City of Basketball Love

By Olivia Valania
—

There are only a few weeks left in the 2025-26 high school regular season in Pennsylvania, which means leagues around the region are down to contenders and those just hoping to spoil someone else’s day. 

Here’s a quick look at each league race and some dates of key remaining games on the boys’ side of the area:

Bicentennial Athletic League
Delco Christian (8-0) tops the league staying unbeaten in conference play. Trailing behind are Faith Christian (6-1) and Renaissance Charter (5-1) with one loss, then an array of teams with three league losses including Calvary Christian, Jenkintown, MaST Charter, and Phil-Mont Christian. Delco Christian looks hard to beat as they have won league games by relatively large margins and their four league games left to play are against lower teams in the table. Faith Christian and Renaissance Charter will face each other as they compete for the second place on the table on Feb. 5 to close out their regular season. 

Catholic League
Frontrunners have already emerged as we are four games into the Catholic League season, with last year’s four semi-finalists remaining at the top of the table. Archbishop Carroll and Neumann Goretti sit in first and second, still remaining undefeated (4-0) followed by Archbishop Wood (3-1) and Cardinal O'Hara (3-1). Carroll flexed a muscle by defeating a top four team as they had a dominant 23 point win over O’Hara on Jan. 13. 

St. Hubert’s also is 3-1 within the league but they suffered a 52 point loss to Neumann Goretti and have only been able to beat bottom four teams, so it is not looking like they are a contender to break into the top pack. As the Catholic League each year separates into the haves and have-nots, Archbishop Ryan, Lansdale Catholic, Conwell-Egan, Nazareth Academy, West Catholic, Bonner-Predegrast, and Little Flower will battle amongst themselves within the league, unable to touch the dominance of the top four.

A rematch of last year’s PCL final between Archbishop Carroll and Neumann Goretti will take place Tuesday Jan. 20 which is to be a clash for the first-place spot within the league and a possible preview of who will cut down the nets at the Palestra in February. Later in the month and into the beginning of February is when Archbishop Wood and Cardinal O’Hara face their biggest threats in the league as Wood takes on Goretti Jan. 27 then Carroll Jan. 29 and O’Hara will face Goretti on Feb. 3. 

Adi DiTrolio (21) and Springfield (Delco.) are one of four teams tied for the Central League lead. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Central League
The Central League is still very much up in the air as we have reached the midway mark of league play with the top half all vying for the top seed. Conestoga, Garnet Valley, Haverford, and Springfield sit as the top four all sharing an 8-2 record. All four have competed against each other with varying results: Conestoga has lost to Garnet Valley, Garnet Valley has lost to Springfield, Haverford lost to both Conestoga and Garnet Valley, and Springfield has lost to Conestoga and Haverford. 

Still in the mix for one of the top six seeds are Lower Merion (7-3), Radnor (7-3), and Marple Newtown (6-4). Marple Newtown were the ones to hand top-two Conestoga and Garnet Valley their second losses, giving them more credit as a contender. 

Conestoga and Garnet Valley will meet again Jan. 31 as a rematch of Garnet Valley’s close 39-35 victory in December as both look for the one seed. Haverford too will go back up against Garnet Valley Jan. 29 and Conestoga Feb. 3 looking to claim a win after defeats by both earlier in the season. In the coming week, Marple Newtown takes on Haverford Jan. 20 attempting to take down another top four opponent and Lower Merion faces Springfield Jan. 20 then Garnet Valley Jan. 22 hoping to get a major league win. 

Ches-Mont American
Rustin (6-0) leads the American with Great Valley (5-1) and Sun Valley (4-2) trailing in the second and third spot. Great Valley’s only loss came from Rustin while Sun Valley’s two losses came from Rustin and Great Valley so the rest of the way is not looking too competitive as it looks to be Rustin running away with the league. Sun Valley and Great Valley face off Jan. 20 and Rustin will play Great Valley Jan. 27, looking to hold them off. 

Ches-Mont National
Downingtown East (7-1) and Downingtown West (6-1) are neck and neck at the top of the table with East having the slight edge after playing an extra game and defeating West in a close 39-34 win Dec. 16. Following behind are West Chester East (5-3) and Coatesville (4-3) who are looking for a top four spot to play in the postseason playoffs. East takes on West again this week on Jan. 20 as East looks to remain victorious over West and West looks to take the one spot in the National.

Inter-Ac
Notre Dame are the heavy hitters in the Inter-Ac, remaining 5-0 within the conference as they continue to cruise though looking to go undefeated back to back years. Agnes Irwin (3-0) also remains undefeated in the league with the unbeaten pair yet to match up against each other. Tuesday Jan. 20 they will play against each other, only one being able to claim the first place spot. Germantown Academy (3-2) sits in third after falling short to both AIS and ND but were able to give Notre Dame their closest game as they only lost by six points. Agnes Irwin and Notre Dame will again face each other Feb. 10 while Germantown Academy will rematch Agnes Irwin Jan. 30 and Notre Dame Feb. 6. 

Kennedy Coles (above) and Upper Merion are in a three-way tie atop the PAC Frontier. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

PAC Frontier
The top half of the table is still competitive going into the second leg of league play. Pope John Paul II (5-1), Upper Merion (5-1), and Pottsgrove (4-1) all sit with one loss from one another as Pope John Paul II lost to Upper Merion, Upper Merion lost to Pottsgrove, and Pottsgrove lost to Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II takes on Upper Merion again on Jan. 20 this time hoping to get a win then Jan. 27 they look to again hold off Pottsgrove. Pottsgrove will play Upper Merion Jan. 22 as all teams in the coming two weeks look to take the edge over the other.  

PAC Liberty
The 2025 6A champions Perk Valley (6-0) are holding their own at the top of the league with Spring-Ford (5-1) right behind them. The Vikings narrowly got the victory over Spring-Ford earlier in December, defeating them 49-47 handing them their only conference loss. Phoenixville (3-2), Methacton (2-4), and Owen J. Roberts (2-4) remain in the middle, unable to compete with the dominant top two. Perk Valley and Spring-Ford meet again Jan. 20 with Perk Valley aiming to once again beat Spring-Ford and go undefeated for the third year in a row.

Public League ‘A’ Division
Audenried (6-0) stands unbeaten in the Pub as they only have Freire Charter (2-4) left to take on in regular season play. Imhotep (5-1) currently stands at second after losing 84-74 to Audenried on Jan.14. With the Public League champion usually being a trade off between Tep and Audenried come playoff time it will be either one being crowned winner of the PPL. Central (5-2) has some contention however lost by 20 point margins to both Audenried and Imhotep so it would take a lot to overcome the top two’s control of the league. 

SOL Colonial
It seems to be Central Bucks East running away with the Colonial as they hold down the top spot going a perfect 5-0 after the first half of league play. Already beating every team in the conference all by double digits it is very likely they could remain undefeated within the league the whole season. Behind them trails Central Bucks West and North Penn who stand at 3-2, then Central Bucks South and Souderton at 3-2, then at the bottom Pennridge who is winless in the league. Central Bucks West gets another shot at Central Bucks East on Jan. 30 while North Penn gets another shot at them on Feb. 3 but it will be a challenge to knock down the Patriots from their first place pedestal. 

SOL Freedom
Four games in and William Tennent (4-0) claims the top spot, already defeating each league opponent. The middle of the table is relatively evenly matched with Cheltenham, Lower Moreland, and Springfield (Montco.) all at 2-2. New Hope-Solebury is not included in league competition as this season they have no games scheduled as they were not able to form a team which leaves Upper Moreland (0-4) to take the last place spot. William Tennent’s next three games are league play as they take on Upper Moreland Jan. 20, Cheltenham Jan. 23, and Springfield (Montco.) Jan. 27.

Emilia Coleman (above) and Upper Dublin are storming their way through the SOL Liberty. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

SOL Liberty
Again it is the formidable Upper Dublin girls in control of the Liberty. Hitting the league midway point undefeated (5-0), they are 14-1 overall with their only loss being to the No. 2 team in D.C., Sidwell Friends. Next in line is Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-1) whose one league loss came from Upper Dublin Jan. 6 as they suffered a 39 point defeat followed by a 3-2 Abington who also fell victim to a big deficit loss against Upper Dublin as the Cardinals beat them 74-21 on Dec. 12. Looking at the week to come, Upper Dublin plays Wissahickon (0-4) Jan. 20 and Abington Jan. 23 ready to continue their dominance in the league and in Pennsylvania while Plymouth Whitemarsh takes on the two winless teams in the league Quakertown (Jan. 20) and Wissahickon (Jan. 23) hoping to rack in easy conference wins. 

SOL Patriot
Just like on the boys side, Pennsbury girls are holding their own in the Patriot going 5-0. They handled the middle table teams Bensalem (3-2) who they beat by 22 points in December and Council Rock South (3-2) who they defeated by 13 except for Neshaminy (3-2) who they narrowly escaped in a 23-22 victory. Council Rock North who is 1-5 in the league and Harry S. Truman, who remains winless (0-5), stay at the bottom of the pack. Neshaminy will get another shot at Pennsbury Jan. 27 as they look to give the Falcons their first league loss.