The Philadelphia Catholic League title is staying on Solly Avenue.
After a 27-year hiatus without winning a PCL crown, sixth-seeded Father Judge won its second straight with a 55-52 victory against No. 4 seed Neumann Goretti on Sunday at the Palestra.
Father Judge held off a late Saints comeback attempt in the final seconds. Neumann Goretti’s Deshawn Yates hit a three-pointer with 18.8 seconds left to make it a one-point game, but the Crusaders sealed the win with free throws down the stretch.
Senior Derrick Morton-Rivera led the champions with 14 points and junior Nazir Tyler added 12. Junior Marquis Newson had a game-high 19 points for the Saints.
At one point this season, Father Judge was 4-8, and the Crusaders lost to Neumann Goretti, 71-66, on Feb. 1. But on Sunday, the sixth-seeded team cut down the nets.
Father Judge’s Derrick Morton-Rivera (44) reacts after sinking a three-pointer in front of Neumann Gorretti’s Deshawn Yates.
“When we first got here, we talked about the Palestra and everybody thought we were crazy,” fifth-year Father Judge coach Chris Roantree said. “The players thought we were crazy. And then it just continued to build. You’ve got guys that have come through and accepted the culture, accepted being coached hard. … I think you have a community that’s invested. You have coaches who are invested. You have players who are invested. It makes it easy, but it also makes it enjoyable.”
Father Judge went on a 19-5 run that stretched over the first and second quarters to establish a 25-16 lead at halftime. Seven players wound up scoring in the title game for the winners.
Senior Max Moshinski, who has committed to Iona, dominated the paint for Father Judge, collecting a majority of the team’s rebounds.
Neumann Goretti coach Carl Arrigale looks at the scoreboard in the second half against Father Judge.
It all came down to the fourth quarter when Neumann Goretti began to chip away at Father Judge’s double-digit lead, staying within three and five points in the final minutes. Yates’ three-pointer with 18.8 seconds left was the closest the Saints got to taking a lead since they started the game with a 4-0 advantage.
But Father Judge leaned on its defense to force Neumann Goretti into bad decisions and the Crusaders wrapped it up with free throws.
“[Already] being in those situations and being in those moments, when it comes, we’re not fazed,” Tyler said. “Give credit to our coaching staff as well. They schedule some tough games in December. So when we get into these moments in January [and February], we’re ready for them. … None of us was nervous.”
Next up, Father Judge will prepare for the PIAA Class 6A state tournament, which begins on March 7.
“There are some guys that are waking up at 6.30 a.m. to get themselves to school, and they’re on time,” Roantree said. “But, they want to be a part of something special. And I think we have something special.”
Audenried entered Sunday’s Philadelphia Public League girls championship with a chance to win its fourth straight title. The Lady Rockets took down Imhotep last year and had a chance to repeat history.
The school’s last three championship teams were keyed by guard Shayla Smith, Philadelphia’s all-time leading scorer. Even without Smith, who now plays at Penn State, Audenried proved it could still bring home the title.
Behind 22 points from forward Nasiaah Russell, Audenried (22-4, 6-0) cruised to its fourth straight PPL title, and second straight against Imhotep (14-10, 5-1), with a 64-50 win. The Lady Rockets grabbed a comfortable lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
“I feel awesome,” coach Kevin Slaughter said. “I feel great. Four straight Public League championships and some of my mentors came to the game today.”
Russell dominated the paint in all four quarters against the Panthers. She had a game-high 22 points and recorded 12 rebounds to take home MVP honors. Senior guard Heaven Reese added 14 points while sophomore guard Chloe Kham chipped in 12.
Audenried Charter’s Nasiaah Russell dominated in the PPL girls championship. Russell is headed to St. John’s in two seasons.
Guard Geren Hawthorne led Imhotep with 16 points.
“This is my fourth championship and it’s my first time being MVP,” Russell said. “It means a lot to me, even though last year it meant a lot to me, but other people got more recognition. So now that it’s all me, I feel appreciative.”
Imhotep jumped out to a 5-0 lead after it received two technical free throws to start the game. The Lady Rockets marched back behind Russell. The St. John’s recruit had seven straight points to keep Audenried close before a 10-0 run by Audenried near the end of the first quarter gave the Lady Rockets a 24-14 lead that they did not relinquish.
Audenried struggled offensively in the second quarter, scoring only eight points as Imhotep closed the deficit to 32-26 at the half. But Audenried started the second half on a 9-3 run, punctuated by two threes from Reese that gave it a 41-29 advantage.
Every run that Imhotep attempted was answered by the Lady Rockets. Audenried scored three straight buckets to end the third quarter with a comfortable 50-35 lead. Imhotep never got closer than nine points in the final quarter.
Audenried Charter coach Kevin Slaughter reacts as his Lady Rockets near another PPL title.
“As a team, our sets and our stuff we were trying to run, we were not doing it right,” Slaughter said. “We were not efficient early, but as the game went on, our defense changed the game. Our defense and consistency. We are used to winning.”
Imhotep continued to hang around midway through the fourth quarter, but Kham stepped up to help Audenried put the game out of reach.
The 5-foot-1 guard got free for a layup to push the Lady Rockets’ lead back to double digits, recorded a steal a couple of possessions later, and scored another layup to make it 62-48. Kham extinguished Imhotep’s comeback hopes and helped Audenried close out a fourth straight title.
Alexis Eberz stood along the sideline at the Palestra on Sunday afternoon, dribbling out the final seconds of Archbishop Carroll’s 42-33 Catholic League championship win over Cardinal O’Hara.
Eberz, a senior guard who will play at Villanova next season, threw the ball in the air as time expired and joined her teammates, including her younger twin sisters, Kayla and Kelsey, in celebrating Carroll’s first Catholic League title since 2019 and an undefeated season in league play.
“We had a target on our back, especially being undefeated this year,” Alexis Eberz said. “So, going out, playing our game that we played all year round, it’s amazing.”
All three Eberz sisters shared the court for the first time since Kelsey suffered a knee injury in December 2024, combining for 29 of Carroll’s 42 points.
“Nothing’s changed, you couldn’t even tell,” Kayla Eberz said of her twin sister’s return. “[After] all the stuff she’s been through, she came out and showed who she is.”
Archbishop Carroll’s Alexis Eberz knocks the ball away from Cardinal O’Hara’s Megan Rullo (right) during the Catholic League title game at the Palestra.
Kayla, a sophomore guard, scored 22 points. Alexis, who was named the Catholic League’s MVP this season, added five, and Kelsey, also a guard, added two. All five of Carroll’s starters scored, including nine points from Abbie McFillin, a junior guard.
“I knew that I was probably going to have some opportunities because they were going to be all over the Eberzes,” McFillin said.
Brigidanne Donohue led Cardinal O’Hara with 12 points. Bre Davis scored seven points off the bench for the Lions, while Megan Rullo, a senior who will play at Drexel next season, scored six.
The championship tipped off at 11 a.m., an hour earlier than scheduled. Both the girls’ and boys’ title games were moved up an hour because of the winter storm that was expected to hit the Philadelphia area on Sunday evening.
Carroll jumped out to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter and held a 22-17 advantage at halftime. The Patriots’ lead grew to 13 after three periods. O’Hara outscored Carroll, 11-7, in the fourth quarter, but Carroll’s lead was never threatened.
“You could tell playing against O’Hara that they were done,” McFillin said. “They lost before the fourth quarter even was over.”
Archbishop Carroll’s Alexis Eberz (left) jumps into the arms of her teammates after the final buzzer at the Palestra.
Renie Shields’ Carroll team reached the league’s title game in 2024 and 2025 but lost both times. Sunday’s win gives Shields her second PCL championship in 10 seasons as head coach.
“I’ve been here, but for these guys, it’s their time,” Shields said, gesturing to her players. “It’s not about us, it’s about them. We work so hard so that we can put them in a position where they can succeed.”
Carroll will move on to the PIAA Class 6A state tournament, which will begin on March 6.
Carroll’s seniors, Alexis Eberz and Bridget Grant, already won a PIAA title with the team as freshmen in 2023. But after back-to-back losses in title games at the Palestra, the two players were determined to end their Catholic League careers with a championship.
“Me and Bridget didn’t want to feel that way three years in a row,” Alexis Eberz said. “It’s so surreal, especially when I’m with my sisters.”
Ashley Morton stopped posting the hours on the door of her Mayfair boutique. There’s no point, she said. It’s impossible for the business owner to hold consistent opening times when her son is one of Philadelphia’s best high school basketball players. There always seems to be a game or tournament for the mom to attend.
“My customers say, ‘Is the store going to be open?’ I say, ‘Sorry, we got a game’,” Morton said. “So we just do pickups now. People can order online and schedule a pickup. It just became too much.”
That’s the price you pay when your son — Father Judge’s Derrick Morton-Rivera — is a win away from a second straight Catholic League boys’ basketball title.
“I’m just going to wait until everything is completely finished,” Morton said. “Then we’ll open back up.”
The mom opened Ashley’s Kloset 12 years ago after a dress she made with a Wal-Mart sewing machine and a $2 piece of fabric from Jo-Mar received attention on social media. Morton was self taught — “I went on a wing and a prayer,” she said — and figured it out. She had enough of her job at a men’s suit store and decided to do her own thing. So her mom helped her launch the business in Olney before it moved to Mayfair.
“My mom said, ‘We’re going to get you a store,’” Morton said. “Mind you, I don’t have any money. My mom doesn’t have any money. I’m like, ‘How are we going to get a store?’ Don’t you know she came up with that money and found me a store.”
She put a basketball net in the back of her store for her son, who seemed destined to be a hooper ever since he dribbled a ball when he was just 10 months old.
Derrick Morton-Rivera and his mother, Ashley, after his first ever basketball game.
“My mom dropped the spaghetti,” Morton said. “She was cooking ground beef and she was like, ‘Oh my god.’ He was bouncing the ball before he could even walk. You know how they have that little wobble? The ball was bouncing while he was off and then once it stopped bouncing, he fell.”
The son is signed to play at Temple and showed why on Wednesday night when he willed Judge back from an early 16-point deficit against Archbishop Wood in the semifinals. He scored 27 points and had the 9,000 fans at the Palestra in the palm of his hand.
Morton was not trying to shape a basketball player when she opened her store. But she did show her son everyday the hard work that comes with chasing a dream. Perhaps that prepared him to chase his own.
“My mom is always working,” said Morton-Rivera. “The only time she really takes off is to see me play. Knowing how hard she works, makes me work even harder.”
Derrick Morton-Rivera, who will try Sunday to win a second straight Catholic League title, is signed to play at Temple.
The Potato State
Customers asked Morton about her shop’s hours in the summer and she said she had to first check the AAU schedule.
“I don’t have a schedule,” she said. “I just have his. This is going to be the first summer without it. I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.”
She traveled with her son to basketball tournaments throughout the country, crossing off states she never dreamed of visiting.
“What’s the Potato State? Idaho,” she said. “It was the most boring place ever. Even their downtown was a ghost town. But we can say we’ve been to Idaho, you know what I mean?”
Morton poured everything into her son, even the hours of her own shop. She had help, too. If Morton works late, her mother stops by to cook dinner and do the laundry.
“She even washes my clothes,” Morton said as it took a village to raise a basketball star.
Morton designs and sews all of her own women’s clothing in the ALM Collection, specializing in plus sizes and fashion for taller women. She does enough online orders — the shop ships around the world, she said — that she can close the doors to watch basketball.
Something that started on a whim has grown into a full-time operation. The mom willed her dream into existence.
“I remember one time he was like, ‘Mom, all you do is work.’ And I started crying,” Morton said. “Because he doesn’t know what I’m working for. Every time he turned the light on, the light came on. Anything he asked for, I was able to provide. He’s like, ‘Alls I see is the back of your head because you’re just sewing all the time.’ I said, ‘Mir, you have to understand.’ Now, I think he gets it.”
Derrick Morton-Rivera’s mom owns a boutique in Mayfair, Ashley’s Kloset.
‘Mom, just calm down’
The crowd at the Palestra roared as Judge mounted its comeback on Wednesday. And the fans will be even louder on Sunday when Judge plays Neumann Goretti. But Morton-Rivera, whose father, D.J. Rivera, won a Catholic League title at Neumann Goretti, plays like he can’t hear anything. He handles the frenzy of a sold-out arena the same way he does when Chick-fil-A forgets his sauce.
“I’m like, ‘They forgot the sauce,’” Morton said. “And he’s like, ‘Mom, just calm down. Relax. Ask her for it.’ He calms me down. He inspires me to have patience, be humble, and just breathe.”
The kid who watched his mom spend hours behind the sewing machine seems just as fixated on the basketball court. He followed his dad to gyms as a kid and always found time to work on his shot.
Judge’s coaches organized a practice Friday afternoon but that wasn’t enough for Morton-Rivera, who stayed in the gym with a few teammates for another 90 minutes. Like mom, he’s always working.
“It’s just about ‘How bad do you want it?,’” he said. “We have a lot of guys on our team who want it. Even if they’re tired, they’ll stay after practice to get their shots up. Those are the little things that show when the game starts.”
His mom signed him up to play when he was 3 years old as he was tall enough to play with the 6-year-old kids at the Lawncrest Rec Center. They told the parents to make sure their kids came with a drink. So Morton sent her son with a Capri Sun pouch.
The mom figured it out. It was the start of her son’s basketball journey, one that felt so rapid as he started to dunk as a teenager and played in the Potato State. And now he has a residency at The Palestra with a college scholarship secured.
“My sister was like, ‘Ash, that’s really your son,’” Morton said. “And I say, ‘Yes, it is.’ It’s just been so amazing. I’m so proud of him.”
Judge’s basketball season could extend another month if it marches deep into the state playoffs. Until it’s finished, Morton’s business will be online only.
“I’m getting my inventory ready to be fully stocked,” Morton said.
The Imhotep Charter boys’ basketball team was in Boston a few years ago for a tournament when Andre Noble told his players that they were in his hometown.
“I said, ‘Wait. What?’” said Ebony Twiggs, whose son, Justin Edwards, was one of Imhotep’s stars. “I just thought he always lived here. I didn’t know he wasn’t from Philly.”
Noble reminded Twiggs of the people she knew from West Oak Lane. He had been at Imhotep for more than 20 years. And he was one of the city’s premier high school basketball coaches. He fit in. Of course he was from Philadelphia.
Noble, who can win a sixth straight Public League title and 13th overall on Sunday when Imhotep plays West Philly High, is one of Philly’s all-time coaches.
Unlike the rest, Noble didn’t spend his teenage summers playing at places like Chew, Tustin, and Myers. He didn’t win CYO titles, ride the trolley to watch doubleheaders at the Palestra, or find himself within six degrees of separation from someone who played on the 1954 La Salle basketball team.
Philadelphia has produced great players, coaches, and even referees. And the high school coaches, especially the ones who have won at the rate Noble has, often grew up here. They played for the city high schools, perhaps even stayed for college, and remained a tight-knit crew who stayed home to teach the game.
Speedy Morris still lives in Roxborough, Dan Dougherty was from Olney, Bill Ellerbee grew up on Uber Street, and Carl Arrigale is as South Philly as slowly driving past a stop sign. The guys on the Mt. Rushmore of Philadelphia high school coaches are from the neighborhood who coached kids like them.
Andre Noble has been at Imhotep for 20 years, but his hometown is Boston.
But Noble grew up in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood and didn’t even play high school ball. He came to Philadelphia in 2000 after graduating from Lincoln University and taught math at Imhotep, which did not yet have an athletic program.
Noble planned to stay in Philly for a year before moving on. His plans changed, he stayed, and Imhotep became a basketball powerhouse.
The guy from Boston did what seemingly has never been done: become a great Philly high school coach as an outsider.
“I think by the time everyone figured out I wasn’t from Philly, it was too late,” Noble said. “The ball was already rolling down the hill. But I’m definitely a Philly basketball guy. It’s important to me.”
A special guy
Imhotep didn’t have a basketball team when Noble arrived. The school didn’t even have a building.
“We called them modulars, but everyone else said, ‘Yo, that’s the trailer school,’” said Noble, who is now the school’s CEO.
Two students in his algebra class — Briscoe Chew and Marlon Mills — told Noble at the end of the school year that they were transferring. Noble was stunned. Why? Imhotep doesn’t have sports, they told him. So Noble launched a basketball team and kick-started a league with the city’s other charter schools.
Noble didn’t have a playing background to lean on, so he picked the brains of coaches in the area. Rap Curry, Greg Dennis, and Clyde Jones became his mentors. He was on his way. His plan to leave Philly after a year was spoiled, so he began to scour the city for players. He watched games at youth programs in North Philadelphia and hung at playgrounds, hoping he could fill a roster at Imhotep.
“I knew he was from Boston, but then I started seeing him at 25th and Diamond or 33rd and Diamond,” said Kamal Yard, who runs Philly Pride, one of the city’s premier AAU programs. “I’m like, ‘Bro, what are you doing down here? Do you know where you’re at?’ But he was in the mix. He was in the hood. He was in the projects. Nobody goes to the back of the projects at 25th and Diamond, but he did it. He was meeting the kids. That was his intro to Philly, and he was onto something. He got immersed into it.”
Yard met Noble years earlier when they were both students at Lincoln. Yard played ball and Noble watched from the stands. The future coach was studying, Yard said. When students complained about the food in the cafeteria, Noble led the charge as a member of the student government. He led a boycott, filed a petition, called the state, and ordered a review.
Imhotep players soak head coach Andre Noble after winning PIAA Class 5A boys basketball championship in 2024.
“You blinked and, man, we had a whole new menu,” Yard said. “But the whole point was that he was always about other people. So watching this transition, it’s no surprise. He’s a giver of people. He doesn’t look like a tough guy because he’s mild-mannered, but there’s a lot of toughness and resiliency in that frame. He’s as tough as they come.
“Brother Andre will go into the lion den with a tiki torch and a sword to go help a kid. He might come out scratched up, but he helped his kid. That’s Brother Andre.”
The Panthers, waiting for their gym to be built, practiced at a nearby recreation center and a middle school. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked. Imhotep won the Charter School league before moving in 2004 to the Public League. Five years later, Noble’s team won it all.
The Boston guy had built one of Philly’s finest teams.
“He’s a special guy,” said Fran Dunphy, the quintessential Philly coach. “The biggest asset he brings is just his genuine goodness. He treats the kids well, but there’s no question that he has an accountability for them and needs them to pay attention. They all seem to buy in. He’s remarkable for me.”
A teacher
Noble was a junior in college when he thought about how he was the only kid he grew up with preparing to get a degree. He wondered, how did that happen? And then he thought about his mom, a single parent who worked as an office manager and raised her sons — “Two knuckleheads,” Noble said — in a tough neighborhood.
“I called her and thanked her,” Noble said. “I knew it was that little lady who I thought was crazy but provided the foundation. She was a stickler, a disciplinarian. It was her way or the highway, ‘Hey, this is what you’re doing.’”
It was a big deal when Noble secured admission to the Boston Latin School, a prestigious school near Fenway Park. But his mother asked him to think about it before she sent in his paperwork. She asked her son, would he take his studies seriously? Would he be ready to work hard? Can he commit himself? Noble said he would.
Years later, he found out that his mom already had sent in the paperwork. But Della Noble wanted her son to feel a sense of ownership in his decision. She believed her son could do it. And now Noble empowers and supports the kids at Imhotep the same way his mom did. If a kid on his team wants to visit a college, Noble often is driving the car. If a kid has a problem in school, Noble’s door is open.
Imhotep’s Andre Noble (left) shown with Justin Edwards during the 2023 Public League championship game against West Philly. Edwards now plays for the Sixers.
“You realize that there’s way more important things in life,” Noble said. “If we can get them to be the best young men we can be, then the rest of their lives will be meaningful. There’s so many things you can teach through basketball.”
Becoming one of Philly’s all-time coaches is about more than just breaking a press or drawing up an inbounds play with seconds left. Noble proved that an outsider can do it, too.
“There’s a trust that he has with his players that we all try to search for in relationships with the kids,” Dunphy said. “I think he’s found that secret. To be honest with you, I don’t know if I ever sat down with him and said, ‘Yo, what is your secret?’ I think he would be so humble, and he’d say, ‘I don’t know. I’m just being myself.’ It’s what makes mentorship so important to all of us. You have to be there for the young people.”
Noble has surrounded himself with a crew of assistant coaches who grew up in Philly. He has embraced the city’s basketball history and has now spent more time here than he did in Boston. He’s an adopted Philly guy.
Charles “Shoob” Monroe, who organizes an annual showcase game for the city’s top high schoolers, said Noble knows more about old-school Philly basketball than people who actually lived here. No, he’s not from Philly. But Noble became a part of it.
“Someone always knows someone or knows someone who knows someone,” said Arrigale, who could win his 13th Catholic League title on Sunday when his Neumann Goretti squad plays Father Judge. “He didn’t really have that experience because no one played against him and things like that. But he’s been around long enough that he knows everyone now. He’s had a pretty good run over there.”
A father figure
Twiggs’ son now plays for the Sixers but once was a teenager who didn’t clean his room or finish his homework. And when that happened, Twiggs knew to call the guy from Boston.
“Justin would come home and be like, ‘You told on me,’” Twiggs said.
Twiggs, a single mother who worked two jobs to keep her son’s dream alive, said Noble was like “a father figure” to her son. He wasn’t from Philly but that was OK.
“Justin lacked that growing up,” Twiggs said of a male role model. “Having Brother Andre and the whole coaching staff just be so hands on with Justin took a lot of stress off for me.”
Andre Noble has enough accolades to coach in college. He’s instead decided to stay at Imhotep.
Edwards is one of the many players Noble coached who moved onto a Division I program. By now, the coach who didn’t play high school ball has enough accolades to coach in college. He’s instead decided to stay at Imhotep.
A few years ago, Mills’ son, Timmy, graduated from Imhotep. He brought his son to see Noble and tell the story about how two students triggered Noble to start a team. It was true, Noble said. And that helped the guy from Boston find a home in Philly.
“I love what I get to do,” Noble said. “I love the school. I love serving this community. I don’t see myself anywhere else. I don’t rule anything out, but if I have the opportunity to coach and lead at Imhotep until the rest of my career, that would be a blessing. The one-year plan definitely didn’t work out. I failed in that.”
Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best Philly sports images from the last seven days. This week, there’s nowhere better to start than on the hardwood with the boys’ and girls’ high school basketball playoffs in full swing. There’s plenty from the college game and Phillies spring training as well.
The Archbishop Wood student section cheers before the start of the Vikings’ Catholic League semifinal against Father Judge at the Palestra on Wednesday. Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe (left) knocks the ball away from UConn’s KK Arnold on Wednesday at the Finneran Pavilion. No. 1 UConn prevailed, 83-69.Neumann Goretti’s Marquis Newson dunks during the final minutes of its win against Bonner Prendergast in the Catholic League semifinals.
Archbishop Wood’s Jaydn Jenkins reaches for a rebound against several Father Judge players in their Catholic League semifinal game. Judge came out the winner.Cole Franklin of North Texas hits Temple’s Masiah Gilyard as he reaches for the ball Sunday at the Liacouras Center. The Owls fell, 65-62.Members of the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams at Westtown School rejoice after wining their Friends Schools League championships at La Salle University last Friday.
Drexel’s Laine McGurk hits the deck as she fights for a loose ball against Elon last Friday. Drexel won, 68-59. Cardinal O’ Hara’s Megan Rullo (center) is fouled driving to the basket against Neumann Goretti’s Kamora Berry (left) and Reginna Baker during their Catholic League semifinal at Villanova. Rullo scored 22 points in a 51-33 victory. Friends’ Central School’s Zya Small (11) fights for the basketball with Westtown School’s Ishana Sundararajan during the Friends Schools League title game. Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (center) is silhouetted along with some of his teammates as they wait during a drill at spring training in Clearwater, Fla.
Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs plays around for his portrait on photo day at spring training. Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter poses for a portrait during photo day in Clearwater, Fla. Veteran right-hander Aaron Nola warms up in the outfield at spring training on Wednesday. Justin Crawford, a rookie outfielder known for his speed, runs the bases during a drill at Phillies spring training on Tuesday. Hoping for a bounce-back season, pitcher Aaron Nola (center) talks with his Phillies teammates in Clearwater, Fla. Phillies shortstop Trea Turner takes part in a drill that involved bouncing a tennis ball off a mask during spring training.
First baseman Bryce Harper (right) interacts with new Phillies bench coach Don Mattingly during the first full-squad workout on Monday. Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado goes through a workout on Saturday. Pitcher Taijuan Walker looks on during a spring training workout on Sunday. Hot feet: Closer Jhoan Duran walks off the mound after a bullpen session during spring training on Sunday.
For the 14th year in a row, Imhotep Charter is headed back to the Public League championship. In Thursday’s semifinal, the Panthers eked out a 52-45 win against Central at La Salle’s John Glaser Arena. Imhotep led for the entire game, but Central kept it close until the final whistle. Taylor Linton’s team-high 17 points lifted the Panthers back to the final.
“Out of all the teams throughout Imhotep history that have contributed to the streak, the commonality between all of those teams is that everybody is pushing,” said Imhotep coach David Hargrove. “Pushing to be better — number one. But then, pushing to be better teammates — number two. That allows us to keep that standard of competitiveness and championship-quality basketball.”
Late in the fourth quarter, down by six, Central sophomore guard Ava Yancey stole the ball and passed to junior point guard Stevie Hall, who was fouled and sent to the line. She made both free throws.
But Imhotep kept on pushing.
Panthers junior guard McKenna Alston responded with a lay-in of her own to quiet Central’s fans. Alston then stole the ball on the next two Lancers possessions to swing the momentum back to the Panthers.
“We challenge our kids about making connecting plays. A lot of people think that’s [just on offense]. But for us … it’s on defense too,” Hargrove said. “We were able to put pressure to the ball, be in passing lanes, and be active.”
Linton added: “[The end] was very intense. I think what was important is that we kept our poise … and we stayed connected.”
Imhotep senior point guard Anai Kenyatta controlled the pace for the Panthers. Whenever the Lancers gained momentum, Kenyatta answered the call, finishing with 13 points. Senior forward Crystal Hawthorne added 11.
For Central, sophomore forward Janai Bellinger led with a game-high 18 points. After Imhotep took a quick nine-point lead behind a 7-2 run to start the second half, Bellinger kept her team within striking distance until the final whistle.
Audenried trounced Lincoln 67-28 earlier Thursday, meaning Imhotep will meet Audenried in the Public League championship for the fourth year in a row on Sunday. The Panthers lost to the Shayla Smith-led Rockets in the championship the past three matchups. With Smith now at Penn State, Sunday’s results could look different from previous years.
“Sunday’s matchup — we anticipate it to be a classic. It’s what has become an Imhotep-Audenried matchup, which is always going to be a back-and-forth, competitive game,” said Hargrove. “Some players are going to step up, some might step down, but it’s going to be a competitive game, and our kids have really been building for this moment all season.”
Before Imhotep prepares for Audenried, the Panthers celebrated in the locker room after Thursday’s win.
“It was quiet at first when we all walked in because it was like, ‘Dang,’” Linton said. “And then the coaches started coming in, and it was like, ‘OK, we going to the chip.’ It was real. Everybody was cheering and everyone was really, really happy.”
The Universal Audenried Charter girls’ basketball team entered the Public League semifinals Thursday night as three-time reigning champions, but the journey for its fourth title looks different.
Guard Shayla Smith led the Rockets the last four seasons and became Philadelphia’s all-time leading scorer, but she graduated and moved on to Penn State.
Against Abraham Lincoln, Audenried showed it still can win. Behind junior forward Nasiaah Russell and senior guard Heaven Reese, the Rockets are heading to their fourth straight Public League title game after beating Lincoln, 67-28, at La Salle’s John Glaser Arena. Audenried will face Imhotep on Sunday.
After a sluggish first four minutes, Audenried dominated the rest of the way. The Rockets outscored Lincoln by 19 points in the second half by forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. Four players scored in double figures, led by Reese’s 16 points and sophomore guard Chloe Kham’s 15 off the bench.
“Us making it back to the championship after Shayla leaving is huge for me,” said Audenried coach Kevin Slaughter. “A lot of people were saying once Shayla left, we were done, and to get back is big for us.”
Audenried found stability behind Reese, who has been part of the winning culture at Audenried and knows what it takes to bring home a Public League crown.
The experience of Reese, a Coppin State commit; Russell, who’s committed to St. John’s; and guard Aniyah Cheeseboro made overcoming the loss of Smith easier.
“The last three years, we have all been behind Shayla and the other seniors,” Reese said. “So for us to [go win without her], it just means a lot.”
The Rockets ended the first quarter on a 16-1 run to take a 12-point lead. Kham hit back-to-back threes early in the second to push Audenried’s lead to 16. The sophomore was a significant factor for Audenried with her deep shooting and layups in transition.
“Chloe has been a person who’s been struggling a bit this season … and I think it was her first high school experience because she didn’t really play at Neumann Goretti last year,” Slaughter said. “So for her to come out and have 15 points is huge for us.”
Audenried took a 40-18 halftime lead with another championship appearance in sight. Lincoln scored the first three points of the second half before the Rockets put the game away.
They scored 27 straight points to enter the final eight minutes with a 67-21 lead. Reese and Russell led the charge with 12 during the run.
Audenried girls’ basketball will have a rematch with Imhotep in the Public League title game on Sunday.
The championship game will pit Audenried against Imhotep for a fourth straight year. The Rockets won, 65-52, last year behind 35 points from Smith. They may not have Smith, but their confidence in winning a fourth straight Public League title remains high.
“Me personally, I always thought we were going to get back here,” Slaughter said. “Because a lot of the kids who were ninth and 10th graders when Shayla was there, they got to see it. … They have been in these wars.”
Neumann Goretti’s Deshawn Yates knew the Catholic League boys’ basketball semifinal game was in his team’s favor at halftime Wednesday night, even though the Saints trailed Bonner-Prendergast by four points.
“[At] halftime Coach was talking to us like, ‘Stay together. It’s a two-possession game,’” Yates said. “So just Coach telling us, keeping us together.”
The Saints took their first lead of the game with six minutes to play when Yates made a jump shot and went on to defeat Bonner-Prendie, 64-60, inside a roaring Palestra crowd of 9,000 fans. Yates and teammate Marquis Newson finished with 19 points apiece.
Neumann Goretti will return to the Catholic League championship for the first time since 2023. The Saints will face Father Judge, the defending PCL champion, on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Neumann Goretti’s Marquis Newson dunks during the final minutes against Bonner-Prendie during the Catholic League boys’ basketball semifinals on Wednesday.
While Bonner-Prendie led for almost three quarters, it could not separate itself from Neumann Goretti by more than five points. Newson scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, which included a wide-open statement dunk with 30 seconds left to give Neumann Goretti a 62-57 lead.
However, the lead changed five times before that. Bonner’s Korey Francis, the league MVP, tied the score at 53 with a pair of free throws with 3 minutes, 56 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Neumann Goretti then went on a 7-0 run to take command.
Critical charge
Bonner-Prendie made four free throws to make it a three-point game with over a minute left. Neumann Goretti led, 60-57.
Francis, who finished with 18 points, recorded a steal at halfcourt and drove to the basket. As he finished the layup, it was waved off. Francis was given an offensive foul for a charge.
The Bonner fans erupted in disagreement with the call.
Bonner & Prendie’s Jakeem Caroll (4) huddles the team against Neumann Goretti on Wednesday.
“I would say we were really excited,” Newson said when asked about the charging call. “That’s something we practice a lot. Just taking charges. We have a whole drill for that. Knowing that what we practice works in the game, it was just a great feeling.”
Yates added that the team thought it was going to be a foul.
Two free throws from Stephon Ashley-Wright put the Saints up, 64-60, and sealed the game with 0.9 seconds remaining.
“I would say I was just worried about the game, getting the win,” Yates said. “It was more so getting to the next round.”
Arrigale looks to add to his title count
Neumann Goretti coach Carl Arrigale has the opportunity to extend his all-time PCL title record to 13. He has led the Saints to 19 PCL final appearances since taking the helm in 1999.
“People ask me about, ‘You’re going back to the Palestra. You’re going back to the Palestra,’ Arrigale said. “This never was about me. It’s never been about me, honestly — I want to do it for these guys to get back. I mean, Deshawn [Yates] played a couple years ago, and we were just banged up beyond belief. One of the worst losses in our history. … I just wanted to have a chance to come back and do it all over again.”
Neumann Goretti coach Carl Arrigale has made 19 PCL final appearances at the helm.
Alexis Eberz knew she wanted play in the Big East. So when it came down to deciding between Maruqette or Villanova, the Archbishop Carroll senior guard did what most high schoolers do: she asked for her mother’s advice.
“I just told her to pray on it,” said Michelle Eberz, Alexis’ mother.
Her advice came at the perfect time. It was the end of Eberz’s junior year, and she was about to embark on a religious retreat called “Kairos,” which was hosted by Carroll. It was a four-day, three-night retreat at the Malvern Retreat House with no cell phones. It was the perfect opportunity for Eberz to reflect on where she wanted to play college basketball.
“I said, ‘Alexis, listen to me. Go to Kairos and pray on it. You will find your answer,’” Michele said. “And, honestly, it was almost like the pressure melted off her.”
— Archbishop Carroll Girls Basketball (@Carroll_GBball) February 12, 2026
Eberz decided on Villanova and signed with the team in November. Besides getting to play in the Big East, Villanova has always felt like home, which stems for her parents. Michele and her husband, Eric, played basketball on the Main Line and exposed their daughter to the school at a young age.
However, Alexis has forged her own connection to the program and is ready to take her game to the next level. But first, the senior has some unfinished business to take care of at Carroll.
This season, Eberz is averaging 17.5 points and was named Catholic League MVP. The Patriots will face Cardinal O’Hara on Sunday at the Palestra in the Catholic League final, marking their third consecutive appearance. The last time Carroll won a PCL title was in 2019.
No stranger to ’Nova
Long before she picked up a basketball, Villanova has been part of Eberz’s life.
“It’s a parent’s dream that she’s actually not only at [our] alma mater, but so close to home,” Michele said. “So many people know her already before she even steps on campus.”
Alexis Eberz added: “I’m really close with Maddy Siegrist. I would shoot with her and do workouts with her [and former coach] Harry Perretta.”
Learning from Siegrist, Villanova’s all-time leading scorer for men and women, contributed to Eberz wanting to play for Villanova. But it wasn’t the only factor.
“I was around Villanova at such a young age,” Eberz said. “And then I never really went away from it. You’re never going to get that tight-knit community anywhere else. It’s awesome. The players, the coaching staff, everyone’s so nice. That really stuck out to me.”
Plus, Villanova coach Denise Dillon viewed Eberz as an elite addition to the roster.
“I think [what stood out to us] was a combination of the tangibles and intangibles,” Dillon said. “The tangibles being her ability to make shots. She’s a great shooter, great passer, moves well without the ball. The intangibles [being] her toughness. I just think she is a competitor. She doesn’t care who it is: post player, perimeter player, she’s going to battle.”
It also doesn’t hurt that Dillon has been longtime friends and former teammates with Michele.
Their time also overlapped at Villanova from 1993 to 1995. During Michele’s senior season, the Wildcats went 19-9 overall and 13-5 in the Big East.
“The years I played with Denise, we really grew as a team and friends,” Michele said.
Alexis Eberz was named Catholic League MVP this season.
The two even are in a group chat with old teammates.
But Michele and Eric were careful to stay out of their daughter’s recruiting process. They wanted their daughter to make the decision for herself, even if they were rooting for her to be a Wildcat.
“A coach is going to be hard on you on the basketball court, but [Villanova] also cares a lot about developing players into a young woman or becoming successful in school,” said Eric, who played at Villanova from 1992 to 1996. “You know that your coach’s job is to help kids find their path in life, too, and I think Denise does a great job at that.”
‘A really good teammate’
Alexis Eberz has had quite an accomplished career with the Patriots.
During her junior year, she averaged 17.6 points and earned first-team All-State honors. She also was named first-team All-Philadelphia Catholic League, first-team All-Delaware County, and scored her 1,000th career point.
“When [Alexis] was a freshman, she was a very good shooter and had a great IQ for the game,” Archbishop Carroll coach Renie Shields said. “What she’s progressed into was a really good teammate [who] understands more about the game, and that’s just what her continual growth has been: increasing her skill set, shooting, ballhandling, and then now it’s movement without the ball and how to find openings for herself and her teammates.”
She’s one of the senior leaders this season, alongside Ursinus pledge Bridget Grant, who happens to be Dillon’s niece and Eberz’s best friend. Also on the roster are Eberz’s younger twin sisters, Kelsey and Kayla, who are sophomores.
“It’s awesome,” Eberz said. “It’s been surreal. It’s so special getting the chance to play with my sisters. I’m also really blessed, because some people don’t get a chance to play with their younger sisters, so I’ve been really grateful to have that chance.”
With Grant and her sisters, Eberz is leading Carroll to a memorable season, as the team is 19-5 entering Sunday’s matchup. While the Palestra is an arena filled with history and tradition, for Eberz, it represents redemption.
Archbishop Carroll will face Cardinal O’Hara in the Catholic League girls’ basketball final on Sunday.
The Patriots have been to the PCL final the past two seasons, but lost both years.
“There’s no other option,” Eberz said. “I have to win.”
With one final shot at a PCL title, Eberz is looking to rewrite her team’s story.
“Obviously we have a target on our back, being undefeated. … but I think that also gives us more of a reason to want it more,” she said. “It’s just the fact that we played so hard all season, and we beat all the teams so that we can get to this point. I think it just makes us want it more.”
