Perkiomen School boys to face Phelps School; Westtown and Friends’ Central girls meet in PAISAA final

The PAISAA held its boys’ and girls’ basketball semifinals on Friday.

The top seeds in both brackets advanced to the championship game, which will be played on March 3 at St. Joseph’s Hagan Arena.

Defending champions Perkiomen School boys will play Phelps School (5 p.m.). Then, Westtown and Friends’ Central will meet in the girls game.

Here’s how the semifinal games panned out:

Delaware-bound Macon Emory’s game-tying foul shots with 12.8 seconds left gave Perkiomen School the extra time it needed against No. 11 Westtown to win, 71-64, in overtime, earning head coach Tom Baudinet’s squad a berth in its third straight independent school title game.

The Panthers trailed by five with two minutes remaining before junior KJ Cochran, a transfer from West Chester East, hit a three to close the gap to two with 1:07 left before Emory’s free throws.

Cochran led Perkiomen with 19 points. Junior wing Hayden Johns scored 14 points, and senior Torin Bosch added 12.

Senior Malik Rasul, who’s committed to Lafayette, led Westtown with 21 points. Juniors Cam Wallace (17) and Jayden Forsythe (12) also carried the load.

Phelps School ended Academy of the New Church’s season with a 75-60 win Friday night.

Junior Will Riley finished with a game-high 25 points, while postgraduate Jacob Hudson had 24 points and junior Justin Houser added 20.

After a semifinal loss last season, Phelps will make its first PAISAA title game appearance since 2015, the last time it won the championship.

“It’s crazy, honestly,” Houser said. “We’ve gotten so much better in the last year, and it’s really starting to show in the playoffs. Last year, we felt that we were the underdogs. Now, we think we’re the top of the top. We’re going out there every game to beat them. They’re coming after us now.”

Friends Schools league champion Academy of the New Church, who played in its first PAISAA semifinal game since 2012, were led by senior Bahsil Laster, who finished with 19 points. Sophomore guard Tobe Nwobu added 11.

On a milestone night, Friends’ Central junior Logyn Greer scored a pair of baskets she’ll remember.

After recording her 1,000th career point on the final basket of the first half, Greer’s go-ahead bucket with 1:40 left secured No. 2 Friends’ Central’s 54-49 win over No. 3 Germantown Academy.

FCS junior guard Nal’la Bennett had 15 points, and Greer added 14. The Phoenix never led in the game until Greer’s buckey.

Junior Jess Kolecki and senior Isabella Casey both tallied 13 apiece for the Patriots. Senior Jess Aponik chipped in 12.

“We knew we weren’t losing this game,” Bennett said. “We just had to pick up the defensive intensity and close out on the shooters and make them drive.”

The two-time defending PAISAA champions handed Notre Dame a 66-41 loss, booking Westtown a third straight title game appearance.

Sophomore Atlee Vanesko dropped 17 points, and Jordyn Palmer chipped in 16 for the Moose, who defeated their championship game opponent Friends’ Central in the Friends Schools League title game on Feb. 9.

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.