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High School Midseason League Update (Pt. 2)

01/17/2017, 11:30am 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 1 can be found here:


The addition of Christian Ray (above) has made Haverford School the team to beat in the Inter-Ac. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Inter-Academic League

Four-time defending champion Germantown Academy (13-4, 2-1) is in the mix, but through three games the only undefeated team in the six-team private school conference is the Haverford School (14-1, 3-0), which is looking very strong in head coach Bernie Rogers’ second year. Octorara transfer Christian Ray has been a two-way force both scoring and rebounding, while junior guard Kharon Randolph is also averaging north of 15 ppg, just behind Ray. Don’t count out the Patriots, though, led by seniors Evan-Eric Longino and Kyle McCloskey; they get the return game against the Fords on Jan. 24.

Despite not having Navy-bound 6-7 forward Nick Alikakos for the first three league games, Episcopal (9-9, 2-1) is also right in the mix thanks to strong play from senior guard Conner Delaney (18.8 ppg) -- as is Malvern Prep (6-7, 2-1), which boasts an impressive freshman group of guards that have already put up some big scoring numbers this season; Deuce Turner has gone for 38 points against St. Joe's Prep and 28 against Rustin, among others. Both Penn Charter (8-7, 0-3) and Springside-Chestnut Hill (6-7, 0-3) are still looking for their first league wins; they’ll play each other today at 5:30 PM.

Preseason Favorite: Germantown Academy
Updated Favorite: Haverford School

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Izaiah Brockington (above) and Archbishop Ryan made it to the PCL semifinals a year ago. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Philadelphia Catholic League

As usual, the Catholic League’s midsection is a mess of good teams scrambling for positioning, though a few expected strong squads have already separated themselves from the rest of the pack. The only undefeated team remaining is Neumann-Goretti (8-5, 4-0), led by the high-major bound duo of Quade Green (Kentucky) and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (Villanova). Despite a loss to Father Judge to open league play, Archbishop Wood (10-3, 4-1) -- featuring new Villanova commit Collin Gillespie -- is one of four one-loss teams, along with Judge (10-3, 3-1), Roman Catholic (11-1, 4-1) and Bonner-Prendergast (12-2, 4-1). But don’t sleep on Archbishop Carroll (10-3, 3-2) or Archbishop Ryan (12-2, 3-2) as potential Palestra-bound squads, for different reasons; Ryan has senior leadership behind NJIT commit Izaiah Brockington, while Carroll is a little younger but deeper and more explosive, with junior Justin Anderson and freshman A.J. Hoggard two very talented scoring guards.

The other part of the PCL race to watch is for the 10th seed, the final spot in the league’s playoffs come mid-February. Currently, La Salle College HS (8-6, 2-3) and Conwell-Egan (6-7, 2-3) are tied in the 10th spot, with West Catholic (2-9, 1-4) and Lansdale Catholic (8-6, 1-4) a game behind them; O’Hara (4-9, 0-5) and Bishop McDevitt (3-11, 0-5) are longshots to make the playoffs. It wouldn’t surprise us to see the current divide hold, but both Lansdale and West have been competitive this year and could pull off the necessary upset or two to sneak in and grab the last spot.

Preseason Favorite: Neumann-Goretti
Updated Favorite: Neumann-Goretti

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Pioneer Athletic Conference

We’ve reached the halfway point of league play, and no one has looked more impressive than Perkiomen Valley (6-1 PAC). The Vikings dropped their opener to Owen J. Roberts in a stunner, but have reeled off six straight in the league since then, and 10 straight overall since the setback. The winning streak includes two dominant road wins over fellow league playoff contenders Spring-Ford and Upper Merion. With the Vikings talented backcourt of Justin Jaworski (20.8 points per game) and Sean Owens (10.9), Perk Valley looks like the team to beat. Perk Valley and Spring-Ford, also 6-1 in league play, meet again on January 27 with the Liberty division title and No. 1 seed in the playoffs likely on the line.

Upper Merion has been without its star big man Matt Faw for most of league play, but they still find themselves in first in the Frontier Division at 5-2, just ahead of a trio of three-loss teams, Upper Perk, Phoenixville, and Pottsgrove. Upper Perk has been the surprise of the year thus far, winning 4 league games, after having won none each of the past 4 seasons. The Indians owe their success to junior guard Ryan Kendra, who is 4th in the league in scoring with 18.5 points per game. With five teams making the playoffs, the door is open for one of these three losses to sneak in along with Spring-Ford, Methacton, Upper Merion, and Perk Valley.

Preseason Favorites: Upper Merion (Frontier), Perkiomen Valley (Liberty)
Updated Favorites: Upper Merion (Frontier), Perkiomen Valley (Liberty)

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Daron Russell (above) and Imhotep are the top-ranked team in the PIAA 4A classification. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Public League

It's been a fun time in the Public League so far, with almost all of the games between the top few teams coming down to the wire, or requiring a few extra minutes. So far, Imhotep (11-3, 4-1) and Constitution (11-4, 4-1) are tied at the top, with Constitution taking a victory by forfeit in the first game between the two programs after an on-court fight caused the majority of the Imhotep team -- and all of the coaches -- to be ejected from the game for leaving the bench area. Both teams are full of talent; Imhotep has the Division I committed senior backcourt of Daron Russell (Rhode Island) and David Beatty (South Carolina), while Constitution, led by the senior duo of Tamir Green and Maurice Waters, is fully capable of pulling off a league championship run. Despite missing a few players due to suspension, Imhotep still toughed out a win over Math, Civics & Sciences (11-4, 3-2) last week in OT. MCS, which made it all the way to the PIAA Class A championship game last year, looks even stronger, with a more experienced and confident group led by senior guard Malik Archer, though they're getting steady contributions from junior Kwazhere Ransom, senior Tymair Johnson and senior big man Maqi Watson as well. And don't forget about Del-Val Charter (12-4, 3-2), which under first-year head coach James Lewis has picked right up on the trail of last year's Public League and District 12 AAA championship run.

From the lower divisions, look out for Mastery Charter North -- the defending PIAA Class AA runners-up just beat powerhouse Chester by 15 at home, and led by Bowling Green commit Daeqwon Plowden and senior guard Eli Alvin, the Pumas could run with the top teams in the 'A' Division.

Preseason Favorite: Imhotep Charter
Updated Favorite: Imhotep Charter

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Suburban One League

The biggest league in the area, the SOL is really more like three separate conferences that happen to play for a combined championship at the end of everything. In the National division, Abington (12-3, 6-0) is the expected front-runner behind junior Robbie Heath and super sophomores Eric Dixon and Lucas Monroe, with a big rivalry game against Pennsbury (9-3, 4-1) coming this evening. Council Rock South, under the direction of new head coach Derek Wright, has been much-improved this season at 9-4 (4-2 SOL), thanks to a senior-laden group including guards Kevin Newbert, Alex Nordenholt and Austin Thomas.

The Continental leader will be determined this evening when North Penn (10-4, 5-1) hosts Central Bucks West (9-5, 5-1) in a battle of two well-coached programs. North Penn boasts recent D-II Merrimack commit David Giuliani, a 6-4 forward with an inside-out scoring ability, plus 6-3 wing Lance Ford and 5-11 sophomore A.J. Mitchell; the Bucks are led by a pair of juniors, versatile 6-5 wing Collin MacAdams and burly 6-3 forward Jake Reichwein. Central Bucks East (9-6, 4-2), led by senior Matt Pattyson, dealt North Penn its only loss, 40-38 at home on Jan. 13; the rematch is the regular-season finale, at North Penn on Feb. 7.

For as long as Jim Donofrio has been head coach at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, the program’s been the class of the American, and so far this year that’s been the case. The Colonials (12-2, 7-0) have the league’s only 7-footer in sophomore Naheem McLeod in the middle, and a confident and aggressive group around him. Cheltenham (10-3, 6-1) is right in the mix again, riding seniors Trevonn Pitts and Ahmad Bickley plus junior Jack Clark; Hatboro-Horsham boasts 6-10 Indiana commit Clifton Moore, but the Hatters are a few games back at 7-6 (5-3). The division title will likely be decided when P-W visits Cheltenham on Jan. 31; though Wissahickon (8-6, 5-2) hosts the Colonials tonight.

Preseason Favorites: Plymouth-Whitemarsh (American), Pennridge (Continental), Abington (National)
Updated Favorites: Plymouth-Whitemarsh (American), North Penn (Continental), Abington (National)


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Tag(s): Home  Old HS  Josh Verlin  Catholic League (B)  Archbishop Carroll  Archbishop Ryan  Archbishop Wood   Bishop McDevitt  Bonner-Prendergast  Cardinal O'Hara  Conwell-Egan  Father Judge  La Salle College HS  Lansdale Catholic  Neumann-Goretti  Roman Catholic  St. Joe's Prep  West Catholic  Inter-Ac (B)  Episcopal Ac.  Germantown Ac.  Haverford School  Malvern Prep  Penn Charter  SCH Academy  Pac-10 (B)  PAC-10 Frontier (B)  Phoenixville  Upper Perk  PAC-10 Liberty (B)  Spring-Ford  Methacton  Perkiomen Valley  Public League A (B)  Constitution  Del-Val  George Washington  Imhotep  Martin Luther King  Math, Civics & Sci.  Suburban One (B)  SOL Liberty (B)  Cheltenham  Plymouth Whitemarsh  Upper Merion  Upper Moreland  Wissahickon  SOL Colonial (B)  Central Bucks East  Central Bucks West  Hatboro-Horsham  North Penn  SOL Patriot (B)  Abington   Council Rock S.  Pennsbury