City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

It’s Spring League season, as high school leagues around the area are getting underway. With the high school live periods now less than two months away, these leagues provide critical opportunities for these teams to get some chemistry and get ready to play in front of scores of college coaches come mid-to-late June.

Plymouth Whitemarsh High School will host its annual spring league starting Thursday night, with 10 teams playing every Tuesday and Thursday thereafter through June 7. Each team will play all the others, with the top six getting into the playoffs, which are held in the middle of June.

The participating teams: Central Bucks West, Devon Prep, Downingtown West, La Salle College HS, Lower Merion, Methacton, Penn Wood, Plymouth Whitemarsh, SCH Academy, Shipley

It’s a strong group, including the defending PIAA Class 3A champions in Devon Prep, who return junior wings Lucas Orchard and Jacen Holloway plus sophomore guard Ty Mishock from last year’s starting lineup. Downingtown West, which has juniors Jake Warren and Dylan Blair, should be one of the better teams in District 1, as should the hosts, who have sophomore guard Jaden Colzie to lead a high-scoring group.

Others are going to be playing without program stalwarts for the first time: Lower Merion, which made the PIAA Class 6A semifinals, will have to adjust to life without Demetrius Lilley (Penn State) and La Salle without Sam Brown (Rutgers football) and Nix Varano (Rider), while Methacton loses the last two pieces from its 2020 District 1 6A championship squad now that Cole Hargrove and Brett Byrne are graduating.

Here’s the complete schedule:

Thurs., May 5
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. SCH
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): D’town West vs. La Salle
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): Lower Merion vs. Methacton
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): Devon vs. CB West
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): Penn Wood vs. Shipley

Tues., May 10
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. La Salle
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): Lower Merion vs. Shipley
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): Devon vs. Methacton
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): Penn Wood vs. SCH
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): D’town West vs. CB West

Thurs., May 12
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. CB West
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): D’town West vs. Methacton
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): Lower Merion vs. Penn Wood
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): Devon vs. Shipley
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): La Salle vs. SCH

Thurs., May 19
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. Methacton
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): Devon vs. Penn Wood
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): CB West vs. La Salle
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): Lower Merion vs. SCH
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): D’Town vs. Shipley

Tues. May 24
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. Shipley
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): CB West vs. SCH
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): Devon vs. Lower Merion
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): Methacton vs. La Salle
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): D’town West vs. Penn Wood

Thurs. May 26
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. Penn Wood
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): Methacton vs. CB West
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): Devon Prep vs. SCH
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): D’town West vs. Lower Merion
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): Shipley vs. La Salle

Tues., May 31
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. Lower Merion
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): D’town West vs. Devon
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): Penn Wood vs. La Salle
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): Methacton vs. SCH
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): Shipley vs. CB West

Thurs., June 2
6:15 PM (Ct. 1): PW vs. Devon
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): Lower Merion vs. La Salle
7:15 PM (Ct. 2): Shipley vs. Methacton
8:15 PM (Ct. 1): Penn Wood vs. CB West
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): D’town West vs. SCH

Tues., June 7 — Playoffs
7:15 PM (Ct. 1): Seed 3 vs. Seed 6
8:15 PM (Ct. 2): Seed 4 vs. Seed 5

Tues., June 14
Semifinals (7:15 + 8:15 PM)

Thurs., June 16
Championship (7:15 PM)