City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith
— 

Note to coaches: if you’d like to see more of your team’s games included in our roundup article, please feel free to send any applicable game information to cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com, within the first few hours after your game goes final if possible. Top scorers, scorebooks, and other notable information is always helpful!

~~~

Last season, in many regards as it pertained to Imhotep Charter, Father Judge got the last word. 

Cutting down the nets at the PIAA 6A title game in Hershey? Judge. Beating Imhotep head-to-head to get there? Judge. Winning a close December matchup between the two? Judge again. 

Imhotep won a matchup between the two in the District 12 title game, but otherwise, it was the Crusaders’ year. It's yet to be seen if these squads will meet again in 2025-26, but the first round belonged to the Panthers. 

“We like to do well against the best teams in their league,” Imhotep head coach Andre Noble said.

Imhotep made a statement on a neutral court — La Salle University’s John E. Glaser Arena — in a Public League vs. Catholic League battle of city powerhouses, downing the Crusaders by a final tally of 61-50. And according to Noble, two of his key leaders were the difference makers.  

“I thought (junior) Zaahir Muhammad-Gray and (senior) Latief Lorenzano-White, our two captain, they really led the right way today,” he added. “They were what we need them to be in terms of leadership, stepping up in big moments and making big basketball plays.”

Tuesday’s contest was largely in Judge’s control through the first 75 percent of the night; the Crusaders — who were paced by Jeremiah Adedeji's 12 points — led by two at halftime and five midway through the third quarter. In the final four minutes of the third frame, though, Imhotep outscored Judge 12-3, and took over in the fourth to seal the win.

“Our guys played poorly in the first half,” Noble said. “We were struggling communicating, stopping their offense. We got a few more stops in the second half.”

Noble also touted Imhotep’s shooting ability — something he sees as a lesser-known trait of his Panthers — as a key in Tuesday’s win. 

“People don’t think of us as a team that shoots the three,” he said, “but we really do, we shoot it well. Second half, we started knocking them down.”

Of course, the Panthers are no strangers to a challenging non-conference slate. They’ve already played the likes of Archbishop Wood and Bishop O’Connell (Va.), and stand at an impressive 5-1. 

As such, they’ve only got a few hours to revel in a statement win. As Noble noted, the Panthers have plane tickets to depart Wednesday for the City of Palms Classic, a tournament in Florida featuring several of the nation’s top programs.

But the plan is unchanged — just keep stacking wins. 

“We play a really competitive non-league schedule,” Noble said. “So, you’ve got a bunch of really tough games on the schedule, and you want to win some. One game at a time.”

~~~

William Tennent players and coaches celebrate Avery Kocur's 1,000th point (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL).

HS GIRLS: William Tennent 63, Springfield Township 45 

For more than three decades, the 1,000-point banner at William Tennent had gone without a new name from the girls’ basketball program joining its select membership.

That changed Tuesday night. On a signature deep three with 8:07 left in the game, senior Avery Kocur became the first player from the Panthers’ girls’ team since 1991 to reach the milestone.

“It feels really cool, my teammates have been talking about it for a while and it was actually making me nervous,” Kocur said on the court after the game. “Everybody was saying ‘we’re coming tonight to your game,’ and I was thinking ‘what if I don’t even get it?’ But it all worked out fine, my goal was not to force shots because I don’t think it would have turned out as great.”

Kocur, who is committed to Holy Family, scored 16 points while sophomore Megan Volz led Tennent with 21 in a game that was important from a team level too. The Panthers handed the visiting Spartans, who were paced by 22 from Ava Culler, their first loss of the season as William Tennent improved to 3-0 in the SOL Freedom standings.

A four-year starter on varsity and a three-time first-team All-SOL pick, Kocur said reaching 1,000 points became a goal once she took on a leading role with her team. Knocking down the milestone on a three-pointer well behind the line felt pretty good, along with the fact the pass came from her longtime teammate Halie Staub.

“The last few games my shots had been off actually,” Kocur said. “I shot last night with Coach Ray (Horn, her AAU coach with PA Royals) and it was definitely a goal to shoot better today. I did want to get it on a three. I saw the shot and I just took it.”

Kocur is hoping it’s more a matter of weeks than decades until the next name joins her on the banner. Staub, also a senior, is in striking range of reaching 1,000 and Kocur wants to get a payback assist while they help their team keep winning.

“Definitely making sure she gets hers,” Kocur said. “It’d be awesome for both of us to get it in our last year.”

—Andrew Robinson

~~~

Here’s a quick rundown of some more local results from a Tuesday night that featured nearly 100 boys’ and girls’ high school games:

HS BOYS: Souderton 56, Central Bucks East 54

The defending SOL Colonial champions picked up a key early win, defeating fellow unbeaten CB East by two. With the victory, Souderton now stands alone atop the division at 3-0, with a 7-0 mark on the season. A late three-pointer from junior Koby Rollerson put Soudy ahead in the final seconds. Senior Nate Rusike led the way with 22 points, while Connor Mekanik had a team-high 13 for the Patriots. 

HS GIRLS: Garnet Valley 47, Haverford High 43

In a matchup of 2-0 teams in the Central League, the Jaguars gained an early inside track atop the conference standings, winning a close one over Haverford. Key free throws made the difference down the stretch, but Garnet Valley’s game-high 24 points from Addie Adamski made a major impact, too. Adamski connected on six triples, added six boards, and logged five steals. Maura Gilroy led the Fords with 16 points. 

HS BOYS: Garnet Valley 67, Haverford High 66

The boys’ side of the same matchup was similarly thrilling, with the Jaguars finishing off the sweep behind 23 points from senior Grayson Golek. Garnet Valley had the game mostly in control from start to finish, but the Fords outscored GV by 10 in the final frame to make things interesting.

Haverford got a team-leading 21 from Jamie Haskell; he and Andrew Brown — who finished with 17 — combined for 18 of the Fords’ 22 points in the last quarter. Meanwhile, Golek and Braden Quinn scored all 12 of the Jags’ points in the fourth, mostly at the free-throw line, to help stave off the Haverford run. 

HS BOYS: Phelps School 107, Penn Charter 79

In a matchup of teams that reached last year’s PAISAA Semifinals, Phelps School — the defending state champs — rolled, posting triple digits behind double-digit outings from six different players. In total, 11 members of the Phelps squad found the basket, with top outputs coming from sophomore Manny Velero-Melo (18) and senior Isaiah Thomas (17). In defeat, the Quakers were led by senior Kasey Fleming who had 23.

HS BOYS: Upper Darby 74, Conestoga 65

The Royals handed Conestoga its first conference loss of the 2025-26 season, using a standout second half to gain separation; namely Upper Darby outscored ‘Stoga by six in the last frame. For the Royals, Sirleaf Artemus connected on four three-pointers and led the way with 21 points. His efforts, as well as double-digit outputs from four Upper Darby players, helped counteract 38 points from Conestoga senior Rowan Miller. 

HS GIRLS: Methacton 56, Boyertown 36

A Methacton team that had lost three straight heading into Tuesday got off to a slow start, trailing Boyertown 14-8 after a quarter, but quickly turned things around. The Warriors outscored the Bears 33-12 in the second half, and got 15 points from Ava Wolf and 14 from Abby Masotta. Boyertown was led by Chloe Engler with 22. 

~~~

Amaris Baker led the charge in a dominant Drexel win with 26 points (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL).

D-I WOMEN: Drexel 95, Chestnut Hill 38

The Drexel women were as dominant as one would hope in a non-Division I contest, beating Chestnut Hill soundly by more than 50 points. The Dragons opened up a 26-7 lead after one and ran away from there, outrebounding the Griffins by an astounding margin of 62-21. 

Iriona Gravley had a very efficient game, logging 23 points in 23 minutes while missing just one of her 11 field goal attempts; Amaris Baker, though, had a team-high 26 for Drexel. Mariah Watkins led the way on the glass with 14 boards. 

D-I MEN: Howard 74, Drexel 66

Drexel suffered a disappointing loss Tuesday, dropping a mid-day contest against Howard. Drexel’s loss certainly wasn’t for lack of production on the part of junior Kevon Vanderhorst, who had 30 points on 8-of-11 from the field and 10-of-11 from the line. As a team, though, the Dragons shot 34 percent from beyond the arc and 63 percent on foul shots.

Having now lost three in a row, Drexel has a pair of winnable home games coming up to try and right the ship before CAA play — the Dragons will take on Mount St. Mary’s and Maine, who are a combined 4-20 — over the weekend.