For hoop-heads like myself, it's always good to see a story like the one that appears in Friday's Daily Times.

Sports editor Rob Parent takes a look at Chester's Laquan Robinson and Mo Nelson (pictured) - basketball players at heart who are suiting up for their school's football team, too. Robinson and Nelson, who represent the backcourt for Clippers coach Larry Yarbray, are expected to carry Chester High beyond the PIAA Class AAAA basketball quarterfinals.

Parent also caught up with Penn Wood junior Shawn Oakman, a huge (and we mean huge) piece of football coach Sam Mormando's team. Oakman, who measures to 6-9, was the starting center on hoops coach Clyde Jones' PIAA Class AAAA state-championship team last winter. On the football field, he lines up at tight end and defensive end.

It's an interesting look at how, in an era that pushes student-athletes to specialize in one sport, several players are taking a pass on the norm. ...Only in Friday's Daily Times.

If you've never attended the Donofrio Classic, this week would be a great time to do so.

It's a long-running single-elimination tournament that features the best players and the best AAU teams from Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey (and sometimes even the North Jersey/NYC suburbs).

There's a nice twinbill this Wednesday, April 8:

• I-3 All-Stars vs. Mainstreet, 7 p.m.
• Sonny Hill Juniors vs. Positive Image, 8:30 p.m.

The early game featuring nine players from Delaware County and three members of this year's All-Delco team. There are two starters from Archbishop Carroll's PIAA Class AAA championship team and four starters from Penn Wood's Class AAAA title team:

MAINSTREET
Rahlir Jefferson, Sr. F, Chester *
Maurice Nelson, So. G, Chester
Tyree Johnson, Jr. G, Penn Wood * (pictured)
Duane Johnson, Sr. F, Penn Wood *
Shawn Oakman, So. C, Penn Wood
Thomas White, Sr. F, Penn Wood
Aaron Brown, So. F, Penn Wood

I-3 ALL-STARS
Andre Wilburn, Sr. F, Archbishop Carroll
Kasheef Festus, Sr. C, Archbishop Carroll (pictured)

The later game has just one county player – Episcopal Academy’s sophomore center Isaiah Baker, whose Sonny Hill Juniors take on Positive Image in an 8:30 p.m. tipoff.
Note: An asterisk (*) signifies All-Delco status.

# # #

Two Delco teams were shown some love in recent national basketball polls.

Archbishop Carroll is ranked fifth in the Northeast Region (Pa., N.Y., N.J. and New England) by PrepNation.com. The PIAA Class AAA champion Patriots are three spots ahead of league rival, eighth-ranked Neumann-Goretti.

In USA Today’s East Region poll, Penn Wood garnered a No. 7 ranking. Though inactive, the PIAA Class AAAA champion Patriots moved up from last week’s No. 8 rank

The District One basketball playoffs will be here in no time. Teams in Class AAAA have to wrap up their regular seasons by Saturday so the seedings can be announced Sunday.



Chester's Maurice Nelson and Penn Wood's Duane Johnson, pictured, figure to be big-time players in the AAAA bracket. Nelson has upped his scoring average from 11 ppg to 15 ppg in the last month as the Clippers seek their 8th straight district championship. Johnson leads a balanced team hoping to usurp Chester.


There could be as many as 12 teams from Delco playing postseason basketball:
CLASS AAAA LOCKS (6): Chester; Penn Wood; Glen Mills; Penncrest; Upper Darby; Radnor.
CLASS AAAA BUBBLE TEAM (1): Chichester.

##

CLASS AAA LOCKS (3): Archbishop Carroll; Marple Newtown; Springfield.
CLASS AAA BUBBLE TEAM (1): Sun Valley.

##

CLASS A LOCK (1): Delco Christian.


Sunday, the AAAA bracket is released. We'll have to wait until the following week for the other brackets.

The Class of 2010 might as well be dubbed 'the class of the point guard'. As this reporter sees it, five of the county’s top-10 juniors play the point. And three more handle the No. 2 slot, which limits the number of post players to two.

Here are a few observations of Delaware County’s top juniors:
1. Tyree Johnson, PG, Penn Wood: A smart, instinctive No. 1 who can turn heads with his passing ability, Johnson, pictured, also has the ability to score in bunches (when needed).

2. Soutiri Sapnas, PG, Marple Newtown: A scoring, jumpshooting machine who is on his way to becoming his school’s all-time scoring champ, Sapnas is the focus of every team’s gameplan.

3. Maurice Nelson, SG, Chester: Like his older brother, he does a little bit of everything. Nelson has found a niche with the Clippers with his scoring (14.5 ppg).

4. D.J. Irving, SG, Archbishop Carroll: An unassuming player who looks for his teammates first, it’s a wonder how a player with that selfless mindset averages 14 ppg.

5. Jack Roberts, C, Strath Haven: His rebounding and shot-blocking skills are well advanced. His scoring touch is not there yet, but at 6-7, it is on the way.

6. Andrew Radomicki, PG, Penncrest: A gritty, hard-nosed point who does the stuff that doesn’t appear in box scores: gets everyone involved, takes charges, makes the extra pass.

7. Omari Grier, PG, Episcopal Academy: He can slash or hit a pull-up. Grier works his best in catch-and-shoot opportunities and he possesses some dangerous size on the wing.

8. Jamal Melvin, PG, Monsignor Bonner: An undersized guard who can bob and weave his way to the bucket, Melvin can also dish to his bigs if nothing is there. He is fun to watch.

9. Ben Mingledough, SF, Archbishop Carroll: Long and lean, he’s a terror on the perimeter. Mingledough has put scoring on the backburner for now because of his skills on defense.

10. Laquan Robinson, SG, Chester: A role player and a selective shooter, he chooses his opportunities wisely. On any given night, though, Robinson can go off for 15.

Others to watch: Radnor G Kyle Hammonds; Ridley C Cameron Gunter; Penncrest SG Rodney Duncan; Haverford School SG A.J. Jones; Chichester G Brian Parker; Springfield C Wally Rutecki; Glen Mills G Lavander Johns.

Yesterday was a day to remember for fans seated in the bleachers of Widener's Schwartz Center. For me, well... let's just say I had my fill of basketball.

The Jameer Nelson/Pete Nelson Classic kicked off Friday with all three Delaware County teams involved walking away with wins:

Chester extended its dominance over Norristown, 58-47 ... Rahlir Jefferson (pictured) had a dominant outing against the team the Clippers beat for the District One and PIAA Class AAAA titles. So did Maurice Nelson, the younger brother of Chester legend Jameer.

Daily Times photographer Bob Gurecki was on hand for some video coverage of the game, so let me know what you think of it: e-mail me or post your thoughts on the blog.

###

Penn Wood led the whole way against North Catholic, 78-65 ... Reserve Chris White hit six big-time 3-pointers for the Patriots, who went nine-deep but never lost the lead against the Falcons.

###

Archbishop Carroll topped Life Center Academy, 55-49 ... Junior D.J. Irving had the big game for the Patriots, winning the MVP award in his hometown of Chester. The game was closer than it should have been considering LCA was without four players who were declared post-graduates. Among them was Jon DeShields, who played last year at Delco Christian.

Had LCA played all of its post-grads, who knows whether Carroll's district- and state-playoff eligibility would have been called into question down the road? The result of this game might have even been forfeited. It's a good thing this was dealt with appropriately.

###

A couple other tidbits from the Nelson Classic:

• DeShields, who watched his LCA teammates from the bench, was walking with a limp. He said its the product of a toe contusion. DeShields led the county with 24.4 points per game in 2007.
• Freshly retired coach Fred Pickett was on hand throughout the day and was seen videotaping the Penn Wood game for Chester coach Larry Yarbray. "I'm a scout now," he said with a smile. Pickett took in the Chester-Norristown game from the far end of the Clippers' bench.
• Penn Wood looks like it has its most success when it rotates players in and out of the game with regularity. The Pats scored 10 points in the second quarter, when coach Clyde Jones stuck with a six-man set. "With foul trouble, you have to do that sometimes," Jones said. "The game of basketball is a lot easier when you have the players you want on the court all the time, but it doesn't work like that."

There's more to come Saturday from the Nelson Classic. Staffer Matt Smith is there for the Chester-Atlantic City game.

The wait is over.

Not your wait for the gifts, or even the wait in department store lines (sorry, last-minute shoppers.) The wait is over for the first boys basketball notebook, which hits news stands Friday.

Here are some items featured within that will whet your appetite:

• The first Super 7 poll
• Radnor staying afloat since its bump to Class AAAA
• Why the hot starts for Interboro and Penncrest
• The Game of the Week
• And more.

With this being a holiday week, I likely won't be posting with regularity. I can't promise daily posts this week, but check back as often as possible.

###

Movin' on up: Penn Wood, at 5-0 through Monday, has ascended to No. 37 in this week's ESPN/Rise Fab 50 national poll.

###

Gifts first, Daily Times second: I know presents will be the first thing on your to-do list come Thursday, Dec. 25, but pick up a copy of that day's Daily Times for the run-down on this year's Jameer Nelson Classic.

I had a good 20 minutes on the phone last weekend with the Orlando Magic guard, and he had some insightful things to say - about his own giving ways (in the spirit of the holidays), about his alma maters, and about his brother, Maurice Nelson, and the Chester Clippers.

###

Former Delco File: Lamont 'Mo Mo' Jones, a standout junior last season at American Christian, is doing well for himself down at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where he and his teammates have raced out to a 17-0 record and a No. 3 ranking by PrepNation's weekly poll. Jones, as you may know, took backseat to Tyreke Evans, but was as gifted a shooter as the now-Memphis guard.