City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Each Sunday this season, we’ll be putting out a preview of the week to come, with a spotlight on key local matchups. Here’s a look at the upcoming week — Monday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Dec. 3. 

This is the first week where our look-ahead includes the high school season; we won’t be able to include every high school game on our schedule, but you can find all high school games at the following links: CLICK HERE for boys, CLICK HERE for girls. 

Some college highlights of the week ahead:

• MBB: Villanova vs. Saint Joseph’s (Weds., 6:30 PM)
  The first-ever Big 5 tournament couldn’t have ended up going much better from a drama standpoint, with the opening few games of the tournament setting up two unofficial ‘semifinals’ on Wednesday night. St. Joe’s (3-2, 1-0 Big 5) needs to beat Villanova ( and it wins the pod; a ‘Nova win means a three-way tie with SJU and Penn, which would put VU in the championship game due to its significantly higher NET rating. This is shaping up to be a great Holy War, with St. Joe’s taking Kentucky to OT on the road a sign that the Hawks won’t back down from anyone; Nova, coming off a Battle 4 Atlantis title, is plenty dangerous.

• MBB: Temple vs. La Salle (Weds., 7:00 PM)
  This ‘semifinal’ is a little easier: Temple (3-2) and La Salle (4-1) both come in 1-0 in Big 5 play, both beating Drexel, the winner facing the Nova/St. Joe’s winner in the first-place game on Dec. 2. The Owls come in having lost two straight to Columbia and Ole Miss, and it remains to be seen if junior wing Jahlil White (14.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg) will return from an injury he suffered against Columbia, while Steve Settle III (6.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) missed the Ole Miss game. La Salle, coming off a loss at Duke, has four players in double figures for head coach Fran Dunphy, whose team making the inaugural Big 5 championship game would be all-too-fitting.

• WBB: Penn vs. La Salle (Weds., 6:00 PM)
  The only women’s Big 5 game of the week takes place Wednesday night at the Palestra, as the Explorers (3-2, 0-0) visit the Quakers (3-2, 0-1). Penn, which has one game remaining on a three-game West Coast swing, has been led by a breakout start by junior Stina Almqvist (21.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg) while freshman point guard Mataya Gayle (12.2 ppg, 3.4 apg) has also impressed. La Salle, which smoked Rider (72-44) on Tuesday for its best result yet, has gotten contributions from up and down the rotation, though freshmen Nicole Melious (12.4 ppg) and Aryss Macktoon (10.8 ppg) are their two leading scorers.

• MBB: Big 5 Tripleheader (Sat., 2 PM/4:45 PM/7:30 PM)
  There’s no way to preview this one just yet, but it should be a doozy of an afternoon/evening at Wells Fargo. All six Big 5 schools in action right in a row, in the arena the Sixers call home. The hope from the organization is a celebration of the city’s college basketball; hopefully it’s more well-attended than last year’s Palestra doubleheader, which was a bit of a letdown. We’ll have a large contingent in attendance for coverage no matter what.

• WBB: Villanova @ Columbia (Sun., 2 PM)
  Don’t let Columbia’s 3-4 record fool you — the Lions are mighty dangerous, losing to Duke by only four points and Florida by just two, and have smacked a bunch of mid-majors otherwise. Senior guard Abbey Hsu (21.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg) is one of the best players in the Ivy League, with junior Kitty Henderson (14.7 ppg) a solid number two option. Villanova (3-1) has gotten outstanding play from Lucy Olsen (24.5 ppg) thus far but no one else is in double figures; freshman Maddie Webber (8.8 ppg) has scored 13 each in her last two games. 

As for the high school world: Friday night is opening night for the PIAA, with most of the area’s programs getting underway at some point over the weekend. Many of them will be participating in two-day tip-off tournaments at schools around the region; we’ve included some of the highlights on our schedule below. As local matchups begin the following week, we’ll begin spotlighting some of the good ones; in the meanwhile, check out the list below for the best places to be on Friday night!

All Friday high school tournaments will continue on Saturday at various times; we’ll have the Saturday schedules updated on the site’s main schedules (the links above) on Friday night as results roll in.

Here’s a look at all the local games of interest this week:

Mon., November 27
No Games

Tues., November 28
WBB: Saint Joseph’s @ Bucknell (6 PM)
WBB: Drexel @ Lehigh (6 PM)
WBB/MBB: Jefferson vs. Lincoln (6 PM/8 PM)
WBB/MBB: Ursinus vs. Haverford (6 PM/8 PM) 

Boys: SCH Academy vs. Friends’ Central (4 PM)
Boys: Episcopal Academy vs. Abington Friends (4 PM)

Weds., November 29
WBB: Penn vs. La Salle (6 PM)
MBB: Villanova vs. Saint Joseph’s (6:30 PM)
MBB: Temple vs. La Salle (7 PM)
MBB: Drexel @ Lafayette (7 PM)

Boys: Westtown School vs. Olympus Prep (5:00 PM)
Boys: George School vs. Perkiomen School (5:30 PM)
Boys: Penn Charter vs. Phelps School (5:30 PM) 

Thurs., November 30
WBB: Villanova vs. Richmond (7 PM)

Boys: SCH Academy vs. Shipley School (4 PM)
Boys: Academy New Church vs. Rocktop (4 PM)
Boys: Haverford School vs. Hun School (5:30 PM) 

Fri., December 1
WBB: Temple @ Xavier (7 PM, Tempe, Ariz.)
WBB: Chestnut Hill vs. Jefferson (2 PM)
MBB: West Chester vs. Slippery Rock (5 PM)

Girls: Germantown Academy vs. North Penn (4:30 PM)
Girls: Haverford High vs. Central Bucks South (6 PM)
Girls; Archbishop Ryan vs. Pennsbury (6 PM)
Girls: Garnet Valley vs. Kennett (7 PM)
Boys: Spring-Ford @ Parkland (7 PM)

All-City Classic (Boys) @ Bonner-Prendergast
Archbishop Carroll vs. James Monroe (N.Y.) (6:00 PM)
Bonner-Prendergast vs. Thomas Jefferson (N.Y.) (7:30 PM)

Girls/Boys @ Cheltenham
Boys: Council Rock North vs. Executive Education (5:30 PM)
Boys: Cheltenham vs. Frankford (7:00 PM)
Girls: Simon Gratz vs. Abington Friends (TBD)
Girls: Cheltenham vs. New Foundations (TBD)

Girls @ Methacton
Harriton vs. Mt. St. Joseph (6 PM)
Methacton vs. Ridley (7:30 PM)

Boys @ Pennridge
CB East vs. William Tennent (5:00 PM)
Pennridge vs. Quakertown (8:00 PM)

Boys @ Phoenixville
Harriton vs. Council Rock South (5:00 PM)
Phoenixville vs. Sun Valley (6:45 PM)

Girls/Boys @ Souderton
Girls: Abington vs. Council Rock South (3:30 PM)
Girls: Souderton vs. William Tennent (5:00 PM)
Boys: Dock Mennonite vs. Upper Dublin (6:30 PM)
Boys: Souderton vs. Lansdale Catholic (8:00 PM)

Girls @ West Chester Henderson
Villa Maria vs. Bishop Shanahan (5:30 PM)
West Chester Henderson vs. Reading (7:00 PM)

Boys @ Wissahickon
Downingtown West vs. La Salle HS (5:30 PM)
Wissahickon vs. North Penn (7:00 PM)

Girls @ Hill School
Notre Dame vs. Hun School (3 PM)
Perkiomen School vs. Lake Forest Acad. (4:45 PM)
Hill School vs. Springdale Prep (6:30 PM)
Academy New Church vs. Wilbraham & Monson Acad. (8:15 PM)

Sat., December 2
MBB: Big 5 Tripleheader @ Wells Fargo Center (2 PM)
WBB: Saint Joseph’s vs. North Florida (12 PM)
WBB/MBB: Widener vs. Arcadia (1 PM/3 PM)
MBB: Holy Family vs. Georgian Court (1 PM)
WBB/MBB: Chestnut Hill vs. Jefferson (1 PM/3 PM)
WBB: Temple @ Pacific (4 PM, Tempe, Ariz.)
MBB: West Chester vs. Edinboro (3 PM)

Sun., December 3
WBB: La Salle vs. Virginia (1 PM)
WBB: Penn @ Marquette (2 PM)
WBB: Villanova @ Columbia (2 PM)