Delco Christian Reaches State Semifinals

There was always a feeling among the girls’ basketball team that they could go far. Just how far the Lady Knights would be able to play into March depended on a few factors, some chance, and a healthy team. One thing they didn’t lack was a belief in themselves, and it’s a special facet of this special team that keeps rising to the surface.

It did again on Saturday, when Delco Christian vanquished an old nemesis, Tri-Valley, in the PIAA Class A state quarterfinal round, 42-37, to drive its season to a school-record 27-1 overall mark and also helped the Lady Knights achieve another program landmark, reaching the state semifinals for the first time in school history—after reaching Saturday’s state quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

Delco Christian will play the Steelton-Highspire-Line Mountain winner on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. Many factors went into this quarterfinal victory, a topsy-turvy game that the Lady Knights showed resilience in battling back from a five-point third-quarter deficit, mixed in with a little surprise, like 6-foot-3 senior center Emily Homan nailing down three-point shots, and the exceptional defensive work logged by Emily Evans on Tri-Valley’s dangerous point guard, Julie Weber.

Sophomore Stacey MacArthur led the Lady Knights with 20 points, Homan finished with 11, Jocelyn Chavous had six and Emily Evans scored five.

“The biggest key for us, I think, was our defense,” Lady Knights coach Mark Weaver said. “The whole game was within that range of five or six points and it came down to us driving to the basket and making some key foul shots in the end."

“But what often goes unnoticed is defense," continued Weaver. "Emily Evans should get a lot of credit for the job she did on Julie Weber, their point guard who makes them go. Evans did a great job and since our team is based around defense first, that’s what was very important for us. The whole team did a great job of playing great team defense.”

What sweetened this victory even more was that this was the same Tri-Valley team that had ended Delco Christian’s season the previous two years.

“We felt we had to pay them back and do things differently than we did last year, which we did,” Weaver said. “Tri-Valley I didn’t think was as quick as we were. They have a big girl, like Emily Homan, but we didn’t think she could get out on Emily. We actually brought our offense up high and Homan up high, maybe opening things to be able to drive on them and get some layups."

It was a nice move by Weaver—as Homan nailed a three-point shot at the beginning of the game to get the Lady Knights rolling.

“We lost to them the past two years and it’s why we came back with a vengeance this year,” Chavous said. “We came out pretty strong and we wanted to make some big baskets fast. When Emily Homan hit a three-point shot to start things off for us, that’s what started it. Right now, this is mind-blowing. We’re just one of four teams still playing. It’s one of the goals we wanted to reach and we’re still making it happen.”