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By Matt Smith

No lead is safe when Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara go head to head.

Carroll almost learned that the hard way. Brooke Wilson made sure the Patriots survived a furious O’Hara comeback bid Tuesday evening at Saint Joseph’s University City campus.

Leading by 20 points at intermission, the Patriots were well on their way – or so they thought – to The Palestra next Monday to play for the Philadelphia Catholic League championship. O’Hara had other intentions.

Wilson drove to the basket and scored twice on successive possessions in the fourth quarter, shortly after Molly Rullo had made a bucket to pull O’Hara within three points. Wilson, a senior guard/forward and Army commit, pushed her team across the finish line. Despite being outscored by 13 points in the second half, Carroll defeated rival O’Hara, 45-38.

Carroll will meet Archbishop Wood in the Catholic League final.

“I’ve played so many years of Carroll basketball, so many games. I’m finally starting to learn to take a deep breath and slow down,” said Wilson, who scored five of her eight points in the final quarter. She added five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

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By Bob Grotz

The Harris twins gave Chester a turbo boost in the second half of their 59-54 District 1 Class 6A triumph over defending district champion Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday night at Ninth and Barclay.

The win advances the fourth-seeded Clippers (19-2) to the quarterfinals and a rematch with Coatesville, which defeated Cheltenham 77-60. That game is on Friday at 7 p.m. at Chester.

Coatesville, you may recall, handed the Clippers a 66-62 defeat on Jan. 26 at the Clip Joint, snapping their 16-game winning streak.

“It is what it is,” Clippers coach Keith Taylor said. “Let’s get it. People can talk all that noise that they want. Let’s get it.”

On this Tuesday evening the Clippers were a bit lethargic, which wasn’t surprising considering they haven’t played in weeks. The 12th-seeded Colonials weren’t going to go quietly, either particularly the young core headed by 6-5 sophomore Manik Sajid, who scored a game-high 26 points.

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By CoBL Staff

The PIAA state playoffs are only a win away for the 16 teams left in District 1 6A. All eight second-round winners next Tuesday night 

Here’s a look at all eight second-round games; all games are scheduled for 7 PM at the higher seed:

1) Lower Merion vs. 16) Conestoga
The 2021 and 2022 District 1 champs are back as the No. 1 seed, Gregg Downer’s group getting a bye through the first round after a 21-1 regular season and a Central League championship. Now the Aces get to start the next phase of their postseason with a familiar opponent in the league rival Pioneers, whom they’ve already dispatched twice this season: 42-37 at Conestoga on Dec. 14 and 90-60 at Lower Merion on Jan. 30. Conestoga’s into the second round after a suffocating defensive effort against Neshaminy leading to a 53-19 win on Friday night. They’ll try to replicate that type of effort Tuesday, though besides that first matchup nobody’s held Lower Merion below 59 points all season, and the Aces have hit 75+ on 14 different occasions. 

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By CoBL Staff

The District 1 5A girls field is down to eight heading to Tuesday night. Each squad remaining has at least two more games to play this season with a win guaranteeing even more.

Tuesday night’s winners will advance to Friday’s semifinal round and clinch four of the district’s six spots in states, while the four losers will head to the state playback bracket and battle for the last two bids.

Here’s a look at all four second-round games:

3) Radnor vs. 6) Villa Maria
Radnor got a first round-bye this season after an upset first-round loss ended the Raptors’ season a year ago. The Raptors have had a lot of time to stew on a first-round Central League playoff loss to Penncrest two weeks ago, while the Hurricanes, last season’s district runner-up, enter following a lopsided AACA title loss to Gwynedd Mercy. Seniors Kate Gallagher and Caroline Monahan are joined by sophomores Nyah Yao and Anna Reger in the rotation for the Raptors. They’ll miss the inside presence of senior forward  Blayse Jennings, who spent her first three high school seasons playing in New York, after an unfortunate PIAA ruling.

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By Matt Smith

Aaron Freeman didn’t factor into Sun Valley’s plans at the start of the season. He was a junior up from JV and wasn’t expected to play a lot of minutes.

Those plans changed quickly.

“Aaron at the beginning of the season wasn’t necessarily in the rotation,” coach Steve Maloney said. “Shows how smart I am.”

Maloney, a known wisecracker, was being facetious.

Freeman eventually forced himself into the starting lineup and provided the Vanguards with another versatile and speedy ball handler alongside senior Noah Griffin, who is every team’s worst nightmare when facing Sun Valley.

When the game was on the line Friday night, in the final moments of a District 1 Class 5A first-round slugfest with Marple Newtown, Maloney entrusted Freeman with the ball.

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Bailey Garrison’s and Lila Curci’s clutch free-throw shooting helped No. 19 Penncrest to a 60-59 victory over 14th-seeded Coatesville in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs Friday evening.

Garrison hit two foul shots with two-tenths of a second left in the fourth quarter, tying the game. In the extra session, Curci made one foul to extend the Lions’ lead to three points with 14 seconds remaining. Penncrest power forward Kathryn Harding dominated with 22 points. Garrison (13 points) finished 11-for-12 at the charity stripe, while Emily Huggins and Alex Bruce tossed in 10 points each.

Curci and Makayla Johnson played outstanding defense on Coatesville’s best shooter, Gianna Jackson, who was limited to five points.

Elsewhere in the District 1 Class 6A tournament:

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