Sat. Pa. boys' and girls' roundup: 400th victory for Downer
Longtime Lower Merion head coach Gregg Downer picked up win No. 400 with a convincing 67-48 boys' basketball victory over McDonogh on Saturday night at Coatesville's Mid-Atlantic shootout.
Longtime Lower Merion head coach Gregg Downer picked up win No. 400 with a convincing 67-48 boys' basketball victory over McDonogh on Saturday night at Coatesville's Mid-Atlantic shootout.
It's another milestone to add to his already impressive career, as Downer has won two state titles with the Aces and finished Central League play with a losing record just twice in the last 21 seasons. His 1996 state title squad was led by senior guard Kobe Bryant. The second crown came 10 years later.
Against McDonogh, B.J. Johnson dropped in 23 points, including three treys, and the Aces raced off to an 18-point halftime lead.
Also at the Mid-Atlantic Shootout, Brendan Kilpatrick scored half of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter to help Malvern Prep roll over Phoenixville, 74-34, at Coatesville.
Kappa Tournament. Mustapha Traore's hustle wasn't enough to propel Prep Charter past visiting Appoquinimink as the Huskies fell, 61-52.
Traore recorded eight steals and eight rebounds while his teammate Byron Whiting added 20 points.
Cheltenham Coaches vs. Cancer. Jiere Morrisey scored all nine of his points in the second half as Abington held on to down Cheltenham, 46-45. Cheltenham missed a game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Mercersburg Tournament. Vincent Jackson was on from long range as the freshman led Academy of the New Church over Mercersburg Academy, 51-30. The guard nailed five of his eight three-point attempts to finish with a game-high 19 points.
City of Palms Tournament. Daiquan Walker and Constitution came up a bit short against one of the nation's top teams as the Generals fell to Prestonwood Christian (Texas), 70-63, in the Fort Myers, Fla. tourney.
Walked dropped in 18 points and added six assists. Prestonwood is ranked No. 42 in the nation by ESPNHS.com and features highly recruited junior power forward Julius Randle. He scored 16 in the win.
Dave Mercer Invitational. Eric Fanning poured in 22 points and the Perkiomen School had little trouble turning away Chestnut Hill, 56-34, at the Hill School. Nizar Kapic aided the effort by dropping 11 of his 14 points in the second half, including three threes.
Abington Friends Coaches vs. Cancer. Montana Mayfield found Jordan Greene for a go-ahead layup with 10 seconds left and Abington Friends held on to top New Garden Friends (N.C.), 59-56, in the championship game.
Juwan Milliner grabbed seven rebounds to go along with his 23 points as Sankofa Freedom knocked off Esperanza, 53-41.
Bicentennial League.Jake Cohen's balanced scoring effort helped guide Lower Moreland to a 42-37 win at Independence Division foe Devon Prep. Cohen's 15 points were spread out almost evenly across the four quarters.
Nonleague. Steve Vasturia finished four points shy of the school's all-time single-game points record as St. Joseph's Prep easily disposed of visiting Roxborough, 69-56.
The junior guard finished with a career-high 41 points. Joe Ryan set the school record with 45 points in 1955.
Guard Miles Overton chipped in with seven assists and did not make a turnover.
With a strong fourth quarter, Roman Catholic pulled away from Neshaminy, 49-44. The Cahillites entered the period tied at 36 before outscoring the hosts 13-8. Britton Lee grabbed six rebounds and Shep Garner dished out four assists.
Darrius Wallace and Shaquior Cooper both dropped in 12 points to lead host Olney past Randolph, 58-53. Eugene Lett had a game-high 35 points for Randolph.
Darryl Bagwell nailed four three-pointers in the first half and finished with a team-high 23 points as Northeast cruised past visiting GAMP, 51-42. As a team the Vikings hit six three's as a team in the first half.
Darryn Harden's double-double effort helped give Freire Charter an easy double-digit win over visiting International Christian, 67-47.
Harden finished with a game-high 22 points and added 10 rebounds.
After a close first quarter, Franklin Towne Charter quickly turned the game into a rout as it trounced host Friends Select, 60-43.
The Coyotes finished the opening quarter clinging to a three-point lead and entered halftime with a 22-point advantage. Angel Lazu led all scorers with 18-points.Tony Calamaro knocked down a pair of three's to kick-start a 22-point third quarter for host Downingtown West as the Whippets rolled over Collegium Charter, 62-34.
Jeff Ainsley's team-high 17 points were enough for Holy Ghost Prep to win at Oxford, 51-42. The Firebirds stayed undefeated, at 5-0, with the win.
Sharif Saunders and Amid McGill combined for 13 points in the fourth quarter to help Ben Franklin slip past visiting Strawberry Mansion, 63-60. Saunders finished with a team-high 19 points.
Shaun Church's 27 points helped pace Ridley to an easy 66-56 win over visiting Glen Mills. Raheem Harvey recorded an impressive 18 rebounds and four blocks in the loss.
Brian Hennessey knocked down a free throw with 5 seconds left in regulation to lift Father Judge over host Redlands, 57-56. He finished with a game-high 23 points, including 12 in the first quarter.
Sekou Kaba knocked down a trio of three's to help host George School knock off Morrisville, 44-39.
Girls' Basketball
Priya Robinson's six-foot jumper with 20 seconds left broke a late tie and Abington Friends held on to down visiting Little Flower, 34-31, in the consolation game of the Kangaroos' Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament.
Bianca Adams scored a game-high 18 points and Alexa Bowman grabbed eight rebounds to lead the hosts.
KSA Tournament. Sammy Caliguri scored a game-high 17 points, but Avon Grove fell to St. Thomas (Ontario), 47-39, in the final of the Orlando tournament. Caliguri hit three three-pointers and was named the team's MVP for the tournament.
Crescent Bank Invitational. Archbishop Carroll spread out its attack and it paid dividends as the Patriots raced past Goose Creek (S.C.), 59-40, in the Myrtle Beach tournament. Sarah Curran and Olivia DeRogatis both grabbed five rebounds and Kristie Costantino and Meghan Creighton both dished out five assists.
Make-A-Wish Classic. Kalene Coffey scored all of Archbishop Ryan's 17 points in the first quarter and the Ragdolls held on to top Penn Charter, 44-43, at Germantown Academy.
Bicentennial League. With a late rush, New Hope-Solebury turned away Independence foe Lower Moreland, 38-31. Elise Kalinovich finished with a game-high 20 points to help seal the win. Lower Moreland was within four points late in regulation, before the Lions shut the door.
Nonleague. Brianna Macauley scored eight of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as Academy Park rallied to top host Harriton, 56-54.
Jordan Matthews added 20 points as the Knights picked up their first win.
Alison Lewis turned in a 13-point performance in the first half as Unionville raced out a lead before knocking off host Interboro, 48-43.
Lewis finished with a game-high 17 points. Nicole Hallinan led Interboro on the defensive end with five steals.
Regan Gallagher grabbed eight rebounds, Carly Monzo hauled in nine and Mount St. Joseph rocked host Delco Christian, 49-16.
Jaclyn Gantz's 13 points in the first half triggered Haverford High's easy 66-29 win over visiting W.C. Henderson.
Behind Kelsey Watson's nine rebounds and 10 points, host Methacton easily turned away Neumann-Goretti, 46-29.
Adaja Franklin grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked five shots to lead West Chester Rustin over visiting Garnet Valley, 37-33. The 6-foot-2 sophomore center grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked five shots to help secure the win.
Jackie McCarron grabbed 10 rebounds, Shalina Miller dropped 20 points and host Lansdale Catholic easily rolled over St. Basil, 46-20.
Niemah Solomon-McCloud hit four late free throws to help lift Math, Civics & Sciences to a 39-38 win at Ben Franklin.
Indoor Track and Field
By a razor-thin margin, Upper Moreland's Drew Magaha bettered the meet record in the 800-meter race at the boys' TFCAGP Division II meet at Lehigh University. Magaha finished in 1:54.20, 3-hundredths seconds better than the 2003 mark set by Mark Korich of Springfield (Montco).
The margin between Magaha and his current competition wasn't nearly as close, as the nearest finisher came in more than 6 second later.
In the Division I meet, Daquan Cooker of Perkiomen Valley finished the 60 meters in 7.22 seconds for first place.
On Friday night, in the DVGTCA girls meet at Lehigh, Zakiyyah Richardson of Pennsbury sprinted to first place in the 60 meters with a finish of 8.02 seconds. She then led the Falcons' first place finish in the 4x400 meter relay.
Wrestling
Spring-Ford cruised through five matches on its way to the team championship at the Abington Duals tournament.
The Rams (6-0) reeled off a 39-19 win over Pennsbury, a 53-16 verdict over Father Judge, a 44-19 win over Bensalem, a 46-23 triumph over Upper Darby and a 69-3 victory over Northeast.
Five Rams scored five wins apiece, led by Chase Brown (113 pounds), Tyler McGuigan (170) and Josh Boyer (220) with four pins and a decision each, while Jason Dombrosky notched four falls and a technical fall at 138, and Sean Hennessey had three decisions, a pin and a technical fall at 120.
West Chester East Invitational. Great Valley's Raymond Colon won his four matches at 113 pounds, and Matthew DiSanto matched that effort at 152 at West Chester East. Colon had a pin, a technical fall and two decisions, while DiSanto registered two pins and two decisions.