Even the astute minds of the Daily Times do not hold the answers to every question. The one currently driving us batty pertains to District One's 2,000-point scorers.

When (not if) Pennsbury's Dalton Pepper (pictured) scores four points tonight at Neshaminy, he will become the eighth player in District One to eclipse the 2,000-point mark for his career. Former Daily Times basketball writer Terry Toohey and I came up with seven of them:

• Wayne Keys (Bristol)
• Kobe Bryant (Lower Merion)
• Tommy Hauer (Sun Valley)
• Dan Geriot (Springfield)
• Lamont Ferrell (Yeadon/Penn Wood)
• Tyrone Lewis (Harry S Truman)
• Pepper (Pennsbury)

Who is the eighth? I'm thinking it's Hatboro-Horsham's Matt Carroll, but I'm not 100-percent sure. But ... the first person to e-mail the answer and proof -- cvito@delcotimes.com -- or post it here on the blog gets a prize*. (NOTE: By "prize", I mean I'm thinking a guest entry on Gettin' Schooled during playoff time. Sound fair?)

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DEL VAL CO-CHAMPS: With Penn Wood's win over Interboro Thursday and Chester's victory over Academy Park, the Patriots and the Clippers finished in a dead heat atop the Del Val League standings. Both teams have 9-1 records, with their only losses coming against one another.

It's the first time in 11 seasons that a team other than Chester has earned a share of the Del Val championship. It's safe to say Chester would have liked to have kept its streak an undisputed league-title run. But something tells me those two will settle things in the District One or PIAA playoffs.

Two of Delaware County's three undefeated boys basketball teams won again Saturday night, but their perfect seasons face serious threats this week.

Penncrest pushed around Unionville, 58-28, and Penn Wood subdued Central, 76-46. The challenges ahead will be covered by the Daily Times.

Tuesday: The Lions (10-0) take on fellow unbeaten Conestoga (12-0) Tuesday night in a game between the only loss-less Central League teams. Count on a solid low-block matchup with the Lions' Marvin Holman-Little (a physical 6-6 forward) and the Pioneers' Jake Cohen (a 6-10 Davidson commit).

Thursday: The Patriots (9-0) have to get past Chichester Tuesday before they can look ahead to an early-season game of the year candidate against Chester. In Thursday's meeting, look for the backcourt play of Penn Wood's Tyree Johnson and Aaron Brown to be on full display against the Clippers' talented duo in Kareem Robinson and Laquan Robinson.

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AROUND THE CORNER: No Delaware County teams has Pennsbury on its schedule, but they should keep an eye on their foes to the North.

The Bucks County-based Falcons (6-2) are fresh off an impressive showing in the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Behind senior West Virginia commit Dalton Pepper (pictured), they beat two teams that recently fell out of PrepNation.com's Southeast Region top 10.

They were drubbed by St. Patrick's (N.J.), the fourth-best team in the nation, and lost in a close one to an unranked Martin Luther King (Calif.) team.

Pennsbury resumed Suburban One play Saturday by whalloping Abington, 67-44. Look out.

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BULLS KEEP ROLLING: Around this time of year, the students at Glen Mills get a lengthy break to go home and enjoy the holidays with their families. So you'd think a two-week layoff would hurt the Battlin' Bulls, right?

Wrong. The 14 days since beating Downingtown West Dec. 20 had no effect in the Bulls' 16-point win over Bensalem Saturday. Aaric Murray scored 23 points, and Reggie Miles contributed 10 points, 11 assists and a solid defensive showing.

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MY RESOLUTION TO YOU: The infrequency with which I've posted lately is due to a couple things, namely though it was the holidays. Now that we're in the New Year (and I've resolved to not have another three-day week until July), I'll be posting with more regularity. So stay close to Gettin' Schooled.

The team Chester will face in the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals closely resembles the Clippers.

That's partly because Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said he used the Clippers' scheduling process as a model for his own team.

"We've always tried to overschedule," he said over the phone. "When we did that in the beginning, we lost some and won some. The last couple years, we've been able to win more than we're losing. ...We're not at the level where Chester is where they can play any team in the country on any given night, but we're getting there."

The Falcons (30-2) have beaten the likes of Lower Merion, Penn Wood (twice) and Ridley (twice). They beat New Jersey Section IV champ Linden and narrowly lost to Oklahoma's Putnam City, which is home to four Division I players.

Most of that can be credited to junior Dalton Pepper (pictured), a 6-6 guard-forward who is receiving plenty of recruiting attention. Word has it when West Virginia was in town to play Villanova, Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins skipped out on his team's walkthrough to see one of Pepper's district-playoff games.

For more of the Chester-Pennsbury match-up, check back to Gettin' Schooled leading up to the game. Wednesday's edition of the Daily Times will have plenty of coverage as well.

Penn Wood's players anticipated the fourth time being a charm against Chester. The Clippers saw the Patriots as another obstacle standing in their way of a state title.

What came to be Saturday at Villanova's Pavilion was an entertaining showcase of two teams vying for something pretty special.

In the end, Chester called upon its postseason savvy to end Penn Wood's remarkable run with a 68-60 win in the PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinals.

Karon Burton iced down his knee then lit up the scoreboard, netting 25 points in the win. Sports editor Rob Parent shed some light on Burton's return to the court after bruising his left knee and lower thigh during the game.

And despite their quarterfinal loss, Deputy Sports editor John Lohn foresees Penn Wood being the team to beat next season. It's very likely, considering they graduate only two players and return a bevy of underclass talent.

Said Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones: "Chester has all kinds of banners hanging up. It's time for a banner to hang somewhere else."

IN THE OTHER QUARTERFINAL

Penn Wood wasn't alone Saturday, as another Delaware County team's season came to an end. Ridley, trying to avenge its loss to Pennsbury in the District One quarterfinals, fell to the Falcons 45-40.

The Green Raiders were able to contain Pennsbury standout Dalton Pepper but could not come through with a timely basket toward the end. The Raiders graduate six seniors, including 1,000-point scorers Dan Robinson and Steve Egee.

Said Egee of his athletic career at Ridley coming to an end: "But now I'll never put on a Ridley uniform again. I'm just thankful for the memories and the good times that I had with these guys."

Had you told Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones three months ago that his team would be in the District One Class AAAA semifinals, he might have had his doubts.

Conceivably, it was possible. Coming off a 12-13 year and a No. 28 seed in the district in 2006-07, it was almost unlikely. But after beating Souderton Friday, the Patriots are now set up for a colossal matchup with a familiar foe from the Del Val League - Chester - in the semifinals next week.

In other local quarterfinal games of interest:

• Council Rock South didn't even give Chester a good contest. With four scorers in double figures, the Clippers won their 34th straight district tournament game.
• Pennsbury was just too much for Ridley, which hit a game-long cold spell and couldn't recover. Highly-recruited guard Dalton Pepper stole the game for Pennsbury.

Make sure you pick up a copy of today's Daily Times for preview capsules of today's four games: Monsignor Bonner in the Catholic League playoffs; Radnor and Springfield in the Class AAA tournament; and Delco Christian in its Class A opener.

Since I was out at Wissahickon covering Ridley/Pennsbury Friday, I also chipped in on a girls basketball playoff game being played there before the nightcap. In Class A, Sacred Heart moved on with a huge win. Be sure to check it out.