Weekly Digest January 15th-21st
Going forward I will be posting twice a week. One being a look ahead at the week and the other being a recap/standout performances from that week!
Jumping in…
Dead center in the middle of league play, this week also features a bunch of non-league action.
Some non-league matchups include:
Mon 1/15:
Chichester @ Springfield
St. Joe's Prep vs Morris Catholic (NJ) @ West Chester U
Tuesday 1/16:
Radnor @ Holy Ghost Prep
Wednesday 1/17:
Executive Charter @ Conwell Egan
Saturday 1/20:
Penn Charter @ Cristo Rey
Notable League Games this Week:
Tuesday 1/16: Malvern Prep @ Penn Charter
Every Inter-Ac game has a championship atmosphere. With both teams splitting the league crown in the past two years and sporting identical 1-1 records, this game should be a war!
Players to Watch:
Malvern Preps senior guard Ryan Williams - 22.3 PPG
Penn Charters junior guard Jake West - 16.6 PPG
Thursday 1/18: Lower Merion @ Radnor
Radnor and Lower Merion have met in the last two Central League Championships, and they are both top contenders again. With different-looking rosters for both sides, I'm excited to see how this one plays out!
Players to watch :
Radnor Senior Kessy Cox is Villanova Lax commit and is also their leading scorer with 11.4 PPG in CAL play.
Lower Merion senior guard Owen McCabe - 17.5 PPG in CAL play
Friday 1/19: Archbishop Wood @ St. Joe's Prep
The matchup at 17th & Girard will be a sell-out on Friday night. Division 1 guards will be all over the floor. St. Joe's Prep aims to maintain their great start, while Archbishop Wood seeks to get back in a groove after taking early lumps against Roman & Neumann Goretti.
Players to watch :
Woods Senior Jalil Bethea is EPSN’s #7 player in the country and a U Miami commit averaging 21.6 PPG but Drexel commit Josh Reed is also right up there with 19.9 PPG.
St. Joes Prep junior Jaron McKie is their leading scorer with 16.7 PPG but SJP has 3 others who also average double figures: Olin Chamberlain (12.8) , Jordan Ellerbee (13.6) and Jalen Harper (10.1)
Check out the full schedule of games HERE
Roughly halfway through the season, here are some of my thoughts:
In all honesty, my focus on Inter-Ac basketball was limited in the past unless they were playing a Catholic league team. Now that I am more engaged, I see I have been missing out. I’ve enjoyed watching all of the teams but I really like Springside Chestnut Hill Academy's team! It has nothing to do with their talent level or X’s and O’s; it's just their attitude and how hard they play. They’re fun to watch!
I have to give props to Radnor & first year Coach Tim Smallwood. I expected Radnor to be at the bottom of the league. After going 29-1, a deep state playoff run, District 1 5A title, and Central League title, they graduated almost all of their scoring and coach stepped down. Dealing with all that and Radnor is still ready to go in year one of the new era. They are in a good position to make the CAL Playoffs to defend their title, and they have a real chance to defend their District 1 5A title. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a rematch between them and Unionville.
In the PCL, I think there are at least five legit teams that can win a title this year. Despite being wide open and deep as the league is, it’s the same narrative as it’s been seemingly my whole lifetime: Roman Catholic and Neumann Goretti and then everyone else, for right now at least.
Thank you for reading, and make sure you take the time to reflect today on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr!
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”