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.”
The Finneran Pavilion was the loudest it had been all season for Villanova women’s basketball as the Wildcats hosted No. 1 UConn on Wednesday night.
The energy in the packed arena intensified at halftime when the unexpected happened: Villanova led the undefeated Huskies by three points. It was the first time all season that UConn trailed at the half.
“The atmosphere that was created was tremendous,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “I loved hearing [the fans]. They were here for us. That was the difference, and you felt it from the beginning of the game and carrying through.”
The magic of Villanova’s first half eventually wore off, as UConn pulled away in the third quarter. The Huskies then held a double-digit lead to secure an 83-69 win. Villanova will be back in the Finneran Pavilion on Sunday to host Marquette, which stands fourth in the Big East (3:30 p.m., Peacock).
However, Villanova’s tough stance against the nation’s top team was enough to remind the 41-year UConn coach Geno Auriemma of what he called the “old-school Big East.”
The conference rivalry, which has dissipated since the advent of the NIL and transfer portal era, seemed to have been revived — at least for the moment.
Looking back
Auriemma reflected on the rivalry between Villanova and UConn over the years. Although UConn owns the all-time record 49-7, the longtime coach, who grew up in Norristown, suggested the competition intensified since UConn rejoined the Big East in 2000 after a seven-year stint in the American Confernce.
Now, UConn (28-0, 17-0 Big East) and Villanova (21-6, 14-4) hold the top two places in the conference standings. But the gap between the two programs remains wide.
Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe finished wih 26 points in a loss to UConn on Wednesday.
“Every mistake we made in the first half [tonight], we paid for it,” Auriemma said. “The crowd was great. The two best teams in the league are playing, it’s a great atmosphere. I love the way Denise does things with her team. As much as I enjoy coming [to Villanova] because a lot of friends and family are down here, I didn’t really miss it those seven years.”
Wednesday’s game was a much different contest than the last time the two teams faced off just over a month ago. The Huskies bulldozed their way to a 99-50 victory on Jan. 15 on their home court.
“It honestly was a train wreck at their place,” Dillon said. “So the growth from a month ago is fantastic. That’s what you want, especially when you have younger players and [Jasmine Bascoe] leading the way, directing out there on the floor.”
After being limited to just eight points in January’s matchup against UConn, sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe was all over the court on Wednesday night. Bascoe scored 18 of her 26 points in the first half. She also added nine rebounds and seven assists, while playing the full 40 minutes.
Carter’s veteran view
In each of Denae Carter’s three seasons at Villanova, a win over UConn was out of sight. UConn recorded 100 points against Villanova for the first time last season and went on to win the national championship. The Huskies were one point away from repeating that in January.
Carter, a graduate forward who joined the Wildcats in 2023-24 as a Mississippi State transfer, is one of Villanova’s few veteran players.
Against UConn, she recorded a career-high 21 points, shooting 8-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 on three-pointers. She also notched three steals and three blocks while being matched up with Sarah Strong, the Big East’s top scorer.
Villanova’s Denae Carter (left) scored a career-high 21 points agains UConn on Wednesday.
“[Strong] is a great player, and our focus really was just stopping everybody and helping each other,” Carter said. “I think we did a really good job in the first half, and we just have to sustain that.”
With two regular-season games remaining of her college career, Carter is a player the program will continue to lean on.
“I think that maturity came through tonight and she’s tough to take off the floor at any point,” Dillon said. “We’re going to keep [Carter] out there longer as she finishes her career.”
What was once an intense rivalry between UConn and Villanova may not be achievable in the current college sports landscape. But Villanova’s unprecedented first half on Wednesday showed that the program is hungry to change that.
“We have such a great connection,” Carter said. “On the court, we’re able to display that a lot. We have fun together. We’re playing all five out there, and I think Sunday is just going to be a really great opportunity for us to get that one back.”
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.”
The reigning Catholic League champion has earned another shot at the title.
On Wednesday, the Archbishop Wood boys’ basketball team took on Father Judge in the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra. After trailing 19-3, Judge mounted a comeback for the ages. Led by Temple recruit Derrick Morton-Rivera’s 27 points, Judge won, 52-46.
The Crusaders will face Neumann Goretti in the Catholic League final on Sunday at the Palestra. NG beat Bonner-Prendergast, 64-60, in the second PCL semifinal.
“Being confident in myself,” Morton-Rivera said. “Even if I miss shots or don’t get the shots that I want, I just keep believing in myself and keep trying to get shots or trying to make plays and look for my teammates.”
Morton-Rivera, the program’s all-time leading scorer and son of former Neumann Goretti star D.J. Rivera, is happy to leave his own mark on the PCL.
“It means a lot being able to leave a legacy, make a name for myself,” Morton-Rivera said. “A lot of people know me from being D.J.’s son — he went to Neumann Goretti and he was great. I’m glad I can make a name for myself at Judge.”
Father Judge coach Chris Roantree spent eight years as an assistant at Wood under opposing coach John Mosco before rejoining his alma mater five years ago.
“First for me and John,” Roantree said. “We have a great relationship, my best friend, coaching with them for nine years, but more importantly, he’s a friend. We went through a lot together, and somebody’s got to lose. That’s the hardest thing about it.”
Last year, Roantree and Father Judge earned the program’s first PCL title in 27 years. Now they have a chance to go back-to-back for the first time in program history.
Archbishop Wood’s Jaydn Jenkins (11) reaches for a rebound against several Father Judge players.
“It would mean a lot because that’s what we talked about all season,” Morton-Rivera said. “Being the first class to come out of here with two championships. Nobody has ever done that before. That’s something that we definitely want to get.”
Wood dominated the regular season with its 1-2 punch of Caleb Lundy and Brady MacAdams, who are first and second on the team in scoring, while 6-foot-11 Jaydn Jenkins roamed the paint on defense.
Jenkins blocked Morton-Rivera’s first two shots, helping to stifle Judge in the first quarter. MacAdams hit a corner three and contested a layup on back-to-back possessions to push Wood’s lead to 16-3 after the first quarter.
“We’ve been here for the past two years,” Father Judge point guard Rocco Westfield said. “It’s not easy to come down here and play in this environment in front of 10,000 people. So we just really stuck together and really kept our mindset straight.”
Morton-Rivera scored 12 of Judge’s next 22 points to tie the score at 25 at the half.
In the third quarter, Judge forced the Vikings into taking outside shots, stopping Lundy’s dribble penetration and Wood’s offense while Morton-Rivera scored eight of the Crusaders’ first 10 points to open the half.
MacAdams did his best to keep Wood close, but the Crusaders kept the lead for the majority of the second half.
Inside a half-empty John E. Glaser Arena on La Salle’s campus Tuesday night, Robert Moore lounged at the end of the Constitution boys’ basketball team’s bench, head back, arms folded, legs crossed, as if he had resigned himself to being powerless to stop the blowout before him. He wasn’t. He could have. He hadn’t.
The second game of the Public League semifinals was a rout from the start, a 73-41 Imhotep Charter victory that was never close, was never in doubt, and never should have been played. Constitution was there only because its previous opponent, Carver Engineering & Science, had been forced to forfeit their quarterfinal matchup when an altercation marred the game’s final minutes. With his team down by 12 points, with 71 seconds left in regulation, a Constitution player had shoved an E&S player, sparking an on-court confrontation among athletes, coaches, and fans. E&S’s bench had emptied, which, according to Public League rules, disqualified E&S from the tournament, allowing Constitution to move on to face Imhotep.
From that ugly set of circumstances, Moore, his team, and Constitution’s administration received a gift that they never should have accepted. Constitution was on its way to losing in the quarterfinals until one of its players committed the act that ignited the chaos. And even if the Public League was following the letter of the law by confirming that E&S had to forfeit — “Constitution did the right thing,” league president Jimmy Lynch said, “by not entering the floor during the incident” — Moore and Constitution still could have done the honorable thing and declined to play in the semis, too.
It would have sent a powerful message to Constitution’s players, and to the league as a whole, that certain principles are more important than playing a game. It would have turned this fiasco into a teachable moment, a cautionary tale that Constitution’s kids hadn’t earned the right to compete against Imhotep, against the Public League’s dominant program. It would have been a better resolution than the scene Tuesday night at La Salle, where security and city police officers stood poised at the corners of the court and the public-address announcer admonished spectators to stay off the floor and let the referees do their jobs.
“We didn’t feel like it would be a great look for the league,” Moore said, “not having a team here to play in a semifinal game, [having] rented out an arena.”
Sorry, it would have been an admirable stand for the Public League and its leaders to take. And while Moore deserves credit for facing some questions about the incident and Constitution’s and the league’s courses of action, his explanations sounded more like excuses for the failure to make the difficult but correct decision here. The price of renting Glaser, for instance, was already a sunk cost. That money was gone one way or another, so why not use that second semifinal game as a stage to show everyone what class and responsibility look like?
“It’s really an administrative thing,” Moore said. “Honestly, after reviewing everything, we felt like the people who needed to be suspended were suspended.”
Imhotep defeated Constitution, 73-41, in the Public League boys’ basketball semifinal on Tuesday.
Yes, the Public League suspended two Constitution players for their roles in the melee, but that was the minimum discipline for an embarrassing situation that those young athletes had created and escalated. The incident happened last Thursday. By Friday afternoon, someone from Constitution, from the Public League, from District 12, or from the PIAA should have been on the phone, arranging a meeting, getting the right people in the same room or on a Zoom call to settle on a solution that didn’t let Constitution benefit from its own mistakes.
Instead, Moore called coaches around the league, starting with Imhotep’s Andre Noble: “I said, ‘What do you want?’ He said, ‘I want to play a game. … I kind of left it up to the kids as well.” Except this wasn’t Noble’s call to make, and it certainly wasn’t the kids’. Of course an opposing coach wouldn’t want an important postseason game canceled. Of course teenagers would want such an incident to be wiped away with few consequences. And of course, E&S’s parents and players have been lobbying for absolution and justice for themselves, as if anyone comes out of a mess like this with clean hands.
“To be fair, we’ve tried to take the high road, but we felt like we’ve been basically scapegoated as we were in the wrong with everything that happened,” Moore said. “In actuality, with all the facts the district had to deal with, it just wasn’t the case. …
“There were a lot of moving parts, and we evaluated everything when we looked at it. Obviously the district and the PIAA had all of this information, so what you’re getting is — and I completely understand — parents who are unhappy about the situation. I completely understand that.
“I’m a coach and an athletic director. I answer to a principal, who answers to an assistant superintendent. There are so many people above me.”
From Congress to college sports, through virtually every institution in American society, there’s a deep and desperate need for someone in a position of authority to be a genuine leader, to stand up and stand firm and say, This is who we’re expected to be. This is the right thing for those we’re supposed to serve. This is what we’re supposed to do, and this is how and why we’re going to do it. Yet here was another example where no one put the greater good and a larger lesson above appearances and self-interest. Here was another occasion where no one bothered to be an adult.
Moore and Constitution and the Public League had a chance, a real chance, to teach young people the value of accountability and the power of grace. They had an opportunity to be true educators, and they passed up that opportunity. They decided it was more important to play a game whose result was all but certain and would be quickly forgotten, and by the fourth quarter Tuesday night, Robert Moore was stretched out in his seat at the end of the bench, striking that posture that suggested he was content to have taken the easy way out. His team lost by 32 points. Hope it was worth it.
West Philadelphia High School has been in this situation before.
The Speedboys cruised their way to the Public League championship during the 2022-23 season before suffering an 18-point loss to Imhotep Charter in the final. Now three years later, head coach Adrian Burke and his team are back in the title game, following a 68-47 win over Dobbins Technical High School in Tuesday’s semifinal.
When Burke walked into the locker room at La Salle’s John Glaser Arena following the win, he was bombarded by his team, who dumped water on him to celebrate its championship appearance. Now, the Speedboys will look to knock off Imhotep, the defending champions, on Sunday.
As for Burke, he feels a sense of pride for his team and coaches that West Philly got there.
West Philadelphia poses for a photo after its 68-47 win against Dobbins on Tuesday.
“It feels great,” Burke said. “You put in a lot of work with these kids, and you never know what’s going to happen. From day in to day out, but these kids, they stayed the path. They stayed straight. We just kept fighting. I tell them, ‘Continue working hard, good things will happen for you.’”
Senior guard Khabir Washington led the Speedboys with 18 points and sophomore forward Isaiah Powell-Smith added 17.
The Speedboys have six seniors who were on the 2022-23 team and lost in the Public League championship. Now, they’ll get a second chance.
“They’ve been playing hard,” Powell-Smith said. “They’ve been here since freshman year, but I feel like we should just give them another chance.”
A game of runs
Despite trailing, 32-25, at halftime, Washington and senior guard Xavier Howard helped propel West Philly through its rut. Though they let an early lead slip away, the Speedboys remained calm heading into the locker room.
“Never get too high, never get too low,” Washington said. “Whether we [are] winning or we [are] down. Basketball is a game of runs, and as long as we make the final run, we always believe we’re going to be good.”
Washington was the catalyst. He had four points in the first half, but drilled a three from deep as Howard knocked down another to power a 14-0 run.
Dobbins didn’t score until the three-minute mark of the third quarter and had just 15 second-points as the Speedboys erupted.
West Philadelphia’s Khabir Washington led the team with 18 points against Dobbins on Tuesday.
“I said, ‘Look, we ain’t going to zone no more gimmicks. We going straight man-to-man. We’re going to put our will against their will, and let’s see what happens,’” Burke said. “That’s what happened.”
Dobbins mounted a comeback behind three-pointers from guards Zahmir Green and Kyyir Roberts-Moore to cut the score to 42-39, but it wasn’t enough.
Powell-Smith’s eight fourth-quarter points helped put Dobbins away.
“He had a rocky start,” Burke said. “Halfway through the season, he just bought into everything we were doing. Everything changed.”
‘Make it worthwhile’
As West Philly prepares to face Imhotep in another Pub final, Burke noted that many of the players from that team that lost to the Panthers in 2023 are no longer with the program. The seniors sticking with him throughout all four seasons meant a lot.
“These guys stuck with me when other guys left,” Burke said. “They told me, ‘We’re going to work as hard as we possibly can and get back.’ I said, ‘We’re going to get back. We just gotta keep working hard.’”
The team feels the same way about Burke, and they hope to return the favor on Sunday.
“I was here my freshman year, it took a lot to get back to this place,” Washington said. “Guys left. Guys stayed. I’m just happy for my head coach. We get an opportunity to play [for] a championship, and we’re going to make it worthwhile this year.”
Last year, Zaahir Muhammad-Gray suffered a torn ACL in Imhotep Charter’s third game of the season and could not play during the Panthers’ run to a fifth-consecutive Public League boys’ basketball title.
This season the 6-foot-7 junior forward helped lift the Panthers to their sixth consecutive Public League championship appearance with a 73-41 drubbing to Constitution High School at La Salle’s John Glaser Arena on Tuesday evening.
Latief Lorenzano-White finished with a game-high 22 points for the Panthers, while Muhammad-Gray added 17, 11 of which came in the second half.
Imhotep’s Latief Lorenzano-White finished with a game-high 22 points against Constitution on Tuesday.
Muhammad-Gray has yet to be on a team who misses the Public League title game. But the forward says being sidelined in last year’s postseason makes this one sweeter.
“I’ve been here before,” Muhammad-Gray said. “I’ve been here every year, so I’m kind of getting used to it now. Just sitting out the last year made me miss it even more.”
Muhammad-Gray reclassified from the class of 2026 to the class of 2027 after tearing his ACL. He has scholarship offers from Temple, La Salle, Penn State, and Georgia Tech, among others. He’s considered the second-best junior prospect in the state.
“[Muhammad-Gray is] a Division I basketball player,” said Imhotep coach Andre Noble. “He’s one of our team captains. That’s what we expected.”
Imhotep’s other captain, Lorenzano-White, scored 16 of his 22 in the first half as Imhotep bowled over an outmatched Constitution team. The 6-foot-4 senior guard is committed to play at Drexel next season.
“Today, I just was seeing the rim,” Lorenzano-White said. “We’ve been preaching it for the last couple of practices and games, to get to the rim and not settling for jump shots.”
The Panthers led, 38-14, at halftime. Their lead ballooned to 35 with 3 minutes, 5 seconds to play in the fourth before Noble pulled his starters.
The Panthers will face West Philadelphia in the Public League title game at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Glaser Arena.
Imhotep coach Andre Noble has the chance to make Public League history as the first coach to earn six consecutive Pub titles.
Imhotep, seeking its sixth straight Public League title, will have a chance to make Public League history on Sunday.
“No team’s ever done it,” Muhammad-Gray said of winning six straight Pub titles. “I would love to be the first team.”
‘Unfortunate for all parties’
While Constitution lost to Imhotep in Tuesday’s semifinal, the game was accompanied by controversy that began last week during Constitution’s quarterfinal game against Carver Engineering and Science.
Constitution trailed E&S, 61-49, with 1 minute, 11 seconds to play last Thursday when an altercation started. Spectators flooded the court, leading officials to suspend the game with 71 seconds remaining.
The Public League disqualified E&S from the game because its entire bench came onto the floor during the skirmish, which is a violation of the league’s unsportsmanlike conduct policy and results in a full-team suspension of the following game.
The quarterfinal was ruled a forfeit by E&S, allowing Constitution to advance to the semifinals to face Imhotep. However, an official’s report noted that a Constitution player instigated the altercation, and spectators from the Constitution bleachers came onto the floor.
Rob Moore, Constitution’s head coach and athletic director, called the events at the quarterfinal an “unfortunate situation.”
“It’s just unfortunate for all parties involved,” Moore said. “Trying to get my guys ready to play and missing guys, obviously, against a team that every year is the cream of the league, cream of the state. … I’m proud of my guys for coming out and, through everything, coming out here and playing basketball.”
Moore also disputed the referee report that suggested the spectators who came onto the floor were affiliated with Constitution. Moore said accessing the electronic ticketing system E&S uses for its home games revealed that only one male Constitution student bought a ticket for the quarterfinal.
Constitution’s Jacob Mitchell drives for a lay up against Imhotep’s Latief Lorenzano-White on Tuesday.
“We felt like we’ve been, basically, scapegoated as, we were just in the wrong with everything that happened,” Moore said. “In actuality, with all the facts that the district had to deal with, that just wasn’t the case.”
The Generals played with 10 players available against Imhotep. Three Constitution players were suspended and were not in jerseys for the game.
E&S attempted an emergency injunction from a Common Pleas Court judge on Tuesday in an effort to overturn its disqualification, but the team’s request was dismissed and the semifinal was played as scheduled.
The Villanova women’s basketball team has many reasons to feel confident entering the final three games of the regular season.
The Wildcats (21-5, 14-3 Big East) are riding a six-game winning streak and have a solid grasp on second place in the Big East standings. During last week’s road trips, they took care of Xavier on Wednesday, 78-38, and Creighton on Sunday, 74-64.
And back on its home floor on Wednesday night, Villanova will face No. 1 Connecticut for the second time this season (7 p.m., Peacock).
The Huskies (27-0, 16-0), coached by Norristown-raised Geno Auriemma, continue to loom over the conference and the nation. For Villanova coach Denise Dillon, Wednesday’s matchup will be a chance for the team to show how it has progressed this season. Most of all, it will be a mental test for the Wildcats as much as a competitive one against the nation’s top program.
“I always say, ‘If you want to be the best, you got to play the best,’” Dillon said. “And we have them here in our conference in UConn. … With UConn, there is no room for error. You have to be sharp, focused, and ready to battle.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who grew up near Philadelphia, brings an undefeated team into Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday.
Seeking improvement
The last time the top two teams in the Big East faced off, the Huskies sent the Wildcats home with a 99-50 loss on Jan. 15. According to Dillon, the humbling defeat was a dent in the team’s confidence. An upset loss to St. John’s followed two games later, forcing the team to reevaluate its standards.
“[The team] didn’t like how they handled [the loss to UConn],” Dillon said. “They didn’t like how the game went for us and didn’t even like how we responded thereafter. We got some wins after, but we weren’t playing very good basketball, and we weren’t where we needed to be. So I think that lesson was certainly felt and learned, and now here’s another opportunity to see how much we have grown.”
Dillon also was pleased with the team’s mental composure in its most recent win at Creighton. Despite trailing by three at halftime, Villanova’s offense surged in the second half for a double-digit win. Sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe led the way with 21 points, and freshman guard Kennedy Henry had 17.
“It was a huge win for us,” Dillon said. “The first half was a little shaky because it was three-point game, and in that second half, we settled in, played our game, and took care of business. … I think Jasmine did a great job in the second half of just directing, of settling in the team, and making plays for others.”
Bascoe’s leadership will continue anchoring the team on Wednesday night. Dillon also has high expectations for Henry, who led Villanova with 12 points at UConn.
“Kennedy’s a stat-filler,” Dillon said. “She’s doing it on both ends of the floor. I think she impacts the game immensely. She’s smart enough to know that [UConn is aware] what she did the first time, so they’re going to do what they can to counter it. And that’s the beauty of the game, you want to find different ways that you can impact, and I know Kennedy is going to be on point to do that.”
Villanova guard Kennedy Henry (22) was the team’s leading scorer in the first matchup vs. UConn.
Stopping Strong
The Huskies are led by 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Sarah Strong, who averages 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds. Strong dropped 24 points in the January matchup.
Strong has been a force for the Huskies against Big East and national opponents, leading the conference in scoring and field-goal percentage. Alongside Strong, the Huskies are stacked with versatile players, including second-leading scorer Azzi Fudd (17.8 points per game) and assists leader KK Arnold (4.6 assists per game).
UConn forward Sarah Strong (21), driving against Villanova’s Denae Carter on Jan. 15, is the Big East’s leading scorer.
“It’s a big task when all [of UConn’s] players are a threat, an option out on the floor,” Dillon said. “[Strong] is getting a touch every possession, so it’s just recognizing where her spots are, where she wants to get these looks, and trying to force her to catch a little bit farther out. So it’s not just a clean shot or burying us in the paint, just being more active with where those looks are coming.”
While Villanova will aim to limit Strong’s shooting, generating offense against UConn’s signature full-court press also will be a challenge. UConn allows just 50.5 points per game, the lowest average in the nation.
The Eberz sisters know they can count on each other to pick another up.
Alexis and Kayla Eberz, two of three sisters on the Archbishop Carroll girls’ basketball team, leaned on another to earn a 50-38 win over Archbishop Wood in a Catholic League girls’ basketball semifinal.
The two combined for 36 of Carroll’s 50 points; sophomore Kayla scored 24 and senior Alexis added 12.
“I definitely look up to Lex a lot,” Kayla Eberz said. “I’m so proud of everything she does, [and] I think we work together really well. So if one’s not doing so [we’re going to] pick the other one up.”
Archbishop Carroll’s Kayla Eberz finished with a team-high 24 points against Archbishop Wood on Monday.
Now, Carroll finds itself in a familiar position: the PCL final. This marks the Patriots’ third straight PCL final appearance.
Last season, Carroll lost to Neumann Goretti, and in 2024, it lost to Wood. The Patriots haven’t won a PCL title since 2019.
This time around, Carroll, which will face Cardinal O’Hara Sunday at the Palestra, believes it’s in a better spot to come out victorious.
“I think our mindset [has changed],” Alexis Eberz said. “We haven’t gotten the outcome we wanted the past two times, but we are using that as motivation this year. … We’re a special team. Staying together, staying composed, having discipline — I think we got it.”
Road to victory
But the Patriots’ semifinal win at Finneran Pavilion — the future home of Alexis Eberz, a Villanova signee — did not come easy.
The Vikings built a 10-point lead about six minutes into the game. Carroll responded with back-to-back three-pointers to cut its deficit and end the first quarter down by two points.
Wood senior forward Colleen Besachio, a Rider signee, was the difference-maker for the Vikings, scoring a team high 15 points. Wood trailed, 21-20, at halftime.
Archbishop Carroll’s Alexis Eberz drives to the basket against Archbishop Wood High’s Colleen Besachio in the third quarter on Monday.
But once the Eberz sisters started to connect in the third quarter, the tempo shifted.
Kayla started the run with a bucket that gave Carroll 31–28 lead, then followed it up with a massive block. On the Patriots’ next possession, Alexis found Kayla for a three-pointer, followed by a Kayla dish to Alexis for an easy layup to make it 36–28.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” Kayla said. “They had their run at first; we had ours. And then we just had to stay on top of it.”
Carroll held an eight-point lead entering the final 10 minutes and extended that advantage to a comfortable 12 points by the final buzzer.
“We just had to [take it one] possession at a time,” Carroll coach Renie Shields said. “When we dug in, took one possession defensively, and offensively got going, I felt more comfortable that we got into a swing of things.”
Back to the Palestra
Carroll has an 11-0 league record. The team is full of chemistry and experience.
The Patriots hope that will help them write a new story and bring home a PCL crown on Sunday afternoon.
“We’re all such good friends. It helps,” said senior forward Bridget Grant, who’s committed to Ursinus. “When one of us is down, another person picks [them up]. If someone takes a bad shot, you can let them know. That’s not us getting mad; it’s just trying to help the team. It really just shows how well we play with each other, that we all love each other.”
Members of the Archbishop Carroll team celebrate after beating Archbishop Wood in the Catholic League girls’ basketball semifinals on Monday.
