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By Matt Smith

Emily Huggins had been so angry at herself.

Mired in a two-game cold spell, the Penncrest guard never stopped working. The baskets weren’t dropping with any frequency, but she understood that eventually she would have to score points. The Lions needed her offense.

“I was not hitting any of my shots for a couple of games and I was really struggling with my mental health,” the senior said.

In the third quarter of Thursday’s Central League quarterfinal at Radnor, Huggins banked a 3-point shot to break a tie. Moments later, she hit a runner to put her squad in front by seven points. Her confidence was back.

Fast forward to the fourth quarter. Radnor’s Nyah Yao made a basket to give the hosts a one-point lead with 11.6 seconds to go. Penncrest coach Larry Johnson called a timeout.

Out of the break, Lila Curci dribbled at the top of the key, handed off to a streaking Huggins, who went straight to the lane. Radnor’s Anna Reger stayed on her every step of the way. Huggins seemed to lose her balance, but managed to hurl up a one-handed shot, off backboard and in with 4.2 seconds on the clock.

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Blaize Eldridge was in spectacular form Thursday night to help Sun Valley complete an amazing comeback in a Ches-Mont League tournament game.

Eldridge scored 33 points, pushing the Vanguards back from what was an early 20-point deficit, en route to a 62-58 win over Downingtown West.

Noah Griffin scored 13 points for the Vanguards, and Kaiden Robinson added 12. Sun Valley trailed, 24-4, early.  With the victory, the Vanguards (15-8) move to the Ches-Mont semis, where they’ll take on Coatesville at West Chester University Saturday at 5 p.m. It’s the third straight 15-win season for Sun Valley.

In the Bicentennial League:

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By Matt Smith

Not often over the years has it been said that Chester High is the home of two championship varsity basketball teams.

That is changing.

Head coach Marvin Dukes and his staff have presided over a successful girls team built around its youthful core.

Sophomore guard Imani Dorsey averages a team-leading 15.5 points per game and is closing fast on 1,000 for her career. She is a gifted three-level scorer with untapped potential.

“I just want to do what I can,” Dorsey said following the Clippers’ best win of the season, a 49-43 decision last Friday over Penncrest (14-8), which is a contender for the Central League title.

“And I want to win.”

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By Andrew Robinson

In nearly 20 years of coaching, Francis Bowe has never had a team quite like this one.

His Archbishop Carroll team is not short on talent, the Patriots laden with some of the area’s top underclassmen. However, the Patriots are short on experience, Carroll laden only with some of the area’s top underclassmen on a roster made entirely of freshmen and sophomores.

That experience might be catching up, Carroll downing West Catholic 57-45 on Wednesday for its fourth win in the last five games.

“They really are playing for each other, and they’re still learning,” Bowe said. “The one thing we had to say early in the year was ‘play for each other, have each other’s backs,’ and that takes time, especially with youth.

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By Josh Verlin

There’s no favorite in the Central League. There’s three of them.

Haverford, Conestoga and Garnet Valley were the three to watch coming into the year, and though a few others have surprised — looking at you, Radnor — eyes are still on the Fords, Pioneers and Jaguars to make the most noise not just in the league but districts and states as well.

Here’s a look at the Central League playoffs, which begin Thursday night on home courts:

1) Haverford High (19-3, 14-2)
Saturday, 7 PM vs. TBD
Technically league co-champs, Haverford gets the top seed thanks to tiebreakers; thanks to splitting its two games with Conestoga, it’s the two wins Haverford scored over Garnet Valley that earned it the top overall seed. The Fords feature senior Aniya Eberhart (Millersville), an athletic 5-9 scoring guard, and 6-1 junior wing Rian Dotsey, who’s stepped into the do-everything role her sister Caroline inhabited the last few seasons. 

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By Josh Verlin

It’s been an interesting year in the Central League, to say the least.

We came in expecting a year of parity — and while there was certainly plenty of that in the middle of the pack, one familiar face rose above the rest to have a dominant season, while several others enjoyed strong years as well.

Here’s a look at the Central League playoff field, with first-round games taking place Thursday night and semifinals on Saturday:

1) Lower Merion (21-1, 16-0)
Yeah, yeah, the Aces are on top of the Central League once again, what’s new? Except this wasn’t expected to be one of Gregg Downer’s strongest squads, a group of largely-unproven former role players who were without program stalwarts in 2023 grads Sam Wright and Sam Brown, among others.

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