Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. We're only two weeks into the boys basketball season and here I am blogging about in-season tournaments. Oh well. Sue me for being overly excited.

Here are a couple dates to keep your eyes on, including one that bears the name of Lower Merion's finest:

THE 9th ANNUAL GIRLS PLAY-BY-PLAY CLASSIC
(Jan. 17, at Archbishop Carroll H.S.)
Mt. St. Joseph vs. Spring-Ford, 12 p.m.
Cardinal O'Hara vs. Trenton Catholic, 1:30
Archbishop Carroll vs. Notre Dame, 3

THE 10th ANNUAL KOBE BRYANT PLAY-BY-PLAY CLASSIC
(Jan. 24, at Norristown H.S.)
Msgr. Bonner vs. Williamsport, 12 p.m.
Arch. Carroll vs. Norristown, 1:45
Chester vs. Academy of the New Church, 4
Penn Wood vs. Lower Merion, 5:45

THE 10th ANNUAL BOARDWALK CLASSIC
(Dec. 26 - 31, at the Wildwood Convention Center)
There aren't any Delaware County teams involved, but if the mood should strike you, you could make the 2-hour drive to see Lijah Thompson, the Monsignor Bonner transfer who is tearing it up for Communications Tech.

Senior Lijah Thompson is out at Monsignor Bonner, the player confirmed Tuesday night. He transferred from Bonner at the conclusion of last school week.

The 6-7 forward is amidst his first week at Communications Tech High School in Southwest Philadelphia, which is within walking distance of Thompson's home.

Thompson attended the Friars' 59-50 home win over Academy Park Tuesday. He sat at midcourt in the front row, across from the team's benches.

The Robert Morris commit averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots per game last year, when the Friars advanced to the Catholic League semifinals.

For more on Thompson's transfer, pick up a copy of Thursday's Daily Times.

Monsignor Bonner senior forward-center Lijah Thompson gave a verbal commitment Friday to Robert Morris University. His decision was first reported by the Daily Times Sunday. Here is more from interviews with Lijah and his coach at Bonner, Brian Daly:

BRIAN DALY, Friars coach
...on Thompson's potential:
"I think everybody agreed that his ability is at a slightly higher level conference-wise but he believes in the idea of a solid education and finding the right place and feeling comfortable."

...on Thompson making his choice:
"I told him before he left to prepare himself and take some quiet time. I said, 'You have to have two answers prepared. One is, 'Thanks for the offer but I need to speak to my parents first.' And the other is, 'I really want to be a Colonial. I want to play for Robert Morris. When he texted me real late (Friday), I knew which answer he gave them."

LIJAH THOMPSON, Friars senior
...on making his choice:
"I wanted to go somewhere where it would be real easy to fit right in. I wanted to go where it wouldn't be too hard to adapt to after high school. When I saw the school, I knew this was it. And my mom (Cheryl), she was all for it. She was so happy for me."

Monsignor Bonner senior center Lijah Thompson visited Robert Morris University this weekend and he liked what he saw. Thompson wasted little time, committing to the Northeast Conference school hours after making his official visit to the Moon, Pa., campus.

Thompson averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds last season as a Second-Team All-Delco pick a year ago.

Thompson, known for his high-flying dunks and athletic blocked shots will be a freshman there in 2009-10 with Chester's Russell Johnson and North Catholic's Velton Jones in their sophomore seasons with the Colonials.

I have some extras from my interviews with Thompson and Friars coach Brian Daly, but they're at the office ... and I'm at home updating the blog on my off day. I'll post them when I get in on Monday.

Until then, here's the story (which was first reported by the Daily Times). Enjoy the weekend.

Photo by the Philadelphia Daily News

Marple Newtown's Soutiri Sapnas brought to an end his incredible sophomore season with a record.

His Tigers fell in the first round of the District One Class AAA tournament, 65-55, but Sapnas became the single-season scoring champ in Marple Newtown history. Sapnas' 527 points in 25 games surpassed the 521 in 26 games posted by Greg Bishop.

Sapnas (pictured) has two seasons left at Marple Newtown and is sure to break even more records in his high school career.

All-Catholic Teams Announced: Six players from Delaware County schools were named to this year’s All-Catholic League Southern Division teams, which were announced Wednesday.

The only area player named to the First Team was Monsignor Bonner’s Lijah Thompson. The 6-7 junior forward averages 14 points per game for the Friars. He also leads the team in rebounds and blocked shots.

Bonner’s Jamal Melvin and Archbishop Carroll’s Kasheef Festus made the division’s Second Team. Selected to the Third Team were Carroll’s D.J. Irving and Ellis Rogers and Cardinal O’Hara’s Zach Tansey. Kudos to those guys.

Additional basketball coverage: Check out preview capsules for tonight's games and a feature story on Chester's Kevin Green-Germany, who has emerged as a consistent 3-point threat for the Clippers.

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.