City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The penultimate Friday of the high school hoops regular season is upon us.

Here are some noteworthy games in the area this evening, both for league races and district playoff seeding (home team listed first) :

Archbishop Carroll vs. Father Judge (7:00 PM)
The scramble is on for seeding in the Catholic League, with four games left in the conference slate and a whole mess of teams fighting for a top-four spot alongside Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic and Archbishop Wood, all 8-1 in PCL play. Judge (13-5) is one of three teams (Ryan, St. Joe’s Prep) sitting at 6-3, with the top four teams guaranteed a home game in the quarterfinals of the league playoffs a few weeks from now. Carroll, meanwhile, is sitting in ninth place at 4-5 (12-6 overall) and in desperate need of a win after dropping its last three games. Judge senior Marc Rodriguez could certainly lead the Crusaders to win on the road, though Carroll’s backcourt of Colin Daly, Justin Anderson and stud freshman A.J. Hoggard are not an easy guard.

Episcopal Academy vs. Germantown Academy (7:30 PM)
The four-time defending Inter-Academic League champions, Germantown Academy enters the final Friday night of Inter-Ac play trailing Episcopal Academy -- runners-up each of the last two years -- by a game. The Patriots (17-6, 6-2) need a win if they’re going to make it five, as a win by the Churchmen (14-9, 7-1) all but gives them the title with a game against SCH Academy (8-12, 0-8) as the regular-season finale next Tuesday. Episcopal is playing its strongest basketball of the season thanks to the return of Navy commit Nick Alikakos, as the 6-7 forward had missed a good chunk of the season due to an ankle injury; he and fellow senior Conner Delaney drive the train for head coach Craig Conlin.

Hatboro-Horsham vs. Cheltenham (7:00 PM)
The fight is on for the fourth and final spot in the Suburban One League playoffs, with Cheltenham (15-5, 9-3) trying to hold on to join the three division winners next weekend. Hatboro-Horsham (12-8, 8-5), led by Indiana commit Clifton Moore, has too many losses to qualify, but the Hatters can certainly ruin the Panthers’ day with a loss to make sure their American division rival has to sweat it out as well. Hatboro could certainly use the win to improve its district standing, as it was No. 20 on Monday, just four spots above the cut line; two wins since then should keep the Hatters safe, and a few more to close out the year might just earn them a first-round home game. Cheltenham, No. 6 on Monday before a loss to Plymouth-Whitemarsh Tuesday night, is fighting to stay in that crucial top eight.

La Salle College HS vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (7:00 PM)
It might be the area’s top high school football rivalry -- though quite a few schools would certainly dispute that distinction -- but La Salle/Prep is always a packed house and an entertaining hoops draw as well. Like with the Carroll/Judge game, there’s a lot on the line in terms of Catholic League positioning. La Salle (9-9, 3-6) is currently in the 10th and final playoff spot, one game ahead of Lansdale Catholic, and the Explorers do not have an easy close to the season -- Prep, @ West Catholic, vs. Father Judge and @ Archbishop Ryan, meaning they get all three teams currently 6-3 in the league over their last four games. Prep, led by the junior trio of guards Darius Kinnel and Kyle Thompson plus 6-7 post Ed Croswell, has won its last three league games but has an even tougher closing three games, traveling to Wood and Neumann-Goretti before hosting Roman Catholic to finish the year.

Ridley vs. Lower Merion (7:00 PM)
As of the latest District 1 playoff rankings released Monday, Ridley (10-9, 7-6 Central League) was No. 23 out of 24 teams that will qualify for the 6A tournament, but that was before the Raiders lost to Strath Haven on Tuesday. They’ll likely need to take two of three against Lower Merion (12-7, 10-3), Garnet Valley and Upper Darby to close out the year, and then wait anxiously for the official rankings to be released. The Aces, meanwhile, are secure in a spot in the Central League playoffs, sitting one game behind league leader Conestoga with three games to play. Lower Merion also could use a boost in the district rankings, sitting No. 10 in the latest update; that’s enough for a home game in the first round of the bracket but a top-eight seed earns them a first-round bye and the ability to host a second-round game.

Norristown vs. Boyertown (7:00 PM)
All eyes across the Pioneer Athletic Conference will be on this game, as Norristown looks to solidify a playoff spot. The Eagles come into this game as the six seed, with a chance to pull even with Phoenixville for the final spot in the inaugural PAC “Final Five’. Since Norristown (7-5) beat Phoenixville (8-5) already, the Eagles win over Boyertown would, in all likelihood, clinch their spot. Boyertown may have had a tough season, and be out of playoff and district contention, but any time Jerry Kapp steps onto the court, he is a must-see player, especially after scoring 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting earlier this week vs. Spring-Ford. The Bears would love nothing more than to send PAC newcomers’ Norristown out of the league playoffs on senior night.

Valley Forge vs. Church Farm (7:00 PM)
It’s a matchup of the two best big men in the Bicetennial Athletic League as Valley Forge’s 6-10 junior Abraham Deng does battle with Church Farm’s 6-9 sophomore, Jon Bol Ajak. In a prior meeting this season, the two basically cancelled each other out inside, but the CFS guards -- notably Lithuanian seniors Faustas Kulbickas and Augustas Veniukivicius -- burned the Valley Forge perimeter in 56-34 win. Church Farm (13-6, 10-4 BAL) comes in having lost four of its last six league games, though, while Valley Forge (16-4, 12-2) is in the midst of the best season in program history. And the Trojans, especially senior guard Myles Bunyon and junior Arion Lewis, will certainly have revenge on the brain.

Also worth seeing: Archbishop Ryan vs. Neumann-Goretti (7 PM), Malvern Prep vs. Haverford School (7:00 PM), MaST Charter vs. Bristol (7 PM), Roman Catholic vs. Conwell-Egan (7:00 PM), Springfield (Delco) vs. Harriton (7:30 PM) Upper Perkiomen vs. Pottstown (7:00 PM)