City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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MORRISVILLE — Ella Stinger was super-nervous before the biggest game yet of her high school career, the 2025 Bicentennial Athletic League championship game. Addie Smith made sure that she had nothing to be worried about. 

The Delco Christian senior wing came out firing and hitting, her four straight 3-pointers getting the Knights off to a hot start they never looked back from in a 53-36 win over Renaissance Charter in the 2025 Bicentennial Athletic League championship game. 

Less than two hours after the Delco Christian boys won their first-ever BAL title, the girls followed suit, with Smith and Stinger leading the way. 

“A lot of hard work built up to it,” Stinger said. “I felt sick to my stomach in the beginning, I was like ‘oh my gosh,’ I was very nervous.”

It’s understandable why Stinger was nervous, the freshman playing in her first high school championship game, counted on as one of her team’s leading scorers despite her youth. Her older teammates had her back. 

Smith, a 5-foot-10 wing, hit the first shot she took, a 3-pointer. Then she hit her second. And her third. By the time she rattled in her fourth triple of the first quarter, the Knights were off to the races. Stinger added a couple 3-pointers during that opening quarter, which ended with Delco Christian up 21-6. 

It was 27-13 at halftime, the lead growing to 20 (45-25) by the end of the third quarter as Smith connected on two more triples in the eight minutes after halftime. 

“Addie was going crazy,” Stinger said. “I’m so proud of her. We would not have been able to win without her. She’s a great leader, really great mentor to me, and a really great role model.”

Smith finished with a season-high 20 points on 6-of-11 from deep, two shy of her career high. She said it wasn’t the first time she’d gone 4-for-4 from deep in the opening quarter, doing it against Collegium Charter last season. 

At least a couple of her triples on Saturday came off confident, quick-trigger catch-and-shoots, Smith running from corner to corner to find a spot of freedom and launching without thinking as soon as the ball touched her hands. 

“I was really shy, and I never used to shoot it, I would always pass,” she said. “(I’m) just having confidence in myself; it’s okay if you airball or if you get blocked, you’ve just got to shoot it, and focus. I’ve been focusing more on my form than just throwing it up there, and I’ve seen the results of it in a good way.”

“Just really proud, proud of her to be able to step up and do that,” Delco Christian coach Jake Godino said. “Just really really happy with her performance. Couldn’t be happier.”

Godino felt that way about his whole program’s performance, the 17-point win a big change from an overtime win over Renaissance Academy — also the Knights — earlier this season. Delco Christian (22-3) limited its mistakes, moved the ball, hit shots, and played tough defense against Renaissance (12-12), which won the Bicentennial title last season. 

This season has been a breakthrough for Delco Christian, which won only 11 games last year and lost in the BAL semifinals. The Knights won their first eight games of the season, surpassed last year’s win total in early January and haven’t slowed down since, winning their first league title since the school joined the BAL — and the PIAA — before the 2004-05 season. 

No doubt part of that has been the arrival of Stinger, who’s been the Knights’ leading scorer much of the year, with Smith and fellow senior Hallie Kees, a defensive specialist, bringing the experience. Another freshman, point guard Mary O’Donnell, who came off the bench against Renaissance but has started at other points this season, came up big as well with eight points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists in the championship.

“She’s an energizer bunny,” Godino said. “I think she’s gotten tired one time this season. She can just go, go, go go. She can control tempo for us, and that’s why she’s so important.”

Both teams will continue on in the District 1 tournament. Renaissance Academy is the No. 3 seed in the three-team District 1 2A field, with Calvary Christian awaiting the winner of Renaissance and Faith Christian in Tuesday’s semifinal (6:00 PM, Faith Christian). 

Delco Christian, the No. 1 seed in the four-team 1A bracket, plays Upper Bucks Christian on Tuesday at home at 4:00 PM. A win is enough to guarantee them a spot in the PIAA playoffs, though they want a shot at No. 2 Sacred Heart or No. 3 Dock Mennonite next Saturday for another title. 

By Quarter
DC: 21  |   6   |  18  |   8   ||  53
RA:  6   |   7   |  12  |  11  ||  36

Shooting
DC: 15-49 FG (8-23 3PT), 15-24 FT
RA: 14-48 FG (4-15 3PT), 4-11 FT

Scoring
DC: Addie Smith 20, Ella Stinger 18, Mary O’Donnell 8, Audrey Bechtel 7

RA: Dallas Stewart 15, Aniyah Jones 7, Brilan Biesecker 6, Kasira Barber 6, Raelyn Jones 2