City of Basketball Love

By CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The Battle of the Bell is back.

A trio of the area’s top grassroots programs (and one from out of town) will descend on Cristo Rey High School in North Philadelphia on Saturday for a series of high-level games throughout the course of the day.

Team Final, K-Low Elite and Philly Pride will have their 17U squads there to try and determine the top grassroots program in the area. K-Low and Pride’s 16s and 15s will face off against a strong Rens program as well.

Here's a short preview of the teams as well as the schedule for the day's matchups:

K-Low Elite

The hosts 17U squad will have plenty of familiar names for local hoops fans, including Archbishop Ryan guard Darren Williams, a recent Florida Gulf Coast commit. West Chester East 2025 guard KJ Cochran is another D1 target on the roster, playing up a level. Cardinal O’hara’s Pearse McGuinn and Bonner-Prendergast’s Deuce Ketner give the group to solid PCL big men as well.

K-Low’s 16s include Cristo Rey’s Devin Booker, a bouncy guard who received offers from Mississippi State and Fordham this past season. Guards Keni Williams and Jacob Meachem are coming off strong campaigns with Springside Chestnut Hill and Hill School, respectively. Upper Moreland big man Nigel Adamson (6-6) and Friends’ Central wing Isaac Moore (6-7) are both lengthy prospects.

There’s quite a bit of projectible talent on the 15U squad as well, including Coatesville freshman big man Larry Brown, who just received his first D1 offer from Wagner.

Philly Pride

We got a good look at Philly Pride’s teams during their media day before the April Live Periods. On the 17U roster, Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) big man Matt Gilhool, who played at Westtown this past season, is an eye catching prospect at 6-10 and continues to add to his list of high-major offers. Cardinal O’Hara’s Izaiah Pasha will take a prep year in 2023-24 and the former Iona commit has added a few offers since reclassifying to the Class of 2024. Malvern Prep’s Ryan Williams and Central York 6-7 wing Greg Guidinger are a couple more of the D1 targets on the roster.

Pride’s 16U squad has plenty of future D1 potential as well. Trinity 6-3 combo guard Owen Schlager picked up an offer from Drexel last month. Donovan Fromhartz (Downingtown West), Bryce Rollerson (Germantown Academy) and Jacob Nguyen (Spring-Ford) were some of the stars of the local hoops scene this past season.

Manny Butts (Haverford School) and Dior Carter (Academy New Church) are a pair of names those who follow the local hoops scene will recognize on the 15U roster.

Team Final

This is the last season for Team Final, and the program is going out with a bang with a loaded 17U roster. Archbishop Ryan 6-9 big man Thomas Sorber committed to Georgetown this past week and soon-to-be Montverde Academy guard Robert Wright is already committed to Baylor. Those two are the headliners along with Imhotep guard Ahmad Nowell and Archbishop Wood guard Jalil Bethea, both highly-rated future high-major players as well. 

NY Rens

The Rens’ loaded 17U squad won’t be in North Philly on Saturday but there’s still plenty of talent on their 16s and 15s squads, including 2025 four-start wing Branon Stores Jr. (6-4) and 2025 guard Tai Turnage (5-11), who has a growing list of offers as well.

On the 15U team, Imahri Wooten, a 6-4 guard from Redemption Christian, and Keiner Asprilla, a 7-footer from Don Bosco Prep, are two of the ones to keep an eye on.

Saturday, May 20
9:00 AM: K-Low Elite vs. Philly Pride (15U)
10:20 AM: K-Low Elite Vs. Team Final (17U)
11:40 AM: K-Low Elite vs. BBC (Baltimore) (16U)
1:00 PM: Philly Pride vs. Team Final (17U)
2:20 PM: K-Low Elite vs. WeR1 (15U)
3:40 PM: Philly Pride vs. BBC (Baltimore (16U)
5:00 PM: Philly Pride vs. NY Rens (15U)
6:20 PM: K-Low Elite vs. Philly Pride (16U)
7:45 PM: K-Low Elite vs. Philly Pride (17U)