City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
--

Here's a roundup from the area's HS action on Friday night, of games the CoBL staff wasn't able to get to but still wanted to make sure we spotlighted:

Tyree Pickron becomes Wood’s all-time leading scorer

As Archbishop Wood picked up a 59-42 win against Bishop McDevitt on Friday night, one of its seniors accomplished a major milestone.

Senior guard Tyree Pickron, who is committed to play at Quinnipiac next season, set the school’s all-time scoring record in the fourth quarter of the victory. Tim Whalen, a 1999 grad, held the previous record of 1,302 points for nearly two decades.

“It was always something that I thought about but I didn’t ever think I could do it,” Pickron told CoBL on the phone after the game. “It was a long road to get to 1,000 for me and now that I’ve achieved it, it feels good.”

Pickron’s 11 points on Friday marked his seventh double-digit effort in the eight Catholic League games he has played. He scored 32 points against West Catholic on Monday. He is averaging 16.5 points per game in league play.

The Vikings are 6-3 in the Catholic League after the victory. They’ve won five of their last six PCL games after starting just 1-2.

“The team is moving forward with only a couple weeks left in the season,” Pickron said. “Doing all of this as a senior is even more amazing.”-- Owen McCue

Conestoga upsets Lower Merion to remain in thick of Central League race

Conestoga came into this week on the outside looking in at the Central League’s playoff picture.

At 7-4 in the league standings, the Pioneers sat in fifth place, a half-game behind fourth-place Upper Darby and looking up at Penncrest, Lower Merion and Garnett Valley in the Central League standings.

Conestoga beat Radnor on Monday and Ridley on Tuesday and continued the momentum against Lower Merion on Friday night. Junior guard Zach Lezanic hit the go-ahead basket with under two minutes to play to help give the Pioneers a 65-61 win against the Aces.

“We knew this was a season where we had to grow and we were going to have to learn some lessons, which sometimes meant taking a loss while learning those lessons so we could be a really good team,” Conestoga coach Mike Troy said. “I think we’re starting to see some of that learning come to fruition now.”

Lezanic finished with 20 points, Evan Medley had 12, Shane Scott scored 11 and Milton Robinson had 10 to make it four Pioneers players in double figures.

Conestoga will enter next week tied with Garnet Valley in third place in the Central League standings. The Pioneers take on Upper Darby, now a game behind in fifth, on Tuesday and Garnet Valley on Thursday.

Though they returned just two starters from last year’s squad, the Pioneers control their own destiny to make their fifth straight Central League playoff appearance.

“Nobody really gave us a chance at being anywhere this year and I think that has fueled the guys as well,” Troy said. -- Owen McCue

CB West dismantles Pennridge to stay atop SOL Continental

Head coach Adam Sherman has developed a winning formula at the helm of Central Bucks West and that formula was on display against Suburban One League National rival Pennridge on Friday night.

Behind 14 points and five rebounds from senior Collin MacAdams and 13 points and four boards from fellow senior Shane McCusker, the Bucks limited the Rams to four points in the first quarter on their way to a 51-29 victory. A win would’ve put Pennridge a game behind the SOL National race but it was the Bucks (17-4, 9-2) who extended their lead.

In the final home game for MacAdams and McCusker, Sherman couldn’t have been more pleased with the effort.

“It was a senior night and our seniors really stepped up tonight,” Sherman said. “They set the tone in the game early on and we were able to jump out on them. It was 9-2 at one point. That was a big difference maker.”

Sophomore Mika Munari had seven points and Jack Neri added eight for the Bucks.

With another senior laden group, Sherman feels his team is primed to make a run in the SOL playoffs, only two years removed from their last title.

“I’ve been blessed to have some really good kids who believe in our system and put the time in,” Sherman said. “We’ve been fortunate to turn it into some success.”

Jake Pestrak led the Rams with 10 points and Jonathan Post chipped in eight. -- Rich Flanagan

----

West Catholic one step closer to PCL playoff berth

Jason Hasson can feel the difference playing meaningful games this late in the season compared to years past. His West Catholic team lost a play-in game to Bonner-Prendergast back in 2016 and hasn’t made the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs since 2014. He knows a playoff appearance would mean a lot to this year’s team.

“It would mean a lot going forward but definitely also for this group,” Hasson said. “We’ve been in every game and we’ve never been in a situation where we didn’t have a chance to win the game in the second half.”

Junior Imere Harris tallied 25 points and freshman Zaakir Williamson had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Burrs to a 68-60 over Cardinal O’Hara. The win puts West Catholic (8-11, 3-7) in sole possession of the 10th seed in the PCL standings, which would earn them a postseason berth.

Samier Kinsler added seven while Jerome Brewer and Mike Robinson had six apiece for the Burrs. The win over the Lions was another close game but it’s one Hasson feels pleased with as his team was able to pull out a much needed win.

“We lost by six to Roman and we played Wood tough,” Hasson said. “We’ve been taking teams down to the wire so we’re trying to sneak into the playoffs. We’re a young group and we’ve been getting better every day so come February and March we’re going to be a very tough team to beat.”

O'hara (4-6) is in the PCL playoff mix as well, currently sitting a game ahead of West Catholic in ninth place. Lansdale Catholic and Bishop McDevitt are both just out of the playoff picture at the moment. Each has two wins, sitting a game behind West Catholic.-- Rich Flanagan