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High School Midseason League Update (Pt. 1)

01/17/2017, 9:45am EST
By CoBL Staff

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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Here’s Part 2 of a look around the area’s various high school leagues at the rough midpoint of the season; click here for complete schedules and standings, while Part 2 can be found here:


Jon Bol Ajak (above) and Church Farm staked their claim as the BAL's best with a win over Valley Forge on Monday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Bicentennial Athletic League

There’s a bit of a logjam atop the BAL at the moment, but things should sort themselves out somewhat over the next few weeks as several of those programs face off in the near future. The league is actually split into three divisions -- Constitution, Independence and Presidents -- but unlike other leagues in the area, inter-division games still count towards league standings, and the league's playoffs includes the majority of the conference, so we're going to take a look at the entire BAL instead of breaking things down by division.

The Independence division has certainly been the strongest thus far, with Church Farm (10-3, 7-1) and Valley Forge (11-4, 7-2) both featuring 6-10 centers to set themselvs apart from the remainder of the league. But it was sophomore Jon Bol Ajak and CFS who got the better of junior Abe Deng and VFMA on Monday night, 56-34, to stake its claim as the league's best. Holy Ghost Prep (8-3, 6-1) beat Valley Forge back in December but lost to CFS by four earlier this month; seniors Mike McFadden, Aiden Bauer and John McCrane will all need stellar games to take down one of those programs in the playoffs. Faith Christian (9-2, 6-1) is currently ahead of the Constitution division, though the Lions avoid playing any of the top Independent teams this season; they will play Presidents leader MaST Charter (12-2, 7-2) this evening, but we likely won't get a feel for just how good they are until the league playoffs. Jenkintown (8-5, 5-2), Lower Moreland (7-5, 5-3) and Delco Christian (7-5, 5-3) are all putting together solid seasons, and any one of them could pull an upset in the league playoffs to disrupt the pecking order.

Preseason Favorite: Church Farm
Updated Favorite: Church Farm

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Central League

The Central League is eight games deep into league play, and at the moment two teams stand unbeaten: Conestoga (11-2, 8-0) and Penncrest (12-2, 8-0), who have a combined two-game lead on the rest of the pack. The Pioneers and Lions will meet Friday at Conestoga in a game that could very well decide the regular-season title; it could come down to how ‘Stoga is able to limit Penncrest junior Tyler Norwood, one of the area’s best bucket-getters. Sitting two games back of the front-runners are Strath Haven (9-3, 6-2) and Lower Merion (8-5, 6-2), which in turn are one game up on Garnet Valley (10-4, 5-3). Both Strath Haven and Lower Merion are capable of pulling off the feat; the Panthers are led by 6-9 big man John Harrar, while the Aces’ guard-based attack is led by seniors Terrell Jones and Noah Fennell plus a talented sophomore group. And remember -- if one of either Conestoga or Penncrest runs the table and finishes unbeaten in Central League play, they get an automatic bye into the league championship, and only three teams make the playoffs.

Preseason Favorite: Lower Merion
Updated Favorite: Penncrest

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Freshman Jhamir Brickus (above) has helped Coatesville out to the lead in the Ches-Mont National. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Ches-Mont League

Coatesville (10-3, 6-0 Ches-Mont) solidified itself once again as the National Division favorite when it took down Downingtown East on the road, but the Cougars (11-2, 5-1) have proven they can compete for the Ches-Mont title this season after a 10-0 start that featured wins over Pocono Mountain West and rival Downingtown West (7-6, 3-3). Despite being by far the youngest team head coach Chuck Moore has had in his four years, Coatesville has used a bevy of talented new faces like breakout freshman point guard Jhamir Brickus to defeat the likes of Friends Central and Simon Gratz, as well as East. Bishop Shanahan (8-5, 4-1), an experienced bunch led by juniors David Angelo and Kevin Dodds and senior Danny Browne, has picked up wins over Downingtown West and Allentown Central Catholic. Their January 17 showdown with Downingtown East should be a major barometer of how high the Eagles’ chances are of fighting for a final four spot.

As far as the American division is concerned, it looked like Great Valley was going to be in trouble when star sophomore Alex Capitano was lost to injury early in the season. But the Patriots (9-4, 5-0) are out in front anyways, taking home a 35-26 win over West Chester Rustin last Thursday to move one game up in the division. The Golden Knights (8-5, 4-1) have a couple of special sophomores of their own in Jake Nelson (6-6) and Tajir Asparagus (6-5), but carrying a team to a league championship is a different task entirely. It's looking like a two-team race to the finish, though Oxford (4-7, 3-2) and Unionville (7-6, 3-2) have both been tough outs all season long as well.

Preseason Favorites: Bayard Rustin (American), Coatesville (National)
Updated Favorites: Great Valley (American), Coatesville (National)

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Del-Val League

The six-team Del-Val League is the last in the region to start league play, as we’re only two games into the conference slate. The conference’s traditional powerhouse, Chester (9-3, 2-0), is one of two teams to win both of its first games, along with Glen Mills (7-4, 2-0). The Clippers, as usual, pack a powerful punch, as they’ve shown with wins over Reading and Harrisburg; senior forwards Jordan Camper (6-7) and Jamar Sudan (6-6) make them an imposing squad around the bucket. Academy Park (6-5, 1-1) and Penn Wood (5-5, 1-1) have both been inconsistent this season, proving capable of beating good teams but also suffering a few too many losses. We had higher expectations for Chichester (3-9, 0-2), which is junior-heavy, but the Eagles might be a year away if they learn from the lumps they’re taking this season.

Preseason Favorite: Chester
Updated Favorite: Chester

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Friends’ Schools League

Out of all the leagues in the region, it’s the Friends’ Schools League that has the least intrigue surrounding it, and that’s just a testament to how dominant the Westtown School is. The Moose (18-2, 2-0) feature the projected No. 3 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, 6-11 senior Mohamed Bamba, a potential top-10 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, 6-8 junior Cameron Reddish, and a supporting cast that includes top-50 senior Brandon Randolph (Arizona), 6-9 senior Anthony Ochefu (Stony Brook), 6-9 junior Jake Forrester, 6-6 freshman Noah Collier and more. Friends’ Central (10-9, 4-0) is off to a strong start in league play thanks to Wesleyan-bound senior Antone Walker and 6-6 junior wing Justin Steers, but they play Westtown tonight, and we’ll find out just how good they really are. Shipley School (10-5, 3-1), featuring senior Kiyon Hardy, junior Sam Sessoms and 6-9 sophomore Ray Somerville, played Westtown within four points in December and could very well end up playing the Moose in the FSL championship game next month.

Preseason Favorite: Westtown
Updated Favorite: Westtown


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