City of Basketball Love

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)
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Following Wednesday’s play-in contests, the Public League semifinal matchups are set. The doubleheader will take place Saturday afternoon at HS of the Future with a spot in the championship on the line for each of the four teams.

Game 1: Delaware Valley Charter (17-5, 7-3) vs. Martin Luther King (19-7, 5-6) -- 12:00 PM
CoBL’s No. 2 ranked squad in the 3A classification made easy work of its Public League 3A Championship opponent, World Communications, on Monday, winning by a score of 86-39. Just as they have been all season, James Lewis’ Warriors were led by a group of upperclassmen in the victory. Senior guard Makhi Morris turned in a monster performance of 37 points, seven rebounds and seven steals, while fellow seniors Dion Harris (17 points, nine rebounds) and Nasir Thomas (10 points) along with junior Antuwan Butler (six points, 10 assists) also turned in noteworthy performances. After its win on Monday, Del-Val earned a bye-week through the play-in round due to its league record and will be well-rested and ready to go come Saturday.

Del-Val’s opponent on Saturday, Martin Luther King, will not be as well rested. After topping Lincoln in the Public League 5A final on Monday, the Cougars squared off with 1A champion Sanofka on Wednesday. Powering the Cougars past Sanofka were the efforts of Martin Luther King’s stout frontcourt. The 6-foot-7 senior Elijah Kiah-El led MLK in scoring with 13 points while also adding in six rebounds and the 6-foot-9 junior Will McNair turned in a 12-point, nine-rebound, six-block performance in the win. Aiding the twin towers in the win was the 12-point outing from senior guard Quadir Burgess.

An intriguing matchup in this contest will be the battle between the two mature cores of each of these teams. Both teams rely heavily on their more experienced players, and rightfully so, as Del-Val’s core of Morris, Harris, Thomas and Butler made a run to the AAA PIAA State Quarterfinals last season while King’s group of Kiah-El, McNair and Burgess also reached the PIAA AAAA State Tournament last season following a state championship appearance the season prior.

Game 2: Imhotep Charter (23-2, 9-1) vs. Math Civics and Sciences (18-8, 4-6) -- 4:00 PM
Although they are ranked 7th nationally by USA Today, ranked first in the 4A classification by CoBL and have beaten the likes of national powerhouses Montverde (Fla.), Christ the King (N.Y.) and Bishop Gorman (Nev.), the Panthers of Imhotep still needed a late push from their veteran core to defeat Audenried in the Public League 4A championship game on Monday. 22 points and five rebounds from point guard and Rhode Island signee Daron Russell, along with another 14 points from South Carolina pledge David Beatty gave the Panthers a 74-69 victory.

As if the Panthers needed any extra help for their super-talented roster that consists of Russell, Beatty, fellow senior and Robert Morris signee Koby Thomas and a group of six sophomores that are all garnering Division I interest, the Panthers also had the best record in the Public League that earned them a bye into Saturday’s semifinal round.

Countering the powerful Imhotep squad on Saturday will be the Mighty Elephants of Math Civics and Sciences, who are ranked second in the 2A classification in CoBL’s PIAA Rankings. Even though MCS doesn’t post the same national resume as its opponent, the Mighty Elephants still boast a number of quality wins over local opponents such as Chester, Martin Luther King, and Constitution, as well as taking this Imhotep team to overtime before falling 77-74 back on January 12th. Leading MCS in this contest on Saturday will be its senior guard trio of Tymair Johnson, Malik Archer and Saheed Peoples.

Peoples drilled a trey at the buzzer in the Public League 2A championship to propel his squad to a 78-75 win over Constitution on his way to finishing with 18 points, which tied Johnson for the team-high. In their next contest against 6A champion Lincoln, it was Archer’s time to shine as the 6-foot-3 guard cashed in for 24 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in his squad’s 65-57 win.

Although both of these squads present formidable frontcourts, it will be the play of the guards that garners the most attention on Saturday. Imhotep’s trio of Division I bound senior guards, Russell, Beatty, and Thomas, will go blow-for-blow with Johnson, Archer and Peoples to see which team will earn a spot in the Public League final. These teams also bring with them a ton of recent success as Imhotep has reached the PIAA State Semifinals each of the past two seasons in their old AAA classification, while MCS reached the PIAA State Championship in the A division last season after falling in the semifinals the year prior.

The combination of talent along with the proven success of both of these programs will make for an entertaining back end of Saturday’s doubleheader.