Delcohoops.com

By Matthew De George

Kyle Long surveyed the options before Tuesday night’s game with Marple Newtown and understood what his Springfield team could draw on.

If the game called for it, the Cougars were ready to speed Marple up. Or they could drag out possessions and screen for jump shots. Or they could dump the ball inside and use Great Orjih’s height advantage.

At the controls of those options is Long.

Where the Tigers were overly reliant on one mode of attack, Springfield’s improvisation allowed it to coast to a 62-49 Central League victory.

“I think we have guys that can play fast, and then we go four corners and play slow,” Long said. “We pick and choose when we can do that. The third quarter, we started running, we got up. The fourth quarter — we had too many turnovers and I think if we can clean that up — we went a little slower, four corners and if we make our foul shots, we’re a tough team to come back against.”

Strath Haven 46, Penncrest 38 >> Cooper Driscoll, who was injured in pregame warmups before a 24-point shellacking by the Lions in December, scored seven of his 10 points in the third quarter as Strath Haven scored a measure of retribution.

John Harrar scored 13 points to go with 14 rebounds and four assists for Haven (11-5, 8-3). Chris Rosini was the catalyst with two first-quarter 3-pointers to set the tone. He finished with 11 points.

The Panthers did the job defensively on Tyler Norwood, who made just one basket over the first three quarters on a rough shooting night. He finished with 17 points. Justin Ross added eight for Penncrest (13-4, 9-2).

(click on this link for the full article and more game stories and scores)

By Will Slover

Bonner-Prendergast held just a nine-point lead over the host West Catholic with 3:45 to go in the third quarter and it looked like the Friars might fall victim to upset in front of a heavy Burrs’ crowd on Monday night.

That is, until a technical foul called on West Catholic bench sparked a quick run for the Friars to close the quarter, and Bonner-Prendie never looked back.

B-P used the run to spark a late push and the Friars went on to beat West Catholic by a score of 64-45 and maintain their spot as one of the top four teams in the Catholic League.

Highlighting the late Bonner-Prendie (13-3, 5-2 PCL) push was the effort of junior forward Ajiri Johnson, as the 6-foot-8 big man scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. The Putnam Science (Conn.) transfer also grabbed a game-high of 11 rebounds in the double-double performance.

After moving to America from his native Nigeria at age 15 and transferring to Bonner-Prendie this offseason, the big man has seen his game grow leaps and bounds in his short time as a Friar.

“He had a great game. He’s very athletic,” Bonner-Prendie head coach Jack Concannon said. “He’s getting better every day, he’s still a work in progress but he’s got a bright future.”

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Rick O’Brien

Penncrest, with an undersize but gritty lineup, is bidding to make its ninth consecutive appearance in the PIAA District 1 boys’ basketball playoffs.

Odds are that the Lions will achieve that goal as they were 12-2 overall and 8-0 in the Central League entering Wednesday night’s contest against Marple Newtown.

Mike Doyle’s squad was riding a 12-game winning streak entering its contest against the Tigers. It opened the season with taut nonleague losses against Phoenixville and Academy Park.

“The kids have done a nice job of buying into our offensive style,” Doyle said. “We do a lot of off-the-ball screening to get good looks at the basket.”

Junior point guard Tyler Norwood is shooting 53 percent from the field while averaging 24.5 points per game.

“He has an unbelievable shooting stroke. He keeps the ball on a string, and he’s a great finisher,” Doyle said.

(click on this link for the full article)

Webmaster’s note:  Next week’s Game-of-the-Week features Penncrest and Lower Merion!

 

By Matthew De George

 Kharon Randolph looks over his shoulder and offers a sheepish apology for the answer he is about to give.

For two years, the junior guard has grown close to Jameer Nelson Jr. as a teammate and a friend at The Haverford School. They’ve developed a connection on and off the court as basketball-loving teens, irrespective of one possessing a famous basketball moniker.

When it comes to appraising Nelson on the basketball court, though, Randolph can’t help but fall back on a ready-made explanation.

“It sounds cliché,” Randolph starts hesitantly, “but he plays like his dad.”

There’s no avoiding the prestige that the name Jameer Nelson connotes on basketball courts around Philadelphia. But make no mistake: Jameer Nelson Jr. isn’t the second coming of his father, the Daily Times Player of the Year from Chester, the Wooden Award winner at Saint Joseph’s and the 13-year NBA veteran. He’s charting his own course, and he has no more vocal supporter than his namesake.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

St. Joseph’s Prep didn’t need many 2-point field goals Sunday. Not when the Hawklets were shooting so proficiently from beyond the arc.

Prep hit a dozen 3-pointers, but it was a pair of free throws from Darius Kinnel with 3.4 seconds left that sealed a 52-50 victory over Archbishop Carroll.

A.J. Hoggard did all he could to keep Carroll (12-4 overall, 4-3 Catholic League) in the game with 25 points and three assists. The freshman point guard had a hand in 14 of the Patriots’ 19 made baskets.

Justin Anderson added eight points and Keyon Butler supplied seven points and 11 rebounds.

Brian Griffin led Prep with 15 points and four treys as Prep shot 12-for-15 from deep. Kyle Thompson and Gabe Arizin both made three triples for 11 points. Kinnell drained 13 points for Prep, which made just five two-point buckets.

By Aaron Carter

Thomas “Hockey Puck” McKenna furrowed his brow before Roman Catholic took on host Bonner-Prendergast in Catholic League action Friday night.

The longtime Roman assistant was reminded that the host Friars hadn’t beaten the Cahillites since 2002 when he squinted behind black-framed glasses.

“You got to remind me of that right now?!” McKenna said with a scowl.