City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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New Year’s is always exciting — a fresh beginning, some fireworks, a chance to start a new flip calendar. At CoBL, it means a shift in the season from early-season to mid-season, conference play beginning in the college ranks (and for a few of the high school leagues), other high school league races really heating up now that early pecking orders have been established. 

Here’s a look at the week ahead, beginning with just a few games of note on the college side; we’ll feature more college games in future weeks as the league races heat up:

• MBB: Swarthmore vs. Rowan (Weds., 7 PM)
  An excellent D-III matchup, and though it’s non-league we’re featuring this one because Rowan’s roster is chock full of familiar names. Khalif Meares (Lincoln) and Antwuan ‘Booty’ Butler (O’Hara) are two locals who start for West Catholic product Eric Brennan. Brennan has a bunch of scholarship-level talent, while Swarthmore’s ranked No. 25 in the country and getting ready for the always-difficult Centennial Conference run. 

• MBB: Villanova vs. St. John’s (Sat., 1 PM)
  It’s going to be a fun afternoon at the Pavilion as Rick Pitino makes his return to the Main Line, more than 10 years after Louisville — his former, former job — left the Big East for the ACC. The Johnnies turn the year over at 9-4 (1-1), hosting Butler on Tuesday before their trip down I-95, with four players in double figures led by Joel Soriano (17.4 ppg), with former Penn standout Jordan Dingle (11.3 ppg) third on the squad. Nova (9-4, 2-0) has been hot-and-cold this season, but a win over Xavier on Weds. would make it four straight heading into this one.

• WBB: Saint Joseph’s vs. Richmond (Sat., 2 PM)
  Two of the favorites for the A-10 title face off in an early league test. The Hawks (12-1, 1-0) are off to their best start since the 1970s and smashed Fordham in their league opener; the Spiders  (11-3, 1-0) picked up a four-point win at George Washington. Richmond’s leading scorer and rising star is sophomore forward Maggie Doogan, the Cardinal O’Hara grad averaging 17.5 ppg and 5.2 rpg while hitting 43.9% (25-of-57) of her 3-pointers; St. Joe’s has just the frontcourt to handle her in junior Talya Brugler (16.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and sophomore Laura Ziegler (13.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg).

As for the high school slate, there’s a ton of action this week; we’ll go league-by-league and mention any other events worth noting below:

• Catholic League
  PCL play begins for the boys on Tuesday night and for the girls on Thursday, with some mega matchups — especially on the boys’ side — in the first few days alone. Tuesday night sees Archbishop Carroll host Neumann-Goretti, Father Judge host Archbishop Wood and St. Joe’s Prep host Archbishop Ryan; Friday’s boys matchups include Ryan/Carroll (at Ryan) and Roman/Wood (at Holy Family). The best girls’ game this week is likely Neumann-Goretti vs. West Catholic, Thursday at Neumann-Goretti. 

• Inter-Ac
  Boys Inter-Ac play tips off Friday night with all six teams in action, though we do miss the old Inter-Ac tip-off tripleheader at Philly U (now Jefferson). In as deep a league as it’s been, all three of those games — Malvern Prep hosting Episcopal Academy, Springside-Chestnut Hill hosting Germantown Academy and Penn Charter hosting Haverford School — will be worth the watch. We’ll have a pretty good idea within a couple weeks which will be potential championship matchups come early February. As for the girls’ Inter-Ac side, there’s going to be a ton of emotion on the sidelines Wednesday at Germantown Academy as Lauren Power coaches against Notre Dame, the program she left this offseason for her new gig; the Irish have a tough week with a home game against Penn Charter on Friday as well.

• Central League
  It’s been a good first month for Radnor, whose girls sit at 8-1 (5-0) as the 5A vs. 6A games begin in January. The Raptors, featuring a breakout star in sophomore Nyah Yao, have a good ‘prove it’ week as they travel down to Garnet Valley Thursday night to take on the Jaguars (7-2, 3-2) and star junior Haylie Adamski, then go to Conestoga (9-0, 5-0) on Saturday — with Haverford High (8-1, 4-1) looming next Tuesday. The Radnor boys (7-1, 4-1) are off to a similarly strong start with that same group of three coming up: Garnet Valley (6-4, 2-3) and Conestoga (4-4, 3-2) will be big tests. League leader Lower Merion (10-1, 5-0) has a good one Saturday at home against Marple Newtown (5-5, 3-2).

• Ches-Mont
  No doubt the biggest boys game in the Ches-Mont this week takes place Thursday night when Coatesville (7-3, 4-0 National) visits Henderson (9-1, 3-0) for the top of the National Division, though Henderson first has to get through Rustin (6-3, 1-1 American) on Tuesday before it can focus on the Raiders. The girls’ side of the Ches-Mont is all bunched up in the middle of the American, with three teams at 1-1; Unionville (6-3 overall) and Oxford (6-4), two such teams, will meet Thursday at Oxford.

• Suburban One
  We’re into SOL crossover territory, and that sets up some excellent intra-division matchups. The Central Bucks East boys (10-1, 5-0 Colonial) visit Upper Dublin (10-2, 4-1 LIberty) on Wednesday and then go to Bensalem (9-1, 5-0) on Friday, all three division leaders. The fourth, Cheltenham (8-1, 5-0 Freedom) goes to Abington (7-3, 3-2 Liberty) on Friday in another quality matchup. On the girls’ side, Patriot leader Neshaminy (8-2, 5-0) hosts North Penn (6-2, 4-1 Colonial) on Friday in the best crossover matchup; there are some fantastic ones next week.

• Pioneer Athletic
  Both the boys and girls’ side of the PAC have two division co-leaders with 2-0 records, but that won’t last long. The girls’ Frontier Division leaders, Phoenixville (6-4, 2-0) and Upper Merion (7-2, 2-0) meet Tuesday night in Phoenixville, their return meeting not coming until the end of the month. The PAC Liberty matchup everybody’s waiting for, Perkiomen Valley and Spring-Ford, won’t happen until next week. As for the boys, Friday night’s a big one: Methacton (7-2, 2-0 Liberty) hosts Spring-Ford (8-3, 2-0 Liberty) and Pottstown (5-3, 2-0 Frontier) hosts Phoenixville (7-4, 2-0 Frontier), though all four of those teams have to win on the road earlier in the week to make set up those unbeaten matchups.

• Blue Star Invitational (Sun., Jefferson)
  An all-day, 13-game girls’ event at Jefferson, the annual Blue Star Invitational is loaded with local and non-local talent. The likes of Paul VI (Va.), Fort Erie (Can.), Rutgers Prep (N.J.), Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) and more are coming down to join Westtown, Spring-Ford, Archbishop Wood, Cardinal O’Hara, Audenried Charter and more for a day of hoops. Games start at 9:15 AM and the last tip-off is at 5:30 PM; we’ll have a full preview of the event up later this week on the site.

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Weekly Schedule

Note: this is not the complete schedule of every local high school game; CLICK HERE for the full boys’ slate and CLICK HERE for the girls’ schedule. Included are every Big 5 game (home and away) plus local D-II and D-III games of note. Home team listed first unless @ symbol used.

Mon., January 1
MBB: Drexel vs. Hampton (12 PM)

Tues., January 2
WBB: La Salle vs. Davidson (6:30 PM)
WBB: Temple vs. North Texas (7 PM)
MBB: Penn @ Auburn (9 PM)

Boys: Imhotep vs. Sankofa (5:30 PM)
Boys: Academy New Church vs. Malvern Prep (5:30 PM)
Boys: Archbishop Carroll vs. Neumann-Goretti (6 PM)
Boys: Bristol vs. Delco Christian (7 PM)
Boys: Father Judge vs. Archbishop Wood (7 PM)
Boys: Devon Prep vs. Roman Catholic (7 PM)
Boys: La Salle vs. Bonner-Prendergast (7 PM)
Boys: St. Joe’s Prep vs. Archbishop Ryan (7 PM)
Boys: West Catholic vs. Cardinal O’Hara (7 PM)

Girls: Unionville vs. Avon Grove (6:45 PM)
Girls: Norristown vs. Perk Valley (6:45 PM)
Girls: Phoenixville vs. Upper Merion (6:45 PM)
Girls: Pottstown vs. PJP II (6:45 PM)

Weds., January 3
MBB: La Salle vs. George Mason (6:30 PM)
MBB: Saint Joseph’s @ Rhode Island (7 PM)
WBB: Villanova @ Seton Hall (7 PM)
WBB: Saint Joseph’s vs. George Washington (7 PM)
MBB: Villanova vs. Xavier (8:30 PM)

MBB: Swarthmore vs. Rowan (7 PM)
WBB/MBB: Bryn Athyn vs. Rosemont (6 PM/8PM)

Boys: Friends’ Central vs. Barrack Hebrew (4 PM)
Boys: Westtown vs. AFS (5:30 PM)
Boys: Upper Dublin vs. CB East (7 PM) 

Girls: Germantown Academy vs. Notre Dame (4 PM)
Girls: Penn Charter vs. Episcopal Academy (4 PM)

Thurs., January 4
MBB: Drexel vs. UNC-Wilmington (7 PM)
MBB: Temple @ South Florida (7 PM)

Boys: West Philadelphia vs. Math, Civics & Sciences (TBD)
Boys: Northeast vs. George Washington (4:30 PM)
Boys: West Chester Henderson vs. Coatesville (6:45 PM)
Boys: Penn Wood vs. Chester (7 PM)
Boys: Harriton vs. Upper Darby (7 PM)
Boys: Radnor vs. Garnet Valley (7 PM)

Girls: Neumann-Goretti vs. West Catholic (6:30 PM)
Girls: Garnet Valley vs. Radnor (7 PM)
Girls: Haverford High vs. Marple Newtown (7 PM)
Girls: Pennsbury vs. Pennridge (7 PM)

Fri., January 5
WBB: Drexel vs. Hampton (6 PM)

Boys: Methacton vs. Spring-Ford (6:45 PM)
Boys: Phoenixville vs. Pottstown (6:45 PM)
Boys: Roman Catholic vs. Archbishop Wood (7 PM, Holy Family)
Boys: Archbishop Ryan vs. Archbishop Carroll (7 PM)
Boys: Malvern Prep vs. Episcopal Academy (7 PM)
Boys: Westtown vs. Friends’ Central (7 PM)
Boys: SCH Academy vs. Germantown Academy (7 PM)
Boys: Penn Charter vs. Haverford School (7 PM)
Boys: Bensalem vs. CB East (7 PM)
Boys: Dock Mennonite vs. Bristol (7 PM)

Girls: Shipley vs. ANC (4 PM)
Girls: Notre Dame vs. Penn Charter (4 PM)
Girls: Agnes Irwin vs. SCH Academy (4 PM)
Girls: Westtown vs. FCS (5:30 PM)
Girls: Neshaminy vs. North Penn (7 PM)

Sat., January 6
MBB: La Salle @ Fordham (12 PM)
MBB: Villanova vs. St. John’s (1 PM)
MBB: Drexel @ William & Mary (2 PM)
WBB: Penn @ Columbia (2 PM)
MBB: Penn vs. Dartmouth (2 PM)
WBB: La Salle vs. Fordham (2 PM)
WBB: Saint Joseph’s vs. Richmond (2 PM)
WBB: Temple @ Tulsa (3 PM)
MBB: Swarthmore vs. Gettysburg (3 PM)

Boys: Cristo Rey vs. Academy New Church (1:30 PM)
Boys: Conestoga vs. Radnor (2:30 PM)
Boys: Lower Merion vs. Marple Newtown (7 PM)
Boys: Haverford High vs. Penncrest (7 PM)
Boys: Perk School Basketball Tournament

Girls: Villa Maria vs. Springfield (Delco.) (12 PM)
Girls: Paul VI (va.) vs. Archbishop Wood (1 PM, Westtown)
Girls: Westtown vs. Fort Erie (Can.) (3 PM)
Girls: Radnor vs. Conestoga (7 PM)

Sun., January 7
MBB: Temple vs. Wichita State (1 PM)
WBB: Drexel vs. Northeastern (2 PM)

Boys: Perk School Basketball Tournament

Girls: Blue Star Invitational @ Jefferson