Delcohoops.com

By Michael Bullock

Here’s installment No. 2 of City of Basketball Love’s state rankings, a package that will appear on Mondays throughout the remainder of the regular season.

We did showcase a set of preseason rankings leading up to the opening weekend (Dec. 9-10) and those groupings served as a starting point — since we’re going to continue to shuffle things around based on the early returns.

Appearing below are all six of our top 10s, with PIAA district and this season’s record displayed in parentheses. Only those schools competing for PIAA state championships are eligible for ranking purposes.

CLASS 5A

No. 3 Abington Heights extended its winning streak to four games last week by overpowering Holy Redeemer (62-29), Dunmore (47-29) and Riverside (56-29). George Tinsley reached double figures in all three successes, totaling 35 points for Ken Bianchi’s Comets. Seth Maxwell did not play in the win over Riverside, but the 7-0 senior bucketed a combined 27 points against Redeemer and Dunmore. The Comets will hop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Northeast Extension on Tuesday, traveling to Parkland to square off against Berks Catholic.

No.  School                                            Rec    Pvs
1.     Archbishop Wood (12)                4-2         1
2.     Bangor (11)                                 6-0         2
3.     Abington Heights (2)                   6-1         3
4.     Upper Merion (1)                         6-0         4
5.     Northeastern (3)                          7-0         5
6.     Whitehall (11)                              6-1         6
7.     Archbishop Carroll (12)               5-1         7
8.     Bonner-Prendergast (12)            6-0        8
9.     Chester (1)                                  4-1     OW
10.   Meadville (10)                              6-0      10

Checked in: No. 9 Chester.
Checked out: No. 9 Highlands.

(click on this link for the all six classification rankings)

 

By Bruce Adams

 Archbishop Carroll, off to a 5-1 start this winter, exploded out of the gates early Friday evening in their 80-66 win against host Malvern Prep.
The Patriots, with talented 6-3 junior guard Justin Anderson and 6-4 senior guard Colin Daly hitting shots from both near and far, jumped out to an 18-3 lead 4 1/2 minutes into the game. Anderson finished with 25 points Friday evening, on the heels of a 28-point performance in the Patriots’ 67-65 win against Penn Wood.
“[Anderson] has a great first step,” said Carroll head coach Paul Romanczuk. “He can score from outside, mid-range, and around the rim.”

Daly finished the night with 15 points and eight rebounds.
“Colin is playing like a composed veteran,” said Romanczuk. “He knows what has to be done for us in the way of rebounding, and he grabbed a few loose balls tonight and made some big shots.”

(click on this link for the full article)

 

Malik Archer saved his best for last on Friday night.
Archer scored 11 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter as Math, Civics & Sciences rallied for a 65-53 victory over host Chester in the final game of the Rondae Jefferson Classic.
Archer earned team MVP honors for the Mighty Elephants (7-0), who outscored the Clippers, 16-10, in the third period to erase a 31-26 halftime deficit. Kwahzere Ransom gave MCS its first lead with a layup at the end of the third quarter.
Jordan Camper tossed in 17 points and blocked five shots to earn MVP honors for the Clippers (4-1). Brian Randolph chipped in with 12 points.
In other nonleague action:
Garnet Valley 67, Chichester 56 >> Brandon Starr and Connor O’Brien combined for 37 points to get the Jaguars (5-2) back on the winning track.
Starr scored 24 points and pulled down seven rebounds. O’Brien added 13 points and Cole Palis handed out seven assists. Jaguars’ star Austin McLaughlin missed the game with an illness.
Chichester’s Daquan Granberry led all scorers with 32 points.

(Webmaster’s note: The Chichester vs Garnet 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 Will Slover

After starting last season a dismal 5-13, but then rallying to go 11-3 over their final 14 contests to make the PIAA A State Championship game, the Mighty Elephants of Math, Civics and Sciences Charter School have gotten used to playing, and performing, in an underdog role.

In most cases, coming into a season off of a state championship appearance wouldn’t indicate being an underdog, but after losing forward Edward Croswell to St. Joseph’s Prep over the offseason, MCS found itself back in that ever-familiar underdog role entering the 2016-17 season.

Fast forward to December 21. The Mighty Elephants are 6-0, fresh off of a victory over perennial state power, Martin Luther King, and had already beaten another state top dog, La Salle College High School, to start their season. At this point, they were ready to shake the ‘underdog’ title.

(click on this link for the full article)

 

By Matt Smith

Brandon Star and Austin Laughlin have been putting up some big numbers for Garnet Valley. Strath Haven put a stop to that Thurday night.

The Panthers held Star, the leading scorer in the county, to five points in a 59-52 Central League boys basketball victory over the Jaguars.

Laughlin led all scorers with 26, but that was not enough to offset the offensive production of Strath Haven’s John Harrar and Christopher Rosini. Harrar scored 24 points and Rosini hit three of his six 3-point field goals in the third quarter to put the Panthers up for good. Rosini finished with 18 points.

Elsewhere in the Central League:

(click on this link for game stories and scores)

 

By Josh Verlin

Christian Ray caught a bug over the summer, and the rest of his Haverford School teammates have picked it up.

In July, Ray was brought up to the senior team of the Team Philly AAU program, the K-Low Elite squad which played on the Adidas Gauntlet circuit. There, he learned that just because he stood at 6-foot-5, he wasn’t going to be able to be the dominant force he’d been in two years at Octorara and on the younger levels of AAU basketball.

The program’s director, Lonnie Lowry, and K-Low Elite head coach Kyle Sample instilled in Ray the mindset he needed.

“They’re the ones who told me you see the ball, get it,” Ray said. “It doesn’t matter what’s in front of you, just grab it with your hands and fight for everything you could get.”

(click on this link for the full article)