City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

There’s no favorite in the Central League. There’s three of them.

Haverford, Conestoga and Garnet Valley were the three to watch coming into the year, and though a few others have surprised — looking at you, Radnor — eyes are still on the Fords, Pioneers and Jaguars to make the most noise not just in the league but districts and states as well.

Here’s a look at the Central League playoffs, which begin Thursday night on home courts:

1) Haverford High (19-3, 14-2)
Saturday, 7 PM vs. TBD
Technically league co-champs, Haverford gets the top seed thanks to tiebreakers; thanks to splitting its two games with Conestoga, it’s the two wins Haverford scored over Garnet Valley that earned it the top overall seed. The Fords feature senior Aniya Eberhart (Millersville), an athletic 5-9 scoring guard, and 6-1 junior wing Rian Dotsey, who’s stepped into the do-everything role her sister Caroline inhabited the last few seasons. They’ve also been getting strong play from point guard Megan Kelly and forwards Natalie Wright and Ashley Wright. Lauren Pellicane’s group does a great job on the glass and makes up for a lack of elite shooting with tough defense and an ability to get to the hoop and score.

2) Conestoga (20-2, 14-2)
Saturday, 1 PM vs. TBD
‘Stoga was in the drivers’ seat all season long, but a one-point loss to Garnet Valley on the final day of the season has them as the No. 2 seed — which also happens to be their current unofficial seeding in the District 1 tournament. AJ Thompson’s Pioneers are led by a terrific senior point guard in Scranton commit Marisa Francione, though she gets a lot of help from junior forward Janie Preston, sophomore guard Ryann Jennings and senior twins Isabella and Katrina Valencia. This is a group that can score it, surpassing 60 points multiple times this year, especially when its inside-out game is clicking.

3) Garnet Valley (19-3, 13-3) vs. 6) Ridley (15-7, 8-8)
Thursday, 5 PM @ Garnet Valley
All season long it’s been a ‘big three’ in the Central League, with Garnet Valley joining Conestoga and Haverford as the only teams with a Division I recruit, giving them a heads’ up on the field. GV’s is junior guard Haylie Adamski, a 6-0 sharpshooter with much-improved ball skills, though it’s her classmate Kylie Mulholland that tends to play point guard. The return of senior forward Emily Olsen from a knee injury a year ago has been a big boost, while Adamski’s sisters — freshmen Addison and Kylie Adamski  — give them good minutes off the bench. 

Ridley, which won its last two games of the regular season to move into the 24th and final spot in the District 1 6A field (unofficially), is led by seniors Kailyn Bell and Kyla Carney, whom head coach Roe Falcone leans on to lead the way. She’s got a younger group besides that, with a number of sophomores in the starting lineup. These teams met twice in the regular season, Garnet Valley winning both matchups, 55-27 in December and 49-24 on Jan. 25 at Garnet Valley. 

4) Radnor (18-4, 13-3) vs. 5) Penncrest (15-7, 10-6)
Thursday, 7 PM @ Radnor

Of the four Central League first-round games (boys and girls), this is the only matchup that pits two 5A schools against one another. Radnor won both regular-season matchups, beating Penncrest 42-29 back in December, though Penncrest showed some growth in the fact that the rematch was just a five-point Radnor win on Jan. 25 at Penncrest. Both times saw Radnor get out to big early leads with Penncrest making a comeback in the second half. 

Radnor’s leaning heavily on its starting five including sophomore Nyah Yao, and senior Kate Gallagher, plus senior Caroline Monahan; point guard Anna Reger has taken a big step forward in her sophomore year and senior Blayse Jennings gives them the dirty work up front. Penncrest’s got a couple of seniors, guard Bailey Garrison and 6-2 forward Kathryn Harding, a Temple lacrosse commit, leading the way; guards Emily Huggins (senior), Makayla Johnson (senior), and Alex Bruce (junior) round out the lineup. Head coach Larry Johnson thinks his team is playing better defensively as the season’s gone on. They are trying to bounce back from a bit of an offensive slump but scored 55 against Marple in the season finale.