City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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We’re on to the District 1 6A boys semifinals. All four teams left — Lower Merion, Coatesville, Conestoga and Plymouth Whitemarsh — are amongst the district’s top five seeds, all with about equal chances to be playing for a district title on Friday night at Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena (8:00 PM).

There are six 6A games on Tuesday night. Two of them are semifinals; two of them are PIAA qualifying games, Phoenixville/Bensalem and Methacton/Downingtown West all facing off for the final two spots out of District 1, with the winners of those games both safely in. And then there are two seeding games between four teams who have already locked in state berths but who are just playing for their spots on the bracket.

Here’s a look at all of those games:

Boys: District 1 6A Semifinals
1) Lower Merion vs. 5) Plymouth Whitemarsh (7:00 PM)

What a surprise — Lower Merion and Plymouth Whitemarsh are deep in the District 1 tournament once again. Yes, we’ve certainly seen both Gregg Downer and Jim Donofrio do this time and time before, though they both took different paths to get here this season. Lower Merion won the district title last year, graduated most of its starting lineup — and finds itself two wins away from a repeat, Downer and his staff pulling off another terrific coaching job with an Aces group that’s on a roll. Plymouth Whitemarsh has had high expectations all season long, Donofrio with a couple of the district’s best prospects to lean on amongst a deep group.

Lower Merion (22-4) lost three of its first five games of the season but has taken just one defeat in the 21 games since, riding a 13-game winning streak heading into Tuesday night. That includes a win over Penncrest in the Central League championship game and district tournament wins over No. 17 Pennsbury (70-30) and No. 8 CB East (80-56) to get back to the semifinals. Senior guards Carson Kasmer (Gettysburg) and Gus Wright both have experience from a year ago, but their classmates and fellow starters Sam’i Singletary (6-3), Rashyne Patterson (6-4) and Lamont Grier (5-11) are all first-year contributors. Thus far, it hasn’t mattered one iota to an Aces program that’s been here so many times before.

The Colonials (19-7) feature a great one-two combo in juniors Mani Sajid (6-4) and Michael Periera (6-9), the guard and forward putting up big performances in district tournament wins over No. 21 Neshaminy (78-39) and Garnet Valley (72-58). Sajid, a Division I recruit with numerous offers, is one of the area’s top shooters, capable of pulling and hitting from all over the court; Pereira is a physical presence down low who’s going to be Lower Merion’s biggest challenge to cover without anybody who can match his size on the roster. Junior point guard Jack Hayes has been strong on the ball all year long, and after him it’s a combo of different players who can contribute: senior wing Caleb Bridgeman (6-4), junior guard Terron Davis (5-11), sophomore guard Buddy Denard (6-0) and more. 

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2) Coatesville vs. 3) Conestoga (7:00 PM)

After making PIAA state quarterfinal runs each of the last two years, Coatesville is in the district semifinals for the first time since Jig Brickus and Co. made it all the way to the finals in 2019. John Allen’s Raiders were expected to be one of the top teams in the area and have thus far delivered, with a mix of youth and experience leading the way. Conestoga hasn’t been this deep in the district playoffs since 2014, when most of the current roster was just starting elementary school. But the Pioneers (19-6) have shown they can hang with the top teams in the district, scoring regular-season wins over Lower Merion and Garnet Valley, among others.

The Ches-Mont League champions, Coatesville (21-5) is built for success. It has guard play: seniors Amon Fowlkes (5-11) and Nasir Williams (5-10) are both confident and capable scorers and defenders who can play with or without the ball in their hands, and Christopher Allegra gives them great energy and shot-making off the bench. It has size: 6-7 juniors Larry Brown and Jonas Chester plus 6-6 sophomore Max Hiller are an imposing trio, with physical 6-4 wing Armon Shockley chipping in as well. And it has an X factor: special 6-5 freshman wing Colton Hiller, who scored all 21 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime as Coatesville beat No. 10 Spring-Ford in the quarterfinals. 

Conestoga might not have anybody with the Brown and Chester’s size or Hiller’s upside, but Sean Forcine’s group hasn’t backed down from anybody thus far. It’s mostly a group of juniors and seniors leading the way: senior guard Ben Robinson and junior guard Rowan Miller are the primary ball-handlers, Miller the team’s most talented shot-creator, with senior wing Sam Gibbs (6-4) and lefty junior wing Shane O’Brien (6-3) both strong outside shooters who crash the boards well. Junior forward Cory Hogan, a 6-4 forward, is their primary inside presence, and he’s going to have his work cut out for him on Tuesday.

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District 1 6A Qualifiers
9) Phoenixville vs. 13) Bensalem (6:00 PM)
After a one-point double-overtime loss to Central Bucks East in the second round, Phoenixville (19-8) bounced back nicely with a defeat of Pennsbury in the first playback round. Now Eric Burnett’s Phantoms have to play Bensalem (16-10), which dispatched Neshaminy in its last game following a second-round loss to Garnet Valley. Each team relies on very different star players: Bensalem’s Amir Drummond is a super-athletic 5-10 lefty who can wreak havoc at both ends, while Phoenixville’s Deacon Baratta (Tufts) is a 6-6 sniper who can finish above the rim. This should be a highly-entertaining game between two teams that aren’t shy about putting points on the board.

14) Methacton vs. 18) Downingtown West (7:00 PM)

Downingtown West (16-10) is 11-3 over its last 14 games, with all three of those losses coming to Coatesville — in fact, the Whippets’ only four losses of 2024 have all been to Coatesville. Donovan Fromhartz (6-4 senior) and Brady Moore (6-3 junior) are West’s two biggest weapons, and Methacton (18-8) will have to find a way to counter their scoring ability inside and out. The Warriors feature 5-11 senior Sal Iemmello and 6-2 junior Wes Robinson, with several other guards and wings all chipping in 5-10 points per game. Don’t be surprised if this one goes to whoever controls the glass. 

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District 1 6A Seeding
4) Garnet Valley vs. 8) Central Bucks East (7:00 PM)
Garnet Valley (18-7) and Central Bucks East (15-10) are similarly-built teams, with a bunch of athletes all over the court, though the Jaguars have the advantage of postseason experience, with a state playoff win a couple years ago. Two high-scoring wings go head-to-head in GV senior Jake Sniras (Wilkes) and East senior Nolan Behm (Pitt baseball), and it’ll be interesting to see how East handles GV sophomore Grayson Golek, the Jaguars’ versatile 6-5 forward who can also really shoot it from the arc. 

10) Spring-Ford vs. 11) Cheltenham (7:00 PM)
This should be a really fun game, Cheltenham (17-9) liking to play uptempo and Spring-Ford (19-8) having no issue scoring the ball on its own. This is the last run for Rams seniors Jacob Nguyen (6-3) and Tommy Kelly (6-5), who’ve been part of a lot of a lot of success at S-F, with fellow senior Jordan Marsilio (6-1) chipping in and junior Syaire Barnes (5-10) immediately becoming a major piece. Cheltenham’s deep group features guards Osai Johnson (5-11 senior), Kamal Mason (5-9 sophomore), Xavier Willoughby (6-3 senior) and developing 6-6 junior Tyree Martin in the middle.