Archbishop Carroll is playing for a championship Friday. It's not the championship the Patriots perennially focus on, but it's a championship nonetheless.

The end-all, be-all of the Catholic League is the league crown. If you don't win one, you're season is a failure. But when the CL joined the PIAA this season, suddenly there's another reason to play.

At Wednesday's practice, I asked a couple of the guys about whether they think their head coach - Paul Romanczuk, who played for the Carroll team that won the Catholic League title in 1995 - is enjoying this state-title push more than the league-title season during his playing career:

Junior guard D.J. Irving (pictured): "He talked about the Catholic League championship he had and how special it was for him. We couldn't get that for him, so hopefully we can get this one for him. I think this (stretch) has been more fun for him, as a coach."

Senior forward Pat Daly: "You might have to ask him about that. If I had to answer, I'd say yeah he is having more fun this year. He feels really close to this team. He believes in us and has been pulling for us. He wants to see us go out winners."

Senior captain Andre Wilburn: "He's excited. We're all excited. We just have to get up there and take care of business and win the medal."

Senior guard Kerri Shields had the all-around game Monday night that Archbishop Carroll needed to reclaim the Catholic League Championship. It was Shields' 3-pointer that lifted the Patriots past Archbishop Wood, 35-22, at The Palestra to give them their second league crown in three seasons.

Shields, a McDonald's All-America nominee and a Boston College commit, was stellar: eight points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist, one block. In their first year of PIAA eligibility, the Patriots (24-1) will vie for the District 12 Class AAA title Friday.

For more on the game, pick up a copy of Tuesday's Daily Times. Girls basketball beat writer Harry Chaykun was on the scene.

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In the boys title game ... David beat Goliath.

Class AAA school Neumann-Goretti topped perennial favorite Roman Catholic - a Class AAAA institution - in convincing fashion, 86-53, at The Palestra. The Saints look untouchable these days. Two of Archbishop Carroll's three losses are to them, and District One Class AAAA semifinalist Penn Wood lost to them, too.

Whereas most teams would be disappointed with a season-ending defeat – and not to be misunderstood, the Friars were – Monsignor Bonner's five seniors took comfort Saturday after their loss to North Catholic in the Catholic League quarterfinals.

The seniors - Henry Smith, Brian Boyle, Jerry Colvin, Matt Cummings and Bill Scanlan - helped establish a budding legacy at Bonner. Prior to their enrollment at the school in 2005, the Friars had not been in the playoffs in five seasons. They had not won a playoff game since their coach Brian Daly was wearing a green and white jersey. Now, the Friars are coming off their fourth consecutive playoff berth.

“Unfortunately, we had dreams of going a little further and winning the championship,” Boyle said, “but every guy who walked out of our locker room was satisfied with how our careers went. It could’ve been better, but none of us would trade it for anything.”

Well, except for maybe another win. “Maybe,” Boyle said, with a half-smile.

The District One Class AAA and Class A brackets were announced Friday, and four Delaware County teams made the cut:

Class AAA
No. 11 Upper Moreland at No. 6 Strath Haven (first round)
No. 10 Lower Moreland at No. 7 Springfield (first round)
No. 4 Marple Newtown vs. No. 8/9 winner (second round)

Class A
No. 11 Calvary Christian at No. 6 Delco Christian (first round)

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In the Catholic League playoffs, we're looking at Archbishop Carroll and Monsignor Bonner trying to advance to the semifinal round. Both play Saturday. Carroll is at Cardinal O'Hara, where it will face West Catholic. Bonner is at Archbishop Ryan, taking on North Catholic.

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The Bicentennial Athletic League is coordinating its playoff system this weekend to determine a champion. The top two teams from the league's Constitutional Division cross over to face the top teams from the Independence Division. Here is a look at Friday's opening round:

• Delco Christian (No. 2-CD) at Holy Ghost Prep (No. 1-ID)
• Christopher Dock (No. 2-ID) at Girard College (No. 1-CD)

The championship is Saturday.

Archbishop Carroll coach Kevin Curley had aspirations of winning a Catholic League boys soccer championship. A year removed from a semifinal appearance, Curley had reason to think big.

But when the CL playoffs kick off today, the Patriots will be watching from the sideline. An offseason alteration to the league’s eight-team playoff system – a product of the Catholic League’s membership in the PIAA – means six teams from the Class AAA Red Division and two from the Class AA Blue Division have moved on.

The disparity between big-school and small-school playoff berths leaves Carroll, which finished third at 13-3 in Blue Division play, out of the postseason. Meanwhile, a 4-10-3 Roman Catholic team sneaked in with the Red Division’s sixth seed.

"It’s unfortunate," Curley said last week. "That’s not just because we’re the third-place team or odd-man out, either. It’s just unfortunate. ...(Conwell-)Egan had a reasonably good season, one of their better seasons in recent years, and six or seven games ago they knew they had no chance at the playoffs. How deflating is that?"

Coaches from each of the Catholic League’s teams voted on the implementation of the current playoff system, Curley said. It was met with some hostility, though, and the Patriots’ coach expects even more resentment when the coaches convene following the playoffs.

"Most of the strong teams are in the other division, yes, but that doesn’t mean the smaller schools can be discounted," Curley said.

Catholic League boys soccer chairman George Todt favors the system that’s in place because of the title chances it provides to the smaller-school squads. The opening round pits the fourth and fifth seeds, both Blue Division teams, guaranteeing that one of them earns a berth to the semifinal round.

"I think the goal each year is to ensure that the best eight move on and we have that," said Todt, the boys soccer coach at Archbishop Ryan. "The 6-2 scenario was something we came up with for this year, our first in the PIAA. …We’ll look at it and reanalyze it when we hold a coaches meeting after the season."

Prior to last season, when Father Judge won the league championship, three teams had traded the championship trophy between themselves in the last 25 seasons: Archbishop Ryan, North Catholic and La Salle -- all Class AAA teams.

Todt said that the PIAA forced the Catholic League's hand in the playoff scenario. Rather than play the CL playoffs over three weeks as it had in years passed, the PIAA ruled that it had to complete its tournament over the course of one week: beginning today, with semifinals Oct. 25 and a final Oct. 28.

"And state playoffs begin Nov. 4," Todt said. "We wanted to keep some of the tradition of the CL alive, and part of that is with the three rounds."

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The District One Class AAA playoffs are underway, with all four of Delco's representatives playing under the lights in 7 p.m. starts.

Two seasons ended while two more are extended following Tuesday afternoon's playoff games.

Sun Valley and Marple Newtown, the first and second Delco teams to ever make a state-baseball final, both qualified for the state tournament with wins Tuesday. In fact, the two will face each other in Thursday's District One Class AAA final.

Monsignor Bonner's fall in the Catholic League title game wasn't without a solid effort from Conor Kerins, pictured, who was lifted by coach Joe DeBarberie after five-plus strong innings. He gave everything had against St. Joseph's Prep, which looked like one of the strongest teams I've seen all season.

In the Class A bracket, Delco Christian lost to Morrisville on a walk-off grand slam in the eighth inning.

Sorry for the recent lack of blogging, folks. Life's been busy, but that's nothing new.

Here's what's up in Delaware County:
Unless you've been living in a cave the last two months, you know Conor Kerins is the talk of the town. The Monsignor Bonner left-hander has been on fire. He's posted a 6-0 record overall and a 5-0 mark against Catholic League opponents.

On top of that, he's averaging two strikeouts an inning and has stifled opponents with an ERA slightly above 1.oo. If he keeps up this pace, there's a good chance he could lead the Friars to their first Catholic League title since 1989. I've covered the CL playoffs before and a few years back, Conwell Egan won on the strength of one strong arm. But the Friars have three. They might be tough to take down.

Elsewhere in baseball:

• Two unlikely heroes - J.J. Sims and D.J. DiPaola - led Haverford past Ridley Tuesday.
• Dave Hallinan is single-handedly keeping Interboro in the Del Val League race.
• Nearly a month after it began, a darkness-shortened game between Haverford and Penncrest will finally conclude Thursday.
  
  
  A WEEKEND AT THE PENN RELAYS
  For the baseball fans out there, please understand that we at the Delco Times are giving some love to track, too.
  
  And the Penn Relays are always a good time.
  
  In case you missed it last weekend, a couple individuals and teams from Delaware County had a good go of it at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania.
  
  Penncrest pole vaulter Jerry Thompson, pictured, had trouble clearing 14 feet, 9 inches and placed eighth in the championship flight. And Chester's Martin Soloman came in 18th in the 400m hurdles final.
  
  For a pair of Cardinal O'Hara jumpers, Steve Werner drew the short straw and Jason Johnson came up an inch short. Werner's long jump scores were miscalculated and he missed out on the championship flight. Meanwhile, his teammate, Johnson, in the triple jump, was an inch off of qualifying for the title run.
  
  Delco had a winner, though: Chester's girls 4x400 relay team topped the field in the Philadelphia Area final, outrunning eight other teams in the process. Kudos to the foursome.
  
  I made a promise earlier this year, a vow to blog more frequently. I will make good on that, starting ... ... now!

And then there were three.

A field of 17 Delaware County teams to make the postseason has narrowed to just three after the elimination of two local teams on Wednesday.

Class A Delco Christian lost in the district semifinals. Offering up the quote of the night was Knights senior Jake Godino, who was truly hurt by his team's loss: "I don’t know what happened," Godino said. "A loss is a loss … and we worked hard. But things didn’t work out for us."

And Jamal Melvin (pictured) and Monsignor Bonner dropped a heartbreaker in the Catholic League semifinals. The Friars tied the game with five seconds remaining, but subsequently fouled an Archbishop Ryan player with 0.8 ticks left. A la Villanova / Georgetown, this one was decided at the free-throw line.

Only three Delco teams are still playing this season: Chester will tipoff Friday with a district championship on the line; and Penn Wood and Ridley are in Class AAAA's play-back games before heading to states. As for Ridley, the Green Raiders' loss Wednesday means they can attain no higher than District One's seventh seed in states.

EVANS NETS HONOR
McDonald's All-American team was announced Wednesday, and star guard Tyreke Evans of American Christian made the cut. The two-time All-Delco averages 33.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 4.3 steals for the Eagles (26-4).

It appears recruiting services are making their marks on youth basketball players earlier and earlier these days.

The Dallas Morning News reports today that, according to recruiting service HoopScoop.com, some of the nation's top elementary school basketball players hail from Texas. My question is this: When did recruiting services begin rating kids before reaching high school?

Then I remembered how Sebastian Telfair (pictured) was heralded among national media only years ago. He was ranked among the nation's top fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders before heading to Brooklyn's Lincoln High. In the end, he's a middle-of-the road NBA player averaging 7.5 points per game.

So is all the attention necessary? Does it set the bar too high? Does it only set these kids up for failure and missed expectations? I welcome your thoughts.

In Saturday's playoff games:
I was at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School Saturday, where Radnor's season came to an end. The Red Raiders weren't alone. Also in the District One Class AAA tournament, Springfield's season concluded in defeat.

Elsewhere, Monsignor Bonner and Delco Christian advanced to the second rounds of their respective tournaments. The Friars knocked off Neumann-Goretti in the Catholic League playoffs, while the Knights took down Renaissance Academy in the District One Class A tourney. Check out Matt Smith's report on the Radnor/Holy Ghost game and Terry Toohey's account from the Delco Christian game.

This is one of the best times of the year: the playoffs have just begun, and soon enough it'll be time to name the All-Delco Team. This is where you, the reader, enter into the equation.

I have a general idea of who will make this year's All-Delco Team, but I'd like your thoughts on the matter. As the Daily Times continues ushering in the digital age of journalism, I've opted to use my blog as a medium for such a task. Either leave a comment on the blog or e-mail me who you think should make the team and why. My only request is that your responses be clear, concise and clean (no trash-talking on other players or foul language, please). I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Now back to the playoffs.

The results are in: two Delaware County schools are in the Catholic League playoffs. Well, sort of. Monsignor Bonner picked up the Southern Division's third seed by posting a 9-5 league record. The Friars will play No. 2 Neumann-Goretti on Saturday.

Archbishop Carroll and Saint Joseph's Prep will partake in a play-in game Wednesday for the fourth and final Southern Division seed. Both teams finished at 8-6 in league play. The Catholic League playoffs begin next weekend. The Patriots and the Hawks will play at Cardinal O'Hara Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance.

The Catholic League playoffs are right around the corner, and two Delaware County teams are on the cusp of getting in. Four teams from each division earn berths. Here's how the Southern Division breaks down, with Sunday's regular-season finales factoring in:

Team (League record) ....... Remaining game
Roman Catholic (13-0) ............... vs. Cardinal O'Hara
Neumann-Goretti (9-4) ............ vs. Saint Joseph's Prep
Monsignor Bonner (8-5) ........... vs. Kennedy-Kenrick
Saint Joseph's Prep (8-5) ......... vs. Neumann-Goretti
Archbishop Carroll (7-6) .......... vs. West Catholic

In other local basketball news:
Academy Park Anthony King is close to giving his commitment to play at Division II Bloomsburg, the senior said following the Knights' loss to Lower Merion in the first round of the District One Class AAAA tournament. King has yet to commit but hasn't gotten a solid scholarship offer from Penn State, which had sent several letters declaring its interest in the power forward. I'll keep you posted.