City of Basketball Love

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)
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(Ed. Note: All games scheduled for Tuesday have been moved to Thursday evening due to the impending snowstorm.)

As has been the case all season long for the Delaware Valley Charter Warriors, defense will be the key in their next contest in the PIAA 3A state tournament. 

After forcing 35 turnovers and topping Loyalsock Township by a score of 63-39 on Friday night, the Warriors next opponent will be the Shamrocks of Trinity High School, whom they will take on Thursday night at Manheim Township High School at 6:00 PM. 

Turning in the same level of defensive performance as it did against Loyalsock won’t be as easy this time around for Del-Val (21-7), as Trinity (23-3) boasts a potent offensive attack led by a trio of experienced players.

Senior guard Timmy Edwards, who cashed in for 21 points in Trinity’s first round win over Strawberry Mansion, spearheads the attack as he averages 18.8 points per contest this season.

Aiding Edwards is senior guard Austin Gilbertson, who averages 14.6 points per game and junior big man Sean Good, who averaged 8.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest.

“All year we’ve been a pretty good defensive team,” Del-Val head coach James Lewis said. “We’ll be fine going into the game, we both have really good teams. The biggest thing for us is if we defend, it’ll give us a good chance of winning.”

While Del-Val boasts a stellar guard front of their own that consists of junior guard Antwuan Butler and senior guard Makhi Morris, the Warriors’ inside presence, 6-foot-7 big man Dion Harris, will have his hands full with Trinity’s Good, who stands 6-foot-11. 

But this challenge is nothing new for Harris, as he has gone up against players bigger than him all season long and has thrived in the role. 

“We’ve played against Neumann-Goretti who has two 6-9 guys. Imhotep has a big front line, King has a big front line so Dion is familiar at 6-7, playing against bigger guys,” Lewis said.  “Their 6-11 guy is a really, really good player but we’re going to be really well prepared and they’re going to be well prepared but if we take care of things on the defensive end and rebound, we should be in a good position.”

While the entire team is a huge part of Delaware Valley’s defensive front, who is 21-0 when holding opponents under 60 points and 0-7 when opponents reach the 60-point plateau, their offensive attack is led by Butler and Morris.

Butler, a 6-foot guard who scored 19 points in the win over Loyalsock, and Morris, who added in another 15 in that contest, have led Del-Val’s offense for the entirety of this season and Lewis expects the same from his lethal 1-2 punch in Tuesday’s contest. 

“Antwuan and Makhi have been my leaders throughout the year. I expect them to come and compete on Tuesday against a really good Trinity basketball team,” Lewis said of his standout guards. “Those guys have been playing well all year and I expect them to play well on Tuesday.”

Not all of Del-Val’s offense will come from the duo, though, as Del-Val has been seeing noticeable contributions from their role players as the season has progressed. 

“We have a really good, young, up and coming player in Amin Dandridge,” Lewis said. “We have some good players coming off the bench, one is Nasir Thomas, who’s playing pretty well right now so the plan is always to have a balanced attack.”

At the end of the day though, Del-Val’s gameplan will be focused on the defensive end, just as it has been all year and has led them to a great amount of success. 

“The biggest way we’re going to try to focus on winning is on the defensive end,” Lewis said. “I think we have enough to compete and it should be a pretty good game up there. I think if we take care of business on the defensive end, we should be fine.”

While Tuesday’s contest looms large for Del-Val, a defensive attack as impressive as the one the Warriors bring to the floor night in and night out is what the Warriors will be riding for as long as their season continues. 

“We would love for Trinity to have 35 turnovers but I’m not sure how that’s going to work out,” Lewis said. “We’re going to come in and play how we’ve been playing all year on the defensive end and see how far it will take us."

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Here’s a look at the rest of Wednesday night’s 1A/3A action involving local squads:

1A: (1-1) Girard College vs. (4-3) Lourdes Regional
6:30 PM, Hamburg Area HS
After disposing of West Shore Christian by a score of 73-30 on Friday night, Girard’s two-headed monster of 6-foot-7 freshman forward Mikeal Jones and senior guard Daiquan Copeland will meet a balanced Lourdes Regional squad. Fresh off a 60-46 win over Nativity BVM, Lourdes will go into battle with five players who average at least six points per contest in Thomas Schultz (21.2), C.J Reichard (9.7), Ty Klembara (9.5), Larry Czeponis (7.9) and Michael Padula (6.0).

1A: (1-2) Faith Christian vs. (12-1) Sankofa Freedom
6:30 PM, Cheltenham HS
Just as it did in its 58-51 win over Lancaster County Christian, Faith Christian will rely on the efforts of senior forward Zeke Snowden, who poured in 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the win, to keep its postseason run alive. Snowden will be countered by Sankofa’s balanced attack, which saw 11 players reach the scoring column in Friday’s 60-40 disposal of High Point. 

3A: (12-1) Neumann-Goretti vs. (2-1) Holy Redeemer
6:30 PM, Liberty HS
This one is a battle of two teams looking for their first real test in state play as neither squad had much trouble disposing of their first round opponent. Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds and Noah Warren added 15 for Neumann-Goretti in its 71-48 first-round triumph over York Catholic while Collin Cook led Holy Redeemer with 15 points in its 64-42 win over World Communications. 

3A: (1-1) Valley Forge vs. (2-2) Mid-Valley
8:00 PM, Liberty HS
With the 6-foot-10 Abraham Deng being sidelined due to an injured wrist in Friday’s 67-61 win over Parkway Center City and Tuesday’s status being uncertain for the Division I target, Valley Forge will rely heavily on the efforts of Devin Hill, Arion Lewis, Myles Bunyon and Marcus Ntwari to pick up the slack. In Mid-Valley’s 62-41 win over Southern Columbia on Friday night, the Spartans were led by Brendan Davies (14 points), Brad Kalinowski (13 points), R.J. Gouldsbury (12 points) and Noah Tanner (11 points).