Boys Basketball: Delco Super 7, Dec. 6

Before we lunge headlong into the 2019-20 boys basketball season, let’s cast one more over-the-shoulder glance at the basketball season that was. The All-Delco team last spring didn’t just yield three Division I players (plus one from the second team) and a total of eight seniors among the top two teams playing in college. It yielded some truly outstanding players, including three of the top 20 scorers in Delco history – if you factor just the three seasons that Player of the Year Christian Ray spent at Haverford School and Isaiah Wong’s two seasons at Notre Dame (N.J.).

More than mere nostalgia, those absences inform the first ranking of the new season. Each elite scorers’ accomplishments were accompanied by team success. Wong powered Bonner-Prendergast to the PIAA Class 4A final. Sun Valley’s Vinny DeAngelo helped bring a District 1 Class 5A title to Aston. Ray’s Fords went 28-0 and won Inter-Ac and PAISAA titles.

That achievement leaves the programs trying to figure out a new way forward. At best, that path is less than clear.

Here’s how I see the hierarchy to start the season:

1. Archbishop Carroll

In terms of pure talent, the Patriots have the edge. I can’t recall a team this long in high school. Senior Tairi Ketner is 6-6. Junior Anquan Hill is a lanky 6-8. Guard John Camden is 6-7, and there’s 6-6 and 6-7 waiting on the bench. Camden is a perimeter player, and Hill is a stretch 4 at the next level. Injuries limited Camden, a Westtown transfer, to only seven games last year, and the floor spacing didn’t get solved until the postseason. Guard play is a question – beyond Camden, only Amiri Stewart has a lot of high school experience – but the Patriots represent matchup problems for just about any team.

2. Chester

The big question mark is Karell Watkins, who was suspended during last postseason after a generally terrific season in which he scored 19.9 points per game. If those issues are in the past, then Chester has the makings of a deep team. Akeem Taylor flourished in the playoffs last year, the kind of slashing, do-everything guard that Chester has produced for decades (and if he can add a credible 3-point threat, watch out). Rahmee Gilbert and Fareed Burton have to shoulder the responsibility at the point left by Michael Smith’s graduation, and Zahmir Carroll is a great post defender whose offensive game took big strides last year. That’s enough veteran cover while young players behind get up to varsity speed.

3. Bonner-Prendergast

It’s worth repeating: Wong was so, so good in his two years at Bonner. Replacing his scoring and ability to command defenses’ attention is no small feat. Bonner has plenty of talent that excelled in complementary roles, but is either Tyreese Watson, Malik Edwards or Donovan Rodriguez going to take the step to be an elite scorer? Time will tell.

4. Haverford School

Everything I wrote about Wong, it applies to Ray, too. And both did it within a team concept, always adding to the whole rather than playing hero ball and subtracting. It was truly remarkable. Replacing that won’t be easy for the Fords. They’re behind Bonner, though, for one reason. While they have more of that potential feature scoring – Jameel Brown can be the guy as a sophomore, and Tyler Seward has more to give – they also have more to replace than just Ray, with four starters gone. It’s a tall task.

5. Cardinal O’Hara

Here’s a stat: Among the 23 teams in Delco, there are 19 players who averaged double-figures scoring last year returning. Three are on O’Hara: Anthony Purnell, Adrian Irving and Tre Dinkins. The Lions, in the second season under Ryan Nemetz, had no meaningful departures. They led Delco at 7.0 made 3-pointers per game, with six players (again, all back) at more than 10 makes beyond the arc. It’s a modern, position-less game the Lions play, and they have the pieces to take a big jump.

6. Garnet Valley

Speaking of returning scorers – Chester has two back (Taylor and Watkins), as do the next two teams. Though the Jags have to replacing leading scorer Greg Vlassopoulos, Neel Beniwal averaged 14.1 ppg last year and Carl Schaller added 12.0 for a 14-win team. The Jags had a tendency last year to be too dependent on jump shots, so more diversity in their attack this year would be helpful.

7. Radnor

The Raiders and Delco Christian join O’Hara as the only teams with their top two scorers back from last year. Lewis Robinson look on a big role as a sophomore and averaged 14.1 ppg. His ability to score in different ways accentuates the drive-and-kick game to the passel of shooters that will surely rise to fill out the Raiders’ ranks. Jack D’Entremont asserted himself last year, and though he’s a perimeter player, he qualifies as height in the Central League. A repeat districts appearance is definitely on the radar.

Honorable mention: Episcopal Academy (Alex Capitano is back and healthy. We’ll see how well he elevates the team around him); Penncrest (Aidan Carroll and Marquis Tomlin were great complementary pieces. They’ll need to be more than that without Malcolm Williams and Matt Arbogast); Haverford (John Seidman had a breakout year, averaging 14.6 ppg. That goes a long way in a system like the Fords’, which prizes defense and game management); Ridley (Malachi Williams has the chance to be the featured scorer this year, something I’ve been waiting for since I saw him start as a sophomore); Sun Valley (maybe this is a reputational choice, since the Vanguards lost four starters. But I’m intrigued to see what Billy Fisher, Dom Valente and Nick Giannakopoulos can do given free rein).