by Mike McLeod

The approach of winter storm Juno last Tuesday was enough to scare most local schools enough that classes and, subsequently, basketball games were canceled. Germantown Academy, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and Penn Charter were all affected by the storm, with their games on Tuesday postponed until Friday, Feb. 6. Although Tuesday games were canceled, there was a full slate of weekend games to make up for it.

Guers, Patriots stay atop Inter-Ac

After having Tuesday off, Germantown Academy used the extra preparation time to take down rival Malvern Prep, 77-54, at home.

Germantown Academy (19-5, 7-1) was led once again by senior guard, Tim Guers. He led all scorers with 23 points, hitting three three-pointers and going 4-5 from the foul line. Coach Jim Fenerty’s offense continued to stay balanced, with 13-point performances from Devon Goodman and Sam Lindgren. Matt Perricone and Evan-Eric Longino dropped in 9 while Kyle McCloskey chipped in 8 to round out the powerful Patriot offense.

The win, coming a week after Fenerty snatched his 500th career win at the school, kept the Patriots tied atop the Inter-Ac standings at 7-1 with Episcopal Academy, keeping its  hopes for a third straight league title afloat. Due to the postponement of its game earlier in the week, its final game of the year, now against Episcopal, may decide who takes the crown. If both teams stay at one loss, the game, on Feb. 6, will be for the league title.

Germantown Friends’ dominates in two wins

Germantown Friends coach Shawn Werdt rode two dominant individual performances to wins against Friends League opponent Friends Select and the Science Leadership Academy last week.

On Friday against Friends Select (1-17, 0-7), senior Andrew Aldridge posted a huge game for the Tigers, who drubbed their opponent 74-27. Aldridge almost matched Friends Select, scoring 26 points on his own and pulling down 12 rebounds, including five on the offensive side, for the double-double.

The win kept the Tigers (20-2, 6-1) in second place in the Friends League behind the 7-0 Westtown School with only a few games left in the regular season.

The usual offensive leader for the Tigers, Ray Leon, had an off night from the field, but still added 22 points. Usually a consistent threat from beyond the arc, Leon went cold from distance, going 2-10 from three-point range.

Possibly wanting to avenge that shooting performance, Leon came out shooting the next day against the Science Leadership Academy in a 64-46 non-conference win. Leon dropped an impressive 43 points on the night, going 5-8 from three-point range and getting to the foul line an incredible 17 times, where he made 14.

Heading into post-season play, Coach Werdt will look to have these types of performances continue to propel his team deep into the playoffs.

News and Notes

La Salle (16-4, 8-3) stayed in the third slot in the Catholic League, splitting games against Archbishop Wood and Bishop McDevitt.

The Explorers suffered a loss to Wood (16-4, 7-4) 71-61 at home on Friday before coming back to win a much lower-scoring affair, 44-34, against McDevitt.

Sitting behind Roman and Neumann-Goretti, who are both at 9-1, the Explorers will look to win their last two games and get some help if they want to be the regular season champion.

Penn Charter (3-20, 0-8) could not find a first win in its lone league game this week, falling 59-42 against Haverford School.

The Quakers have two games to get their first Inter-Ac victory, with a meeting with league leader Episcopal before facing off against Springside Chestnut Hill, which stands at 1-7 in the league.

Springside Chestnut Hill (6-16, 1-7) fell to Episcopal on Friday, 74-46. If it can’t pull a win off against Malvern Prep before its meeting with Penn Charter in the Inter-Ac finale, SCH may be playing to stay out of the league’s basement with the Quakers.