ethan Miller said. “This is the climax of our careers, and hopefully it keeps going up.”

Last year, Upper Merion walked out of its gym with its heads hanging after getting upset by Academy Park in the first round of the District 1 AAAA tournament, which had been the state’s largest classification.

After that loss, Upper Merion coach Jason Quenzer stayed optimistic, knowing that he had the vast majority of his rotation — including his best three players — back the following year.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Bryan Davis

Taj Asparagus wanted to make sure things didn’t get out of hand for West Chester Rustin.

The Golden Knights saw what was once a 14-point lead evaporate quickly against Glen Mills in the fourth quarter, which was caused by four straight turnovers.
With Rustin clinging to a two-point lead, it was up to Asparagus to stop the bleeding, as Rustin pulled away late for a 57-50 victory over No. 12 Glen Mills in a District 1 Class 5A first-round game Tuesday.

“The only thing going on in my mind was ‘We got to stay sharp, stay clean, no turnovers,’” Asparagus said. “We had to keep the pressure going since we were getting a lot of layups off of that.”
Asparagus took his own advice with three layups of his own in the fourth quarter, scoring seven of his 16 points in the final frame as No. 5 Rustin finished off the Bulls. Once Glen Mills cut the deficit to 43-41 on a steal and finish by Wayna Smith, Asparagus responded with a jumper to put Rustin up 45-41 with 4:03 remaining.

Myron Sanders respond with a layup of his own to cut the deficit back to two. After Brandon Frazier hit 1-of-2 at the line to make it a three-point lead, Asparagus stole the ball to Glen Mills’s ensuing possession and went crosscourt for an easy layup to put Rustin ahead 48-43 3:10 to play.

Cooper hit a layup to cut Rustin’s lead to 50-47 with 1:41 to play, but Asparagus took advantage of a one-on-one matchup on the Golden Knights next possession for a drive and finish to put Rustin up 52-47 with 1:15 left.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Steve Sherman

Together, Penn Wood seniors Javon Lindsey-Terrell and Sharif Goff accounted for just three points in the first quarter of the Patriots’ District 1 Class 6A second-round matchup against Pennsbury.

The duo finished with 33, however, as visiting No. 11 seed Penn Wood upset the sixth-seeded Falcons, 71-55, to advance to states and a D-1 quarterfinal Friday night at No. 3 seed Abington, a 41-32 winner over 19th-seeded Norristown.

“We identified three shooters that they have – solid shooters – 15 (Jay Fitzgerald, 5 (Lindsey-Terrell) and 30 (Goff),” explained Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman. “And it seemed that our guys just missed the rotation on it.”

With his team’s second consecutive loss in a District 1 opener – the Falcons also dropped a first-round game last year to CB East – the coach was in no mood for excuses.

“They just outplayed us tonight, overall,” added Coleman. “No matter what defense we played, no matter what offense we ran, they just outplayed us.”

After taking a 35-27 lead into the locker room, Penn Wood expanded its lead to 19 by the end of the third quarter, outscoring the home team 27-8 in the frame.

PW senior Pernell Ghee got an early putback basket and a reverse layup to put the Patriots up 39-29 less than three minutes into the second half. Later on in the third period, classmate Kairi Jones hit a 3-point play and Goff canned back-to-back 3-point jumpers, expanding the visitors’ edge to 50-33.

Pennsbury never drew within single digits again.

(click on this link for the full article)