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District 1 6A Boys Semifinal Preview (Feb. 28, 2023)

02/27/2023, 11:45am EST
By Owen McCue & Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)

The District 1 6A boys’ semifinals take place Tuesday night, four teams one win away from a Saturday appearance at Temple’s Liacouras Center, two victories from hanging a banner (or at the very least, updating to an existing one). 

Here’s a look at both games, as well as quick peek at the four other District 1 6A seeding games on Tuesday night:

1) Spring-Ford vs. 5) Downingtown West


Spring-Ford sophomore Tommy Kelly and the Rams will play in the program's first district semifinal on Tuesday. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Both of these teams came into the district tournament as top eight seeds last season before falling in their district openers. Spring-Ford is making the first District 1 semifinal in program history, while trying to add the first district title game in program history onto its list of accomplishments as well. Downingtown High School made a District 1 boys title-game appearance in the Class B tournament way back in 1930. That’s the only championship-game appearance in Downingtown History. The school split in 2003, so this Whippets team also marks the first in program history to reach a district semifinal and looks to make it to the district title game for the first time.

Though the top seed in the tournament, Spring-Ford (24-2) is in unprecedented territory. This is the Rams first district semifinal and they have the chance to add After holding off 17th-seeded West Chester Henderson in the opening round, Spring-Ford flexed its strength with a 56-38 quarterfinal win over eighth-seeded Garnet Valley.

Sophomore 6-4 guard Jacob Nguyen has been on a tear since the start of the postseason, posting outings of 26 and 25 on the way to the PAC title before opening with 12 and 22 points in the first two district games, knocking down 15 3-point shots during the four-game stretch. Junior guard EJ Campbell’s been just as good following 19-point and 17—point performances during the PAC playoffs with 25 in the district opener and against Henderson and 17 against Garnet Valley. Sophomore Tommy Kelly, a bouncy 6-3 forward, is the only other non-senior in the rotation. Point guard Caleb Little is a difference-maker on both ends, while wing/forward Alex Lewis finds a multitude of ways to contribute. Football standout Zach Zollers (6-3) provides some size and strength off the bench along with senior guards Tyree Banks and Mike McKenna.

Similarly to Spring-Ford, Downingtown West has two guys who do most of the scoring. Senior guard Dylan Blair, an Army commit, has made clutch plays throughout his career and that’s been the case through a run to the Ches-Mont championship and two district victories — a 45-42 victory over Haverford and 64-46 quarterfinal win over CB East. Sophomore 6-5 wing/forward Donovan Fromhartz, Nguyen’s AAU teammate with Philly Pride, poured in 22 points in the quarterfinal win. He has a high motor and score in the post with range that extends to the 3-point arc as well. There’s certainly talent behind that pairing as well. Senior guard Joey Suarez, who had eight points in the quarterfinal win, can get hot in a hurry. Senior 6-4 forward Kelly Bell can get into double figures as well when needed. Junior 6-3 wing Alex Neuhaus rounds out the starting five, while junior guards Antonio Lewis and Ryan Barker are the first Whippets off the bench.

There’s not much that separates these programs with college-level talent and senior leadership on both sides. With both programs coming off 18-point wins in their quarterfinal matchups, it should be an exciting one in Royersford on Tuesday night.

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2) Lower Merion vs. 3) Plymouth Whitemarsh


Lower Merion and senior Sam Wright, above, are hoping to continue their push for a third straight District 1 title Tuesday against PW. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The history in the two semifinal matchups couldn’t be much different. The Aces and Colonials are two of the area’s storied hoops programs, both playing under longtime head coaches who have racked up the wins in LM’s Gregg Downer and PW’s Jim Donofrio. They have combined for five state titles (LM 3, PW 2) and five district titles (LM 3, PW 2) and have 26 combined district Final Four appearances since 1996. 

The two squads have met on big stages before dating all the way to to 1975 and 1976 at the Palestra, when the two squads met for the District 1 championship, PW winning in '75 and LM winning in '76. More recently, PW took down Lower Merion, 53-42, in the District 1 semifinals back in 2016 before going on to win the district.

The Aces (22-4), the two-time defending District 1-6A champions, are playing some of their best basketball at the right time, dismantling a quality Upper Darby squad 88-56 in the quarterfinals, a round after Penn commit Sam Brown dropped a career-best 36 points in a 29-point win over Neshaminy. Downer’s got one of the most well-coached groups around, led by Brown, a 6-3 left-hander with a tight handle and NBA range — fitting, as his father Brett has coached at that level for a long time. But he’s got weapons around him: seniors Sam Wright, Jordan Meekins, Justin Poles and Teddy Pendergrass III and junior John Mobley all give them some pop, and they function really well as a unit on both ends of the floor.  Lower Merion hopes to become the first program to reach three straight title games since Abington's three-peat from 2017-2019.

Plymouth Whitemarsh (25-2) is unbeaten in 2023, on an 18-game winning streak after beating No. 6 North Penn 83-53 in the quarterfinal round; the Colonials had a tougher time with Penn Wood in their second-round game, winning 64-62. Junior guard Chase Coleman had 26 in the district opener. Senior wing Qudire Bennett, a 1,000-point scorer, filled it up for 22 in that one then followed with 29 in the district quarters. Bennet’s a lethal scorer who can light it up from outside, while Coleman is an athletic guard who hounds you on defense. Junior Jaden Colzie, a co-captain with Colzie, is another outside threat for the SOL champs. Senior forward Lincoln Sharpe and junior 6-5 wing Jahseir Sayles are the other usual suspects for PW, which is trying to get back to the District 1 title game for the first time since 2018.

The matchup between Brown and Bennett will be fun to watch, the two high-scoring guards with range capable of combining for 60 and we wouldn’t be surprised. Both of these teams are fully capable of winning the District 1 title, and whoever emerges from this one is going to be feeling really good heading into Saturday, even with a formidable opponent waiting no matter who wins the other game. 

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District 1 Seeding Games

Eight other District 1-6A teams have already booked their trip to states as well with two more games to determine which seed they grab in the PIAA tournament. The four quarterfinal losers will fall in the fifth through eighth range, while the four others who booked their state trips in the playback bracket will fight for seeds nine through 12. Here are the matchups for those games:

5th/8th Games
4) Central Bucks East vs. 8) Garnet Valley
6) North Penn vs. 11) Upper Darby

9th/12th Games
7) Perkiomen Valley vs. 11) Coatesville
17) West Chester Henderson vs. 21) Haverford High


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