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.

Just got back in from the Kobe Bryant Classic at Villanova's Pavilion. Here are a couple things I saw that I couldn't fit into my stories:

• The Catholic League playoffs are right around the corner, so a couple role players from Delco's CL teams made sure they got one last look at Roman Catholic. Archbishop Carroll's D.J. Irving and Monsignor Bonner's Lijah Thompson and Henry Smith were on hand to watch the Cahillites.


• American Christian's Tyreke Evans returned to the Pavilion following his afternoon game for one of the nightcaps - Roman vs. Chester. He tried to slip in a back door before a security guard tried to squelch that plan. That is, until she recognized who Evans was. No one likes to give out special treatment. But in this case, the security guard felt she had to oblige.


• Chester's Russell Johnson sat out the Clippers' 83-73 win over Roman Catholic. Johnson was dressed in street clothes on the Chester bench for Friday's game, too. His status was not immediately known.


• Congrats to Conestoga and Ridley, which clinched a co-championship in the Central League with wins Saturday. Both teams will enter the District One Class AAAA tournament with identical 20-4, 15-3 records.