City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The first week of 2024 was indeed an exciting one in the local landscape, with some movers and shakers starting to move and shake in the first high school conference races, while the college conference slates get underway.

With a month (or less, in some instances) remaining in the high school regular season, let’s take a look at the week ahead in Southeastern Pennsylvania high school and college basketball.

For the next couple weeks, with so much going on in the high school world and the college schedule just grinding through league play, we’re going to focus on high school games to watch, with college games included on the full schedule below. 

Just like last week, we’ll go league-by-league with important games to watch:

• Bicentennial League
  The top two boys teams in the Bicentennial square off on Friday night as Dock Mennonite (9-4, 7-0) travels to Faith Christian (10-1, 6-0), though Faith first needs to win at Delco Christian (6-4, 4-1) on Tuesday to keep their loss column unblemished; Dock has an easier home game Tuesday against Calvary Christian (7-4, 4-3). The girls’ picture is more complicated at the top, with Renaissance Charter (7-4, 5-0) and Faith Christian (7-4, 3-0) followed by Jenkintown, Delco Christian and MaST Charter, all of whom still have only one league loss. Interestingly enough, none of those teams play one another this week, so it’ll be interesting to see how the picture looks come Sunday.

• Catholic League
  After an opening night of PCL play on the girls’ side that saw six blowouts, things get substantially more competitive this week. Tuesday night features Neumann-Goretti hosting Cardinal O’Hara; Thursday has Lansdale Catholic hosting Conwell-Egan and Friday night is a big one, Cardinal O’Hara hosting Archbishop Wood in a battle of two of the league’s favorites. On the boys’ side, a seven-game slate Monday night features Ryan hosting Wood and St. Joe’s Prep hosting Archbishop Carroll. There’s only one game Thursday but it’s a big one: Archbishop Wood hosting Neumann-Goretti, and Friday’s six games include Devon Prep hosting Archbishop Ryan, Judge hosting O’Hara and Carroll hosting La Salle. It’s still way too early to figure out if there’s a true frontrunner, but this week will help determine something of a pecking order.

• Central League
  The Central League girls’ favorite at the moment has to be Conestoga (11-0, 7-0), which is now halfway to a perfect regular season. The Pioneers have a pair of tricky games this week in Penncrest (7-2, 4-2) and Springfield (Delco.) (5-6, 2-4), while second-place Haverford High (9-1, 5-1) needs to survive third-place Radnor (8-3, 5-2) on Tuesday at Haverford to stay in the mix. On the boys’ side, Lower Merion (12-1, 7-0) is two games clear of the field, though a home game Friday against Penncrest (10-2, 5-2) is one way to watch. The other two-loss teams are Conestoga, Harriton and Radnor; Conestoga plays at Penncrest on Tuesday and Radnor plays at a scrappy Upper Darby (5-8, 4-3) on Thursday.

• Ches-Mont League
  The biggest game in the Ches-Mont on the boys’ side this week takes place Thursday, when Sun Valley (5-5, 3-1) hosts Unionville (3-0, 11-2) as the Vanguards will attempt to keep the Longhorns close to the pack in the American division. National leader Henderson (12-1, 4-0) has two games it will be favored in against Avon Grove and Shanahan; keep an eye on West Chester East (8-3, 3-2 National) hosting Downingtown West (6-6, 2-2) on Tuesday night. Kennett (5-4, 3-0), the American leader on the girls’ side, has a big week with a home game Tuesday against Unionville (8-3, 2-1) and then a Thursday trip to Rustin (7-3, 2-1), two games that will determine a good bit of the division race. National co-leaders West Chester East (8-3, 4-1) and Downingtown West (8-3, 3-1) meet Tuesday night at Downingtown West. 

• Inter-Ac League
  As mentioned last week, the boys’ side of the Inter-Ac is wide open — especially so after Episcopal Academy knocked off Malvern Prep on Friday night. The Churchmen host a powerful Penn CHarter squad on Tuesday afternoon in a game the other four squads will certainly have their eye on, but all six will be scrambling for wins for weeks. It’s possible by the end of next week we’ll have some separation, but it likely won’t be much. The girls had a big shake-up this week when Notre Dame beat Penn Charter, and the Irish only play one league game this week, at Agnes Irwin on Saturday. It’s always worth keeping an eye out to see if anybody can upset GA, Notre Dame and/or Penn Charter.

• Pioneer Athletic
  Biggest boys game in the PAC this week on the boys side takes place Thursday night at Spring-Ford as the Rams (10-3, 4-0) host Perkiomen Valley (11-2, 3-1), having beaten Methacton by 31 on Friday night; a win there and S-F is in the drivers’ seat in the Liberty division. The Phoenixville boys (9-4, 4-0) took control of the Frontier division this week by beating Pottstown (7-4, 3-1), and have two games this week they’ll be favored in at OJR and home against Pottsgrove. Speaking of Perkiomen Valley/Spring-Ford, the two girls’ powerhouses will meet on Friday, both teams 4-0 in the Liberty division and expecting to play each other at least a couple more times this season, the first matchup coming at Perk Valley. The Phoenixville girls, the only 4-0 team in the Frontier division, don’t play either one-loss Pope John Paul II or Upper Merion, but those two do play each other Thursday at PJP.

• Suburban One
  We’re in the middle of SOL crossovers, so all of this week’s matchups are intra-divisional games. The best girls’ matchup on Tuesday night pits Upper Moreland against Upper Dublin at UM, though don’t overlook Lower Moreland at Plymouth Whitemarsh or CB South at Council Rock South. Thursday night sees Pennsbury host Central Bucks East, and Friday’s highlights include Bensalem hosting CB South and Abington hosting Lower Moreland. As for the boys, the Bensalem/CB West matchup on Tuesday at Bensalem is the highlight of the night, but Friday has some great matchups in Cheltenham/Upper Dublin, CB East/Pennsbury, and CR South/North Penn, the home team listed first each time.

• Everybody Else
  Big-time matchup in the Friends’ Schools League on the boys side as Academy New Church hosts Friends’ Central in what could be a game to decide the current front-runner after FCS beat Westtown on Friday. The Phoenix also host George School on Friday at 6 PM, so a 2-0 week for Friends’ Central would be a big-time statement, but this league race is far from decided. … Those in Delco looking for a good Delaware Valley League game to attend can head to Chichester on Thursday night as the Eagles host Penn Wood.

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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 8
Boys: Archbishop Ryan vs. Archbishop Wood (7:00 PM)
Boys: Neumann-Goretti vs. Lansdale Catholic (7:00 PM)
Boys: Bonner-Prendergast vs. Conwell-Egan (7:00 PM)
Boys: West Catholic vs. Father Judge (7:00 PM)
Boys: Roman Catholic vs. Cardinal O’Hara (7:00 PM, Jefferson)
Boys: St. Joe’s Prep vs. Archbishop Carroll (7:00 PM)

Tues., January 9
WBB: Temple @ Wichita State (7:00 PM)
WBB: Saint Joseph’s @ Saint Louis (8:00 PM)

Girls: Friends’ Central vs. ANC (4:00 PM)
Girls: Penn Charter vs. Agnes Irwin (4:00 PM)
Girls: Villa Joseph Marie vs. Gwynedd Mercy (5:15 PM)
Girls: Neumann-Goretti vs. Cardinal O’Hara (6:30 PM)
Girls: Downingtown West vs. West Chester East (6:45 PM)
Girls: Upper Moreland vs. Upper Dublin (7:00 PM)
Girls: Haverford High vs. Radnor (7:00 PM)
Girls: Plymouth Whitemarsh vs Lower Moreland (7:00 PM)

Boys: Delco Christian vs. Faith Christian (5:30 PM)
Boys: Academy New Church vs. Friends’ Central (5:30 PM)
Boys: Methacton vs. Pottstown (6:45 PM)
Boys: Wissahickon vs. Cheltenham (7:00 PM) 

Weds., January 10
WBB: Villanova vs. Georgetown (11:30 AM)
MBB: Saint Joseph’s @ Saint Louis (7:00 PM)
MBB: La Salle @ UMass (7:00 PM)
WBB: La Salle @ St. Bonaventure (7:00 PM)
MBB: Temple vs. East Carolina (7:00 PM) 

Boys: George School vs. Hill School (5:30 PM) 

Thurs., January 11
MBB: Drexel @ NC A&T (7:00 PM)

Boys: SLA Beeber vs. Northeast (3:15 PM)
Boys: Upper Darby vs. Radnor (5:15 PM)
Boys: Sun Valley vs. Unionville (6:45 PM)
Boys: Spring-Ford vs. Perkiomen Valley (6:45 PM)
Boys: Archbishop Wood vs. Neumann-Goretti (7:00 PM)

Girls: Downingtown East vs. Downingtown West (6:45 PM)
Girls: West Chester Rustin vs. Kennett (6:45 PM)
Girls: Pennsbury vs. Central Bucks East (7:00 PM)
Girls: Lansdale Catholic vs. Conwell-Egan (7:00 PM)

Fri., January 12
WBB: Drexel @ Charleston (7:00 PM)
MBB: Villanova vs. DePaul (8:30 PM)

Boys: Episcopal Academy vs. Germantown Academy (7:00 PM)
Boys: Friends’ Central vs. George School (6 PM)
Boys: Archbishop Carroll vs. La Salle (6 PM)
Boys: Father Judge vs. Cardinal O’Hara (7:00 PM)
Boys: St. Joe’s Prep vs. Bonner-Prendergast (7:00 PM)
Boys: Penn Charter vs. SCH Academy (7:00 PM)
Boys: Malvern Prep vs. Haverford School (7:00 PM)
Boys: Faith Christian vs. Dock Mennonite (7:00 PM)
Boys: Cheltenham vs. Upper Dublin (7:00 PM)

Girls: Friends’ Central vs. George School (6:30 PM)
Girls: Perkiomen Valley vs. Spring-Ford (6:45 PM)
Girls: Abington vs. Lower Moreland (7:00 PM)
Girls: Cardinal O’Hara vs. Archbishop Wood (7:00 PM)
Girls: Harriton vs. Haverford High (7:00 PM)

Sat., January 13
WBB: Saint Joseph’s vs. Duquesne (12:00 PM)
MBB: La Salle vs. VCU (12:30 PM)
WBB: Penn @ Dartmouth (1:00 PM)
WBB: La Salle vs. UMass (3:00 PM)
MBB: Saint Joseph’s vs. Loyola Chicago (4:00 PM)
MBB: Temple @ North Texas (6:00 PM)
MBB: Drexel @ Elon (7:00 PM)
WBB: Villanova @ Butler (7:30 PM)

Boys: Academy New Church vs. Friends’ Select (12:30 PM)
Boys: Pennsbury vs. Holy Ghost (2:00 PM)
Boys: Bensalem vs. Wissahickon (2:15 PM)
Boys: Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Methacton (5:00 PM)

Girls: Agnes Irwin vs. Notre Dame (12:00 PM)
Girls: Episcopal Academy vs. SCH Academy (12:00 PM)
Girls: Phoenixville vs. West Chester East (12:15 PM)

Sun., January 14
WBB: Drexel @ UNC-Wilmington (1:00 PM)
WBB: Temple vs. Memphis (2:00 PM)

Boys: Devon Prep vs. St. Joe’s Prep (2:30 PM)
Boys: Father Judge vs. Conwell-Egan (7:00 PM)

Girls: Hoops for Hope @ Arcadia