Familiar foes compete for Central League boys title; Phoenixville makes first PAC final since 2007

The Central, Ches-Mont, Suburban One League, and Pioneer Athletic Conference held boys’ basketball semifinal games on Friday and Saturday.

Each of those leagues will name a champion on Tuesday. Here’s a roundup of which teams will be playing for a title and how they got there:

The Central League championship game will be a rematch between No. 1 seed Lower Merion and No. 2 Radnor on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) at Marple Newtown High School. The two teams have played each other in the league final the past three seasons.

Lower Merion booked its trip to a title appearance on Saturday afternoon with an 80-64 win over No. 5 Marple Newtown. Aces senior Adam Herrenkohl scored 13 of his team-high 24 points in the second quarter as Lower Merion jumped out to a 42-30 halftime lead. Marple Newtown senior PJ Esposito also scored 24 points.

Radnor, who won the program’s first league title in 50 years last season, downed No. 3 Conestoga, 55-50, a few hours later Saturday.

Raptors senior Elijah Sellers scored 18 and senior Kessy Cox had 15. For Conestoga, junior Ben Robinson scored 14 points, senior Westin Fryberger scored 13, and sophomore Rowan Miller had 11.

“Everyone overlooked us,” Cox said. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh they lost everyone,’ which I have to admit we lost great players [from last season] for sure. That’s nothing to hide. But they didn’t know about these kids last year who were working their [butts] off at practice, ready to step up into those roles.”

Ches-Mont National Division rivals Coatesville and West Chester Henderson will set up its third matchup of the season in Tuesday’s championship game (7:30 p.m.) at West Chester University.

Henderson needed a furious rally over American Division champion Unionville to secure its spot in a 61-58 overtime victory Saturday. Senior Nyle Ralph-Beyer, who’s committed to Sacred Heart, poured in 30 points, including 23 points after halftime and made the game-tying three-pointer to send the game to overtime.

“Had a little bit of a slow start in the first half but we just had to keep fighting and come out strong in the second half,” Ralph-Beyer said. “They’re a tough team, they’re well-coached, so we just had to come into this game focused and be ready to play, and we did.”

Coatesville had an easier time dispatching Sun Valley, 54-28, on Saturday. Senior Dior Kennedy had 17 points, sophomore Larry Brown had 14, and senior Marquis Peoples chipped in 12. The Raiders haven’t played in the league title game since 2020 and haven’t won the league in seven years.

The Pioneer Athletic Conference’s two division champions and top seeds, Spring-Ford and Phoenixville, will play for the PAC title on Tuesday (7 p.m.) at Perkiomen Valley High School.

Frontier Division winner Phoenixville cruised past division rival Pottstown, 80-56, on Friday to reach its first conference championship game since 2007, the last time the Phantoms won the PAC crown. Junior Deacon Baratta scored 23 points, senior Max Lebisky added 21, and sophomore Dawson Brown had 18 in the runaway victory on Saturday.

“Everyone just locked in,” Lebisky said. “There’s nothing else to worry about right now.”

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Reigning champion Spring-Ford took down its Liberty Division rival Perkiomen Valley, 57-50, for the third time this season in order to get back to the title game. Rams junior Jacob Nguyen bounced back from a slow start to finish with 23 points.

Spring-Ford defeated Phoenixville, 72-65, on Dec. 21 in the team’s only meeting this season.

“They’re playing really well,” Spring-Ford coach Joe Dempsey said of Phoenixville. “They’re big, they’re thick, they’re well-coached, they have all the pieces. We’ll have our hands full; we’ll be ready and hopefully we’ll see what happens.”

No. 6 Central Bucks West and No. 1 Upper Dublin will meet in Tuesday’s championship game (7:30 p.m.) at Holy Family University.

West advanced to its first championship appearance since 2018 with a 59-49 win over its rival, No. 2 Central Bucks East. Junior Roman Kulesa scored a team-high 14 points for the Bucks, while senior Jake Cummiskey scored 13 for the Patriots.

“Our whole plan is to share the ball, keep it moving, and get everyone involved,” Kulesa said Saturday. “When we execute that, we usually end up winning the game.”

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Upper Dublin, who lost in the league semifinals the past two seasons, rolled to a 58-41 win over Abington behind a well-rounded effort. Ryan Mulroy and Idris Rines both scored 12 points apiece. Junior Jake Manigault scored 10 for Abington.

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.