City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Several events run by Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics will take place in the Philadelphia area in the run-up to New Years’ Eve, beginning with the Wilmington PBP Classic, this Wednesday at the Chase Fieldhouse. 

Five teams from the Philadelphia area will meet four Delaware squads and one from Maryland for some interstate hoops, with games starting at 1 PM and running through the evening. Here’s a look at the quintet:

Archbishop Carroll vs. Conrad (Del.) (1:00 PM)
The day begins with the Patriots meeting the Red Wolves, who are off to a 4-0 start, though they haven’t played anybody with the talent level of a Philadelphia Catholic League squad. Carroll youngsters are talented, starting with the backcourt of sophomore Jake West and freshman Ian Williams, but seniors Dean Coleman-Newsome, Blake Deegan and Seamus Rogers bring some experience, leadership, and talent to anchor the way; keep an eye on 6-4 junior Su’Meer Alleyne as well. Conrad is 4-0 but undersized, nobody taller than 6-3 on the roster, led by 6-0 senior Kelsey Epps and 6-3 junior Jaylin Horsey, both of whom have already scored 20+ points this season; also on the roster is 5-8 freshman Latrell Wright, younger brother of Neumann-Goretti star Robert Wright III; he’s already producing for the varsity roster as well.

Westtown vs. Bishop McNamara (Md.) (2:45 PM)
This should be a high-level contest between two teams loaded with Division I talent, McNamara coming off an 85-82 win over Archbishop Carroll in OT on Sunday, which saw junior Martin Somerville score 32 points, continuing a strong streak of play for the 6-2 combo guard; freshman Prince Alexander-Moody is a Team Takeover product who also continues to impress, and they’re still missing All-WCAC seniors Jaden Johnson and Jeremiah Quigley (the latter of whom is signed to Fairleigh Dickinson), who both have been sidelined with injuries. Westtown’s got a lot of intriguing underclassmen with a ton of upside, including 6-11 junior Matt Gilhool, 6-7 sophomore Jayden Kelsey, 6-5 sophomore Cam Wallace, and 6-5 sophomore Jayden Forsythe, with D-I committed seniors Se’yphon Triplett (Stonehill) and Matt Mayock (American) as well.

Roman Catholic vs. Salesianum (Del.) (4:30 PM)
The defending PIAA 6A champs, Roman Catholic features a pair of St. Joe’s-bound seniors in point guard Xzayvier Brown and point forward Anthony Finkley, while senior wing Jermai Stewart-Herring adds a nice scoring punch to the perimeter. In the middle, 6-7 sophomore Shareef Jackson is one of the city’s top underclassmen, the son of former Temple star Marc Jackson, a skilled post who can stretch the floor and bang under the bucket; they’ve also gotten a nice scoring punch from junior guard Robert Cottrell, who was formerly at Simon Gratz. Salesianum, under the direction of former St. Joe’s guard Taylor Trevisian, is built around its junior class, including wing guard Isaiah Hynson, who’s got a couple Division I offers, plus lanky off guard Kareem Thomas and wing Justin Hinds.

Academy New Church vs. Howard (Del.) (6:15 PM)
The Friends’ Schools League runner-ups to Westtown each of the last three times it’s been contested (there was no FSL championship in 2021), Academy New Church is always a tough out under Kevin Givens, no matter who’s on the roster. And the Lions have plenty of talent, starting with senior guard Deywilk Tavarez, healthy and productive for the first time in a couple years, plus junior guard Bahsil Laster and senior Jarell Keel, who bring all sorts of versatility to the perimeter. They’ve got some promising freshmen, too, including 6-3 Dior Carter, who gives them a little physicality in the paint. Howard, which is coming off a Delaware state final four last year — the First State doesn’t have high school classifications — returns six contributors, with some real depth for the Wildcats. A pair of 6-3, 170-pound twins, Xavier and Ayden Richards-Powell, are physical wings who can play at the rim, while the offense is typically in the hands of juniors Jameer DeShields and R.J. Matthews, who just scored 22 points in their last game. They’re undersized up front, with 6-1 Marcus Johnson handling some of the post work, but that might not be as big a deficit against an ANC squad that doesn’t have a 6-10 bruiser on the roster.

Malvern Prep vs. Middletown (Del.) (8:00 PM)
The nightcap features one of the top teams in Delaware in Middletown, as the Cavaliers are experienced and versatile, with a group of seniors who almost all stand between 6-3 and 6-5. Leading the way are Jaden Rogers, Jaiden McGhee, Ty Hynson, Marcus Edmond, Amir Hite and Amir Cunningham; only the 5-10 Hite, the team’s point guard, stands below 6-3, and a few of them are scholarship-level players, the rest being recruited at the D-III level. They should present a good challenge for a Friars squad that’s coming off a shared Inter-Ac title and has a couple high-level scorers in senior wing Andrew Phillips and junior Ryan Williams, the latter with a handful of Division I offers, but doesn’t have quite the overall varsity experience of Middletown. They do have some good team size in the 6-4 Phillips, 6-3 senior Hayden Pegg, 6-5 senior Charlie Oschell and 6-4 junior Tague Davis. This should be a high-scoring affair, with two teams that love to push the tempo and aren’t afraid to shoot from all over the court.