City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The high school calendar is about to turn to full-time conference play, the rare non-league game still dotting the landscape but the vast majority of contests getting much more meaningful. Half of the area’s leagues, like the Suburban One, Central, and Bicentennial, have already started; others, like the Catholic League, Friends’ Schools, Inter-Ac boys and the Del-Val, have only had non-league games thus far.

Based on how things have shaken out in the non-league, here’s a brief look at just a few of the leagues on the girls’ side and and what we’ve learned so far, as well as which games are going to be crucial down the stretch:

(Click here for the CoBL Girls High School Standings Page)

AACA
This one looks like it’s going to be a two-team race as expected, with Gwynedd Mercy (8-0, 2-0) and Villa Maria (9-0, 2-0) both untouched through December, every other team in the league with at least one league loss (and four overall losses). Gwynedd and Villa Maria meet twice in the next five weeks: Jan. 12 at Gwynedd and Feb. 2 at Villa; if either can win both, they’re the overwhelming favorite to win the league, though there’s still a playoff to get through. For Gwynedd, a win would be a repeat as AACA champs despite some heavy losses to graduation; for Villa, it would be the first league title since 2013 after coming so close so many times. Expect them to meet a third time in the league championship, and it’s not unlikely they won’t meet fourth time, as they’re currently 1-2 in the District 1 5A rankings.

Central League
This is starting to shape up as a four-team race, though one program has made the loudest statement in December. Haverford (9-0, 5-0) is the only unbeaten team left in the Central and one of three remaining in District 1 6A, with only Conestoga (43-41) coming within 27 points — no, that’s not a typo — of the Fords this year, and that includes Garnet Valley. Springfield (Delco.) also stands at 5-0 in the league (5-2 overall), and the Cougars have also been winning impressively, without anybody coming within 12 points just yet. The two will meet just once during the regular season, Jan. 24 at Springfield (Delco.); Conestoga (6-3, 4-1), Radnor (6-3, 4-1) and Garnet Valley (5-5, 3-2) are also in line for playoff spots early on, and five others have three league losses. Conestoga hosts Radnor on Jan. 10 in what could be a key game for seeding purposes.

Ches-Mont
American
It’s still early on the Ches-Mont American side, with West Chester Rustin (6-2, 2-0) the only one without a loss through the first few league games, though the Knights have only played Unionville (6-3, 1-1) and Sun Valley (2-5, 0-3). Still, led by one of the state’s leading scorers Laine McGurk (25.5 ppg), they came in as the league favorites and that hasn’t changed. Great Valley (8-2, 2-1) and Kennett (4-4, 2-1) are the others with two wins early this league season. Great Valley, which plays Rustin on Thursday, had a 7-0 start before falling to Unionville on Dec. 22. Unionville is the other one-loss team with Rustin marking the Longhorns’ lone defeat. National

National
Everyone in the Ches-Mont National Division has at least three league games under its belt with three of the seven teams playing four games already as well. Bishop Shanahan (8-2, 3-0) is unbeaten, winning all three division games by 20+ points. West Chester East (5-3, 3-1) also has three division wins with the lone loss a one-point defeat to Coatesville (6-5, 2-2). The two three-win squads play Thursday, so that result will tell a lot about how far Shanahan stands atop the rest of the division.

Inter-Ac
Unlike on the boys’ side, where the six Inter-Ac teams don’t play until January, the seven girls’ teams start league play with a game or two in December, so we have juuuust enough to give an update here. Notre Dame (5-6, 2-0) and Penn Charter (4-6, 2-0) both have a couple league wins already, and don’t let their overall records scare you, as they both played a number of high-profile non-league matchups. Agnes Irwin (5-3, 1-0) is also off to a nice start, while Germantown Academy (6-8, 0-1), which lost to Penn Charter, should be in the mix as well. Assuming those two Penn Charter vs. Notre Dame matchups are going to be important, they’ll happen Jan. 6 at Notre Dame and Jan. 31 at Penn Charter, while the PC/GA game on Jan. 20 at Penn Charter should be a good one as well.

PAC-Liberty
The current No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the District 1-6A power rankings are in the same division. Last year’s District 1 runner-up and PAC postseason champion Spring-Ford (10-0, 2-0 Liberty), currently holds the No. 3 spot while 2022 league runner-up Perkiomen Valley (10-0, 2-0 Liberty) is No. 1. The Rams have rolled to division wins against Norristown and Owen J. Roberts, while the Vikings have a 36-28 victory over Methacton (5-3, 2-1) and a lopsided win over Boyertown. The two teams won’t meet up for the first time until Jan. 12 and then will finish off league play Feb. 2 with those two matchups likely set to decide the division and league’s top tournament seed and have significant District 1 power ranking implications as well. 

Suburban One League

Colonial
The lone loss for Souderton (9-1, 5-0) was a one-point defeat to Abington (more on the Ghosts below) in their second game of the season. Only three of their nine wins have been by single digits, but the closest of them all was a 38-36 victory over division rival C.B. East (7-2, 3-2). North Penn (4-4, 3-2) is the other two-loss squad. While Souderton looks like the clearcut favorite, the division is deep as C.B. West (3-4, 2-3) and Pennridge (6-4, 2-3), which gave C.B. East its lone loss, can all take home victories on a given night. They’ll stack up against the Patriot Division in crossover play.

Freedom
Upper Moreland (8-0, 5-0) is one of seven unbeatens left in District 1 and that includes an unblemished SOL mark as well. The Golden Bears rolled through their first four Freedom division opponents before a 38-36 win over second-place New Hope-Solebury (5-3, 4-1) in a matchup of squads undefeated in conference play. They won’t play again until the regular-season finale Feb. 7. The Freedom Division crosses over against a Liberty Division led by Abington, Plymouth and Upper Dublin. Stealing a win or two from the 6A schools could give Upper Moreland or New Hope an edge before the rematch.

Liberty
It’s another Liberty Division with two Top 10 teams in District 1-6A. Abington (9-1, 5-0) went unbeaten through its first run through the division and has looked like one of the favorites in the district as well with an impressive non-league resume. The Ghosts are trying to dethrone Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-2, 4-1), who they took down for the first time since 2019 to open conference play on Dec. 8. While Upper Dublin (4-3, 3-2) has a feisty young squad and played the Colonials tough, this looks like a two-team race between Abington and PW with the Ghosts holding the advantage thus far with that early-season win.

Patriot
There’s a three-team race brewing in the SOL-Patriot, as Council Rock South (6-1), Neshaminy (6-2) and Pennsbury (7-2) all enter 2023 with 4-1 records in the division. CR South lost to Neshaminy but beat Pennsbury, both at home; Pennsbury beat Neshaminy on its home court to open Neshaminy’s season. That means Neshaminy has the advantage of having both at home on the replay, in-back-to-back games: Pennsbury on Tuesday, January 24 and CR South three days later. And don’t forget the crossover games: they all have to play Souderton and the rest of the Colonial.