City of Basketball Love

By Tom Robinson
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BETHLEHEM – Old Forge took Delco Christian’s best shot as the first half drew to a close and the second half started up.

Most importantly, the Blue Devils also took four charges, three in the second half, creating just enough of an edge to get through the PIAA Class 2A second round game with a 59-52 victory.

With two of the Eastern half of the state’s top 2A threats meeting in the first week of the tournament, the District 1 champion Knights had their season end against a team that went to the semifinals the last two years that it was in this classification. Delco Christian (26-3) entered the tournament with the second-best record in the 32-team field.

The teams were both unbeaten against opponents their own size and showed why in a highly entertaining battle that played out as close as a block/charge call.

Led by senior guard Khamai Orange’s latest outburst, another 31-point game, that also featured six steals, the Knights were within one with two minutes left. Delco Christian was looking to get back within one when Ryan DeMarco drew the last of the offensive fouls with 1:41 left.

Orange then fouled out when it was still a three-point game and he was called for a blocking foul at midcourt with 55.9 seconds left. A technical foul followed and Old Forge went 4-for-8 from the line in the final minute to secure the win.

 “Charges killed us today,” Orange said.

The offensive efficiency of Old Forge, which has suffered its five losses against state quarterfinalists in higher classes, also played a major role in ending Delco Christian’s season.

When they hit five straight shots in the third quarter, the Blue Devils were over 65 percent for the game to that point at 15-for-23.

Logan Fanning, a 6-foot-5 junior center, and Cameron Parker scored 17 points each, while DeMarco added 12 despite taking just three shots from the floor.

Fanning continued his outstanding postseason when he made seven straight shots before having his last attempt blocked by Bradford Berwick late in the game. The block left Fanning at 18-for-20 (90 percent) from the floor for the district final and first two state rounds.

“We knew they were a very good team going in it,” Fanning said. “We knew this was going to be a huge game for us going forward.

 “After winning this, we can beat anybody.”

The game featured five ties and 10 lead changes.

Berwick’s 3-pointer created the biggest Knights lead at 11-6 with 3:30 left in the first quarter. Beau Lyren’s drive to open the second half gave Delco Christian a 30-26 lead, but Old Forge went ahead to stay with the next nine points.

“They played at their pace,” Orange said. “That was kind of the whole game plan for us, play at our pace and not let them slow the game down. At halftime, we were up two. It wasn’t anything that they did to really shake us up.

“They hit shots. We didn't hit shots.”

Berwick grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots in the loss.

By Quarter
DC:   14  |  14  |   9   |  15  ||  52
OF:  13   |  13  |  17  |  16  ||  59

Scoring

DC: Orange 31, Lyren 8, Sambola 6, Berwick 5, Matty 2.

OF: Fanning 17, Parker 17, DeMarco 12, Fox 7, Krushnowski 6.

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District 2 champ Riverside too much for Overbrook

Jabbar Kimble called two timeouts in the first 3:18 Wednesday night, both before his team scored for the first time in the second game of a PIAA playoff doubleheader at Liberty High School.

The Overbrook coach was barely able to slow down District 2 champion Riverside.

The Vikings opened a 19-point lead in the first 9:23 and freshman Nico Antoniacci finished with 28 points in a 66-44 win over the Panthers in Class 3A.

Kalief Armstrong came off the bench to hit six 3-pointers and score 18 points, but that merely allowed Overbrook to make dents in the 25-6 deficit.

“He actually is a starter,” Kimble said of his junior guard. “He had some injuries earlier in the season, so I brought him off the bench today. He came out and did what he normally does.

“He’s a great shooter and a great ballhandler.”

Riverside scored the game’s first eight points, answered Armstrong’s first triple with 10 more, then followed the next Overbrook basket with seven straight points.

“Those guys came out really tough,” Kimble said. “They did a good scouting job on our team. We started slow and then in the second quarter did a pretty good job cutting into the lead.”

Riverside took away Overbrook’s inside game, the high-low post game that Kimble hoped to utilize, until Armstrong loosened up the Vikings defense by hitting half of his dozen 3-point tries.

The Vikings shot just 4-for-18 from long distance, but were at 21-for-36 (58.3 percent) inside the arc where Antoniacci made his first six shots.

 “He’s a really good player,” Kimble said. “I knew he was as good as advertised. We just tried to give him different looks, put bodies on him, but he did a good job of mixing it up and getting to the basket.”

After Antoniacci scored nine in the first quarter, the closest Overbrook got was 32-23 on a 3-pointer by Armstrong with 1:24 left in the half. Antoniacci answered 20 seconds later with a three-point play.

Brayden Rose added a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds for Riverside while older brother Gerry Rose had 14 points, four assists and four steals.

Jalen Holmes was 5-for-7 while scoring 13 points and Omar Warring made five straight shots in the second and third quarters while adding 10 for Overbrook.

Behind the three double figures scorers, however, the rest of the Panthers suffered through a 1-for-25 shooting night.

Riverside improved to 24-2 going into Saturday’s quarterfinal with West Catholic. Overbrook finished 10-15.

By Quarter
R:   20  |  15  |  15   |  16  ||  66
O:  6   |  17  |  12  |  9  ||  44

Scoring
R: Antoniacci 28, G. Rose 14, B. Rose 10, McNally 9, Kostoff 3, Godlewski 2.

O: Armstrong 18, Jalen Holmes 13, Warring 10, James 3

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For More Photos of Riverside vs. Overbrook CLICK HERE
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