Delcohoops.com

By Matt Smith

Two Delaware County girls basketball teams will make their long-awaited returns to the District 1 playoffs Friday night,.

Tenth-seeded Chester and No. 11 seed Sun Valley will compete in the Class 5A tournament in separate first-round games.

The Clippers (13-8) are set to appear in their first district tournament contest since 2014. The Del Val League co-champions travel to No. 7 Phoenixville (14-8) for a 7 p.m. tip off. The winner advances to the quarterfinals to face No. 2 West Chester East (17-6).

Sophomores Imani Dorsey and Jordan Dennis, junior Ja’Mya Muhammad and senior Shyne Hall are all averaging better than 10 points per game for the Clippers.

The Vanguards (11-11) are in the postseason for the first time since 2016. They head to Malvern to play No. 6 Villa Maria (14-7) at 6 p.m. The winner plays No. 3 Radnor (18-5).

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By Matthew DeGeorge

Kevin McCormick has gotten to know the dance well by now.

For a third straight year, McCormick’s Springfield boys basketball team finished with an 11-11 record. For the third straight year, it meant sweating out the match to see if they would get into the District 1 Class 6A tournament.

In 2022, a three-game losing streak to end the season landed them 28th, outside of the 24-team field. Last year, they were 27th, enduring the oddity that was qualifying for the Central League tournament but not districts, which allowed them another game while their playoff fate hung in the balance.

This year, finally, McCormick and company are on the correct side of the line.

Springfield earned the 24th and final seed in the District 1 tournament, which will open Friday night at No. 9 Abington. The winner gets No. 8 Bensalem, which received a bye to Tuesday’s second round.

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By Joseph Santoliquito

They looked sunk. They were sunk. Down 11 with five minutes to go, the Cardinal O’Hara Lions appeared to have little hope of beating Devon Prep in the opening round of the Catholic League playoffs Wednesday night.

Then, almost from nowhere, came Anthony Hobbs. The Lions’ senior guard had started for a portion of the season, before coming off the bench recently. He did not sulk about it. He did not quit on himself. He stayed and fought. That fight surfaced Wednesday night when Hobbs scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch steal and a three-pointer to propel O’Hara to an improbable 63-61 victory over the Tide.

Seeded No. 9, O’Hara (9-13 overall) will advance to play No. 1 seed and defending Catholic League champion Roman Catholic on Friday at Holy Family, while No. 8 seed Devon Prep (9-13) will have to wait for the District 12 3A championship game after an uncharacteristic deluge of turnovers in the last 1:50 of play.

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By Matt Smith

Brooke Wilson of Archbishop Carroll was named the Catholic League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2023-24 regular season, the league announced Wednesday.

Wilson is enjoying an outstanding senior season after helping the Patriots win the PIAA Class 6A championship nearly a year ago. The Patriots are 14-8 overall and 9-2 in the Catholic League.

The Army commit scored her 1,000th career point last week.

Wilson and teammate Alexis Eberz joined the following players on the All-Catholic League First Team: Archbishop Wood’s Ava Renninger and Emily Knouse; Cardinal O’Hara’s Molly Rullo and Joanie Quinn; Lansdale Catholic’s Grace McDonough; Nazareth Academy’s Reese Power; and Neumann-Goretti’s Reginna Baker and Carryn Easley.

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Beau Lyren’s 19-point performance helped Delaware County Christian School to a 68-48 win over Jenkintown Wednesday in the second round of the Bicentennial Athletic League boys basketball tournament.

Khamai Orange, Brad Berwick and Luke Busha each finished with 10 points for the Knights (18-6).

In the Catholic League playoffs:

Archbishop 66, Bonner & Prendergast 51 >> The No. 7 Patriots outscored the10th-seeded Friars, 27-13, in the final quarter of a first-round clash.

Sophomore Luca Foster drilled a trio of 3-pointers in the second half.

Carroll plays at No. 2 Neumann-Goretti in the quarterfinal round Friday.

By Matt Smith

Tuesday morning’s winter storm left Delaware County blanketed in slushy stuff by midday, badly enough for most high schools to postpone their evening events.

That means the Central League championship doubleheader at Marple Newtown was moved to Thursday. Tipoff times are 6 p.m for the girls and 8 p.m. for the boys.

The No. 1 Haverford (20-3) girls team is aiming for its second consecutive league title. Its opponent, No. 2 Conestoga, is a familiar foe. Last season the Fords bested the Pioneers (21-2) in the final.

Haverford and Conestoga first met in 2023-24 on the opening day of the Central League season Dec. 7. The Pioneers used a big fourth quarter to earn a 47-38 win. The Fords leaned on forward Natalie Wright in the second game Jan. 25. She had a team-high 14 points en route to a 38-27 triumph, handing the previously unbeaten Pioneers their first loss.

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Webmaster’s note:  The PIAA District 1 basketball playoffs begin February 16th.  We have posted all brackets that include Delco teams.  You can link to those brackets using the District Playoffs image in the right column.