The Academy of the New Church gained double revenge in the championship game held at Haverford College on Friday, February 16th. Abington had beaten them in last year's championship game and again during the regular season this year. The Lions thought it was time for a change. They jumped out to a 20-5 advantage by the end of the first quarter and withstood several Abington runs to win 54-46 and take back the title they last won in 2005. Abington pulled to within 7 points just before halftime and to within 6 points (48-42) midway through the final period. But they could get no closer. Seven players did the bulk of the scoring for the two teams. The winners were paced by Shannon Givens and Khalif Foster with 18 points each. Sam Givens added 15 to the cause. Abington also had balanced scoring, getting 12 points from Brandon Williams, 11 from Jeremy Hurst, 10 from Rob Keefer and 9 from Bryan Cohen.

For ANC this was their third title, with the first coming in 1998 (51-50 over Moorestown). Abington has played in 20 of the 26 championship games in the history of the league and is now 15-5 in title contests.

ANC had an easier time getting to the finals than Abington. The semifinals were played on Tuesday, February 13th. Host ANC pulled away from a 6 point halftime advantage to run away from Friends' Central 65-36. Leading 22-16 at intermission, the Lions outscored the Phoenix 43-20 in the second half. Kenny Ross led four Lions players in double figures with 16 points. Foster and Shannon Givens each had 13 and brother Sam added 11 for the winners. Arthur Bush and Quaran Johnson each had 12 for the visitors. In the other semifinal, number one seed Abington needed a 22-9 run in the fourth quarter to down upset-minded Germantown 44-34. The Tigers held the high-scoring 'roos to 22 points through the first three quarters, while edging to a 3 point lead. The combination of Tiger foul trouble and Abington steals and made free throws (12 for 15) turned the tide for the hosts in the final stanza. Williams led the winners with 16 points, while Cohen added 13. Marek Loder topped the Tigers with 13 and David Gould chipped in with 12.

Play in the inaugural Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament begins on Tuesday, February 20th with 7 league teams participating. There are likely to be some rematches of last week's action. Stay tuned.

FSL BASKETBALL NEWSLETTER

VOLUME XXIV NO. 6 February 10, 2007

PLAYOFF POSITIONS SET: TIGERS CLINCH FOURTH PLACE

On Tuesday, February 6th Abington closed out a perfect regular league season with a 72-22 home win over Friends Select. The 'roos were paced by Rob Keefer with 29 points. Mike Walther had 13 and Brandon Williams 11 for the winners. Alex Zimmerman paced Select with 8 points. Also on the 6th ANC traveled to Shipley and took home their 7th regular season win by the score of 83 - 57. The Lions had four double digit scorers, led by Sam Givens with 20. Brother Shannon had 17, while Khalif Foster added 19 and Kenny Ross 13. Drew Tremblay led the Gators with 18 (4 threes). Charles Dalrymple added 11 and Ethan Magill had 10

On Wednesday, February 7th Friends' Central clinched third place with an 81-49 win over Westtown. The Phoenix won every quarter and were led by Quaran Johnson with 42 points, the highest single game in the league this year. Kevin Smith added 11 for the hosts, while Lou Fox led the Quakers with 26 and Chris Edmonds netted 10. Also on the 7th Germantown traveled to George School to play for the final playoff spot. The Tigers used a 17-6 4th quarter run to come from behind and beat the Cougars 38-33, clinching 4th place with a 5-3 record. Marek Loder led the winners with 13 and Wes Bill added 10. Kenneth Anyanwu and Jose D'Oleo each had 11 for the hosts.

On Friday, February 9th Friends' Central and Friends Select closed out the regular season at the Falcon dome. The Phoenix jumped out to a 17-1 first quarter advantage and coasted home from there, finishing at 61-44. Johnson led the winners with 16, while Arthur Bush added 12 and Cyleb Burton had 10. Zach Kowalski netted 14 for the hosts and Bruce Jackson had 12.

Semifinal games will be played on Tuesday, February 13th. ANC will host Friends' Central at 4:00 and Abington will host Germantown at 5:30 as the second game of an AFS-GFS doubleheader. The girls' game will be at 4:00. The championship game will be played at Haverford College on Friday, February 16th at 8:00 pm. The girls' championship game will precede it at 6:00 pm.

FSL BASKETBALL NEWSLETTER

VOLUME XXIV NO. 5 February 5, 2007

ABINGTON AND ANC CLINCH 1ST AND 2ND PLACE

Four games were played on Tuesday, January 30th . Host Germantown expanded a 20-11 halftime lead into a 55-28 win over Moorestown. Marek Loder led the Tigers with 21 points and Mike Young paced the Foxes with 12. The visiting Kangaroos of Abington placed 5 players in double figures in a 69-26 win at Westtown. Brandon Williams had 14 (including his 1000th career point), Bryan Cohen and Mike Walther each had 12, Rob Keefer 11 and Jeremy Hurst had 10 for the winners. Isaiah Mendoza led Westtown with 6. Sam Givens and Khalif Foster each had 22 for Academy of the New Church in a 77-40 road win at Friends Select. Kenny Ross added 10 for the Lions, while Zach Kowalski netted 16 for the Falcons. Host Friends' Central pulled away from a 7-point halftime lead versus Shipley to run away 69-37, holding the Gators to 16 2nd half points. Quaran Johnson led the Phoenix with 22 points, while Arthur Bush added 12. David Balderston paced the hosts with 18 points and Charlie Dalrymple contributed 15.

Two games were played on Thursday, February 1st. George School traveled to Moorestown and took home a 58-55 win. After opening up a 30-19 halftime lead, the Cougars held off the Foxes in the second half to secure the three point win. Kenneth Anyanwu and Emmanuel Tapia each had 14 for the winners, while Jose D'Oleo contributed 10. Santos Gonzales had a game-high 23 points and Mike Young added 21 for the hosts. ANC traveled to Westtown and prevailed 76-46. Ross led the way for the visitors with 19 points. Foster added 16 and Sam Givens 15 to the winning cause.

Two games were also played on Friday, February 2nd. Visiting Shipley opened up a 34-23 lead after three quarters and then held on as host Friends Select mounted a fourth quarter comeback which fell just short. The Gators won 42-38. Balderston led the winners with 16 points, while Bruce Jackson matched him with 16 for the Falcons. Abington jumped out to a 20-10 lead after one period at Friends' Central and coasted to a 72-40 win over he Phoenix. Cohen netted a game-high 23 points for the 'roos, while Keefer added 17, Williams 11 and Hurst 10. Johnson paced he hosts with 12 points.

The final game of the week was played on Saturday, February 3rd when Moorestown visited Friends Select. The Foxes jumped out to a 20-2 1st quarter lead and then had to hold on as Select stormed back, closing to within 3 points, 52-49, at the final buzzer. Gonzales again led the visitors with 24 points, while Young added 10. Alex Zimmerman topped the Falcons scoring with 19.

FSL BASKETBALL NEWSLETTER

VOLUME XXIV NO. 4 January 29, 2007

ABINGTON TOPS ANC 51-44 TO MOVE INTO FIRST PLACE

George School eased away from a 7-point half time lead and beat host Shipley 48-38 on Tuesday, January 23rd. Kenneth Anyanwu led the Cougars with 23 points and Emanuel Tapia added 12. David Balderston paced the Gators with 11 points.

In a rematch of the past two years' championship games, visiting Abington came back from a 7 point halftime deficit and held high scoring ANC to just 14 points in the second half on the way to a 51-44 win on Wednesday, January 24th. Rob Keefer had 16 for Abington, while Brandon Williams contributed 13 and Bryan Cohen 10. Khalif Foster and Sam Givens each had 13 points for the Lions.

Two games were played on Friday, January 26th. Visiting Moorestown claimed their first league win with a 59-53 decision at Westtown. Santos Gonzales led the Foxes with 22 points as they opened up a 5 point first quarter advantage then won the second and fourth quarters by a single point, while losing the third frame by the same margin. Mike Young had 15 and Jake Montgomery 11 for the winners. Chris Edmonds and Lou Fox each had 17 for Westtown, while Josh Harris added 11. Abington remained unbeaten in league play with a 64-44 win at George School. The 'roos built a 38-22 halftime advantage and coasted home from there. Keefer had 23, Cohen 17 and Williams 10 for the winners. Anyanwu again netted 23 and Tapia 11 for the hosts.

Marek Loder's layup at the buzzer gave Germantown a 34-32 win at Shipley on Saturday, January 27th. After an early lead in the first quarter, the Tigers trailed for the rest of the game until knotting the score in the final minute of play. Shipley's tight zone defense held the visitors to 12 points in the first half, while GFS ratcheted up its pressure defense in the second half to hold the Gators to 14 points, only three in the final period. Loder paced the Tigers with 14 points while Balderston had a game high 17 for the hosts.

Abington hosted Germantown on Tuesday, January 9th and rode a near perfect 2nd half at the charity stripe to a 52-41 win. The Tigers led by one point after the first period, while the hosts managed a 2 point advantage both at half time and after 3 quarters. In the final stanza the 'roos pulled away in part by sinking all 11 of their free throws. For the second half they were 16 for 17 from the line. Overall Abington shot 20 for 24 from the line, while GFS was 10 of 16. Brandon Williams led the way for the hosts with 20 points (8 for 9 from the line, 7/7 in the fourth quarter). Mike Walther added 14 (also 8 for 9 from the line) and Bryan Cohen had 10. David Gould paced Germantown with 14 points while Marek Loder scored 12.

Also on 1/9 ANC cruised at George School by a score of 74-42. The Lions jumped out 22-9 after one quarter and led 66-27 going into the final 8 minutes. The winners had four players in double figures led by Khalif Foster with 19. Sam Givens had 16, Kenny Ross 12 and Shannon Givens 11. Kenneth Anyanwu led the Cougars with 10 points.

ANC made it two league wins in two days with a 67-48 home court victory over Friends' Central on Wednesday, January 10th. The Lions opened with a 20-8 first quarter advantage, before letting the Phoenix back to within 5 points at the half. Third and fourth quarters of 16-7 and 21-16 iced the win. Foster again led the scoring with 21 points, while Sam Givens added 18 and Travis Heinrichs-Norman contributed 11. Quaran Johnson led the visitors with 13 points and Arthur Bush had 10.

ANC capped their week on Friday, 1/12 with a near-perfect first half at Germantown bringing the Lions a 73-50 win. The visitors jumped out to a 25-4 first quarter advantage and stretched the lead 47-21 at the half, before the Tigers were able to bring some competitiveness to the second half. Foster had a game-high 24 points including 4 threes and 4-4 from the line. Shannon Givens had 17 (8-9 from the line) and brother Sam added 16. Gould and Omari Phillip led the Tigers with 14 points apiece.

Also on the 12th host Friends' Central used a 17-7 fourth quarter spurt to pull away from George School for a 45-32 win. Cyleb Burton led the Phoenix with 13 points while Kyle Scott with 12 and Emmanuel Tapia with 11 paced the Cougars.

Abington upped its league record to 3-0 with an 80-35 win at Moorestown. After a 27-9 first quarter the 'roos never looked back. The winners placed 10 players in the scoring column led by Rob Keefer with 19. Walther added 14, Williams 13 and Cohen 12. Santos Gonzales led the Foxes with 21.

Abington hosted Shipley on Wednesday, January 3rd and took advantage of a 35-18 spread over the middle two periods to pull away to a 67-44 win. The 'roos were paced by Mike Walther with 22 points (9 FGs and 4-4 from the line), Bryan Cohen with 15 and Rob Keefer with 13. Charlie Dalrymple led the Gators with 12 points (3 threes), while David Balderston added 11.

On Friday, January 5th Shipley traveled to Moorestown and evened their league record with a 58-54 win over the Foxes. The visitors used an 18-10 second quarter surge to overcome a 5 point deficit after one period and then held on to the slim advantage through the second half. The winners had balanced scoring with 13 from Balderston and 12 each from Aaron Summers and Monty Leaks. All but one of Moorestown's points came from the trio of Santos Gonzales (24), Mike Young (17) and Rashabh Thosani (12). Gonzales drained 6 threes.

Also on the 5th Germantown visited Westtown and came home with a 40-25 victory. The Tigers jumped out to a 17-10 first quarter lead and then held the Quakers to only 15 points through the final three periods. Omari Phillip, Rasheed Stewart and Marek Loder each had 10 points to lead the visitors, while Lou Fox paced the hosts with a game-high 13 points.

Early season kudos go to GFS, AFS and ANC. The Tigers, who started last year 0-12 have turned things around big time this year, opening at 13-1, holding their opponents to under 34 points per game, and winning the Germantown Community Tournament and the Jenkintown Tournament. Abington won the Springford Tournament while ANC garnered the title at the Mercersburg Tournament. ANC, ranked 9th in the area has only lost to #1 Neumann-Goretti. Abington at 11-5 has lost to 3 top-10 teams (Cardinal Dougherty, North Catholic and St. Joe's Prep) and two other games in overtime.

FSL Boys' Basketball Page

FSL Home Page