City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith
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On a night filled with important matchups across various local high school conferences and districts, the Catholic League boys standings saw quite a bit of shakeup. 

You can thank St. Joe’s Prep for a good bit of that.

The Hawks made significant PCL noise Wednesday night, taking down Archbishop Carroll — which had previously won five straight — by a final of 65-54, to pick up their fourth win in six games.

“Carroll is a great team, so that was a great win,” senior Will Lesovitz said. “I think our main thing is just coming out with energy in games. Right now, I think a lot of guys are buying into their role, so that’s helping us stack some wins.”

After a close first half — the Hawks trailed by one at the break — St. Joe’s Prep dominated the third quarter, outsourcing Carroll by 10 and never looking back from there. Lesovitz had an impressive game, dropping a game-high 28 points — including 5-of-6 three-point shooting — to go with 12 rebounds, while Julian McKee chipped in 14. 

“I think my teammates were just finding me,” Lesovtiz said. “I hit five threes, and they were all pretty open — my teammates driving and kicking. I think coach (Chris Clark) has a lot of confidence in me to knock down those shots in big moments.”

St. Joe’s Prep appears to be playing some of its best ball of the year at the right time, and is looking to replicate the in-league success of recent seasons; the Hawks won the league’s regular season title with just one loss last season, and are beginning to right the sip after opening this year’s conference slate at 1-2. 

“Last year, we had a great group of guys,” Lesovitz said. “A lot of our younger guys got to see that, learn from them, and I think that really laid the groundwork for what we have now.”

Meanwhile, Carroll — which entered the night in a three-way tie for third place — fell to fifth at a league mark of 6-3, as Roman Catholic and Bonner-Prendie both picked up wins to break their tie with the Patriots — more on that later. Carroll was led by 18 points from Ian Williams. 

Everybody’s chasing the now 8-1 Archbishop Wood Vikings, but St. Joe’s Prep allowed itself to maintain striking distance, as well as remain in the mix for top seeds in the PCL tournament, with four games — three against teams in the league’s bottom half — remaining. 

“Every night in the Catholic League is a great game,” Lesovitz said. “It’s awesome.” 

R.J. Smith reached a key scoring milestone in an important win for Roman Catholic (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL).

HS Boys: Roman Catholic 72, Neumann-Goretti 60

One of many Wednesday results that provided movement in the PCL boys standings, Roman Catholic slid into second place with a wire-to-wire win over N-G. The Cahillites now stand at 7-2, one game behind league-leading Archbishop Wood. Roman was dominant out of the gate, leading by more than 20 in the second quarter, and taking a 41-26 lead into the break. Neumann-Goretti, which now sits 1.5 games out of first place, cut the lead to just four points at the start of the fourth, but didn’t have enough in the tank. For Roman, senior R.J. Smith, who broke 1,000 career points. 

HS Boys: Archbishop Wood 46, Devon Prep 41

On a night of PCL intrigue, the conference’s leader held serve, maintaining the top spot in close fashion with a win over Devon Prep. The pair of Jaydn Jenkins and Brady MacAdams led the way with 14 apiece for the Vikings — who got 10 of their 14 fourth quarter points at the free throw line to help fend off the Tide — while Devon was led by Reece Craft’s 13.

HS Boys: Bonner-Prendie 71, West Catholic 56

Elsewhere in the Catholic League, Bonner-Prendie maintained its place near the top of the standings, staying within a game of Wood thanks to a win over West Catholic, which dropped to 4-5. After a relatively close first half, Bonner-Prendie clamped down in the second half, holding the Burrs to 12 points in each of the third and fourth quarters to pull away behind Korey Francis’ 27 points. 

HS Boys: Conestoga 61, Lower Merion 55

Conestoga’s boys team picked up a key win in an important Central League matchup; with both teams entering the night at 8-4, two games ahead of seventh-place Harriton (6-6), in a league that sends six teams to its conference playoffs, the winner — the Pioneers — effectively locked up a spot in the league tournament. 

With Wednesday’s result, Conestoga also got a much-needed boost in the PIAA 6A District 1 rankings, having entered the night at No. 14, to Lower Merion’s No. 9. For ‘Stoga, Tygee Clark had 20 points, including 12 in the second half, while the Aces got 19 from Nicholas Dragut. 

HS Girls: William Tennent 50, Springfield (Montco.) 45

William Tennent held serve in its first-place position in a battle of the Suburban One League Freedom division’s top two teams. With Wednesday’s win, the Panthers clinched the division title, bouncing back from a recent one-point loss to Cheltenham. Avery Kocur was dominant for Tennent, dropping 27 points, while Springfield got 23 from Ava Culler. Springfield led after one, but the Panthers outscored the Spartans 14-4 in the second frame to flip the game on its head. 

HS Girls: Spring-Ford 42, Methacton 30

Spring-Ford opened with an 18-5 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, locking up a top-two slot in the PAC Liberty behind unbeaten Perkiomen Valley. Spring-Ford entered the night ranked No. 11 in the PIAA 6A District 1 rankings to Methacton’s No. 6, so Wednesday’s win may provide a boost for the Rams heading down the stretch. Miley Maloney paced S-F with 14 points, while Methacton was led by Ava Wolf’s 14.

HS Girls: Conestoga 69, Lower Merion 58

In a game that could have made major waves for Lower Merion’s district playoff hopes, coming into the night ranked No. 25 in the PIAA 6A District 1 rankings, the Aces came up just short, cutting the lead to three in the final quarter but ultimately losing by double digits. For Lower Merion, Natalia Kasmer led the way with an impressive 28 points, while Myla Major added 10. As for the victors, Conestoga maintained its share of the three-team first-place in the Central League standings behind a team-high 25 from Ryann Jennings. 

HS Boys: Chester Charter 64, MaST Charter 52

Chester Charter picked up a major win coming down the home stretch of Bicentennial League play, moving to within a game of first-place MaST Charter and handing the Panthers their first conference loss of the season. Chester Charter was led by a trio of juniors — Maurice Barnes’ 25 points led all scorers, while Dom Miller added 14 points and Jamar Groomes chipped in 11.

HS Boys: North Penn 55, Pennridge 39

North Penn earned a much-needed victory for its district playoff hopes; the Knights entered Wednesday ranked No. 25 in the PIAA 6A District 1 rankings — 24 teams make the playoff — with just a razor-thin margin separating themselves from the cut line. Winning soundly against a Pennridge team that entered the night ranked No. 33. North Penn’s 12 unique scorers were led by Chris Kingkiner and Nolen Faust, who each had a dozen points.

HS Boys: Methacton 44, Spring-Ford 40

Methacton, which recently locked up a PAC Liberty title, gained another win in its pursuit of a top PIAA 6A District 1 seeding, winning close against a solid Spring-Ford team. The Warriors entered Wednesday at No. 1 in the district rankings, leading No. 2 Abington by a paper-thin margin. Spring-Ford ranked No. 10, so Wednesday’s win should help lift Methacton’s sails toward the finish line. The Warriors got a little bit from several different players, with John Leet serving as leading scorer with 10 points. 

Gabby Casey helped lead St. Joe's to an in-city Atlantic 10 win (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL).

D-I WBB: St. Joe’s 69, La Salle 65

In a battle of local squads fighting for position in the middle of the Atlantic 10 standings, St. Joe’s came out ahead, winning on the road by a close margin behind Gabby Casey’s 14 points. The contest was close throughout — neither team won a quarter by more than six points — but a 10-3 run in the early fourth quarter helped St. Joe’s gain late breathing room. Joan Quinn led the Explorers, who have lost six of their last seven, with 18 points. 

D-I MBB: Fordham 64, La Salle 58

Despite a solid first half, the Explorers came up short on the road, falling to a Fordham team that picked up its second conference win in the process. La Salle led by two at the half, and by three with six minutes to go, but didn’t score another point the rest of the way, as the Rams closed the game on a 9-0 run. Jerome Brewer Jr. led La Salle with 21 points, as well as seven rebounds, while shooting an impressive 8-of-11 from the field. 

D-I MBB: Charlotte 80, Temple 76 (OT)

An overtime home loss to Charlotte isn’t an inherently bad loss — the 49ers, like Temple entered the night in a five-way tie for second in the American standings — but it’s not one the Owls wanted to drop while in striking distance of the league’s top spot. Temple led by five with two minutes to go, but a Damoni Harrison buzzer-beater helped Charlotte force the extra frame. Temple got a combined 57 from Derrian Ford, Jordan Mason and Aiden Tobiason — who shot a combined 15-of-36 from the field — and had just five unique scorers on the night. 

D-I WBB: Rice 65, Temple 56

Temple hung around against the class of its conference on the road, never trailing by more than 12 and cutting their deficit to five in the last quarter, but it wasn’t enough to beat a Rice team that is now 8-0 in American play. Kaylah Turner (16) and Saniyah Craig (14) totaled 30 points between the two of them, but shot a combined 12-of-34 from the field. 

D-III MBB: York 93, Widener 67

York continued its impressive 2025-26 season with a road win at Widener, to improve to 15-3 with a 5-2 MAC Commonwealth mark. The Spartans have won four of their last five, this one coming in blowout fashion, behind a staggering 35 from Downingtown East alum Jayden Rowe on 21 field goal attempts. 

D-III WBB: Ursinus 78, Swarthmore 51

Ursinus rolled at home against Swarthmore to keep pace in the Centennial Conference standings, currently sitting at 6-3. The Bears had a balanced scoring effort; six players scored at least eight points, with Madison Smith’s 15 and Anna Chimento’s 14 leading the way. Catherine Chadwell paced Swarthmore with a game-high 24 points. 

D-III MBB: Ursinus 82, Swarthmore 73

Despite a late push by the garnet, Ursinus’ men completed the school’s Wednesday night sweep, outsourcing Swarthmore by eight in the second half to pull away. Swarthmore cut the Bears’ lead to two in the final minutes, but Ursinus spent the rest of the game on a 7-0 run to seal it. The Bears got 20 points from Nick Nocito to lead the way, while Zander Jimenez led the Garnet with 25.