Tuesday, Marple Newtown junior Soutiri Sapnas became the school's third 1,000-point scorer when he dropped 38 points against Radnor.

Saturday, he outdid himself. Sapnas poured in 49 points as the Tigers beat host Sun Valley, 75-68, notching four accomplishments in one game:

• 1. The 6-3 point guard became Marple Newtown's all-time leading scorer. He surpassed 1995 grad and All-Delco selection Frank Zanin, who owns 1,085 points. (Sapnas has 1,097 and counting.)
• 2. Sapnas established a career-best point total. His previous best was the 38 he hit up Radnor for earlier this week.
• 3. He moved into the lead this season's best single-game scoring tally. Strath Haven's Calvin Newell scored 39 against Haverford earlier this month.
• 4. Sapnas broke his own school record for single-season scoring. He scored 527 points last season in his sophomore year. (He has 568 thus far in 2008-09.)

To further emphasize how big Sapnas' week has been, check this out: His scoring average at the start of the week was 25.4 ppg. After Saturday's game (the third of the week), its 27.1 ppg.

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.

By now, you probably know that Penn Wood pulled off the upset of Chester Tuesday night. (Junior point guard Tyree Johnson, pictured, was the hero. He scored 26 points, hauled in six rebounds and dished out six assists in the 53-52 win.)

But what you don't know is what else went down before, during and after the game. Here are some observations:

1. Chester's Laquan Robinson must like Beyonce, because he was singing the words to 'Single Ladies' in pregame warmups as the top-40 hit was being played in the gym.

2. The DJ manning the table slipped up, then made up for it. In bad taste, he let some expletive-laced songs play in a gym filled with children. Later on, though, he had the Penn Wood fan base in stitches as he played music over the Chester cheerleaders.

3. As Chester's Learon Pray lined up for the playing of the national anthem, there was one small problem: there was no flag in the gym. He mouthed to Chester coach Larry Yarbray, 'Which way do we face?'

4. According to a couple sources, only 250 presale tickets were made available to Chester fans. Which made for a mess at the front door, as a couple hundred more were turned away before the game.

5. I'm a big fan of high school mascots. Who isn't? But Penn Wood's version of the colonial patriot was weak. The person in the costume had rhythm and energy but the shabby suit was too big and the giant head kept falling off. Thumbs down to that.

The Daily Times was there Tuesday, with columnist Jack McCaffery turning in a great piece on the level of trust Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones has in Johnson. I handled the game story duties, and photographer Julia Wilkinson grabbed pictures and some video footage.

(Photo of Tyree Johnson by the Philadelphia Daily News)

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THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
Marple Newtown's Soutiri Sapnas needed 13 points Tuesday to break the 1,000-point plateau for his career. He scored that much in the first quarter.

Sapnas, on the fast track to becoming the school's all-time leading scorer, became the third player in Delaware County this season to crack 1,000 points. The others were Sun Valley's Tom Brennan and Strath Haven's Calvin Newell.

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DROPPING THE BALL
From the night's crazy-upset file, Harriton (6-13, 3-11) knocked off Penncrest (15-4, 10-4), 47-43. The loss to Harriton, a Class AAA team, does serious damage to Penncrest's hopes of attaining a top-10 seed in the District One Class AAAA bracket, which is announced Feb. 8.

Marple Newtown coach Jerry Doemling knew he had something special when a diminutive and spry sophomore named Soutiri Sapnas was in the midst of setting a school record last season.

Sapnas, the school's single-season scoring champ, will make history again tonight when the Tigers face Radnor at home at 7:30 p.m.

Now a junior, Sapnas needs only 13 points to cross the 1,000-point plateau for his career. That's nothing for the point guard, who averages 26 points per contest this season.

Stay close to the Daily Times for the latest on Sapnas.

The basketball season kicked off Friday night with a flourish. There were high scorers abound, some upsets and some high expectations that were given foundations for the rest of the season.

For starters, Chichester upended host Ridley, 50-39, behind 12 points and nine rebounds from Dan Clapp and 11 from Malik Carter (pictured).

The Eagles, who have just two wins in their last six openers, desperately needed to get off to a good start. In the always-competitive Del Val, their toughest tests are ahead of them.

Marple Newtown's Soutiri Sapnas scored 13 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter of a win at Harry S Truman.

Strath Haven's Calvin Newell dropped 28 on Carlisle, the hosts of a tipoff tournament and losers to the Panthers.

Glen Mills' Aaric Murray lived up to all the hype, tossing in 32 points.

And Archbishop Carroll escaped a three-overtime thriller over La Salle, 86-84, behind 21 from D.J. Irving and 19 from Juan'Ya Green.

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Daily Times reporters are scattered about the East Coast today, covering some bigtime games. I'm taking a day off from the high school beat to visit Lincoln Financial Field and the 109th Army-Navy Game. A lifelong Philadelphian, it's hard to believe that I've never covered one of these games. In fact, I've never even attended one. Today should be a treat.

Terry Toohey is in Harrisonburg, Va., for Villanova's second-round FCS playoff game against top-seeded James Madison. And Anthony SanFilippo is down in Carolina for a Flyers-Hurricanes game.

It's a big day for sports, certainly, so pick up Sunday's Daily Times for all the latest.

The boys basketball season isn't one day old yet and there are so many storylines to follow.

There are so many that they all could not fit into the Daily Times' season preview, which appears in Friday's edition. Here are a few others to keep your eyes on this year:

1. Is Soutiri Sapnas for real? The Marple Newtown junior (pictured), who lit the Central League on fire last season with his rampant scoring, will move to the point guard position this winter. Will he continue his torrid scoring ways?

2. Sun Valley's Tom Brennan needs 41 points to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career. That being said, Brennan averaged 24 ppg last year, so it might only take two games to get there.

3. Remember this guy? The school he used to play for formed into New Beginnings Academy, which will play The Christian Academy Friday night in the Delco Christian Tip Off Tournament.

For more, pick up a copy of Friday's Daily Times. And get out and enjoy a game!

The Central and Del Val leagues announced their all-league honors Wednesday. Here's the rundown of the first-team nominees for each league:

IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE...
Co-champions Lower Merion and Ridley were rewarded with two representatives each on the first team. For the Aces, Greg Robbins and Carl Johnson were honored, as were Steve Egee and Dan Robinson (named the league's most valuable player) for the Green Raiders.

Rounding out the Central League's First Team are Soutiri Sapnas of Marple Newtown and Jake Cohen of Conestoga.

IN THE DEL VAL LEAGUE...
PIAA Class AAAA tournament qualifiers Chester and Penn Wood each garnered two first-team nominations. The Clippers' Nasir Robinson and Karon Burton (pictured) got the nod, as did Duane Johnson and Tyree Johnson for the Patriots.

Also earning top honors in the league were Glen Mills' Aaric Murray and Academy Park's Anthony King.

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.

A couple things I saw Tuesday night at Marple Newtown got me thinking about doing a 'By the Numbers' post. First, the Tigers' Soutiri Sapnas knocked down five 3-pointers. For being a slasher who drives the lane, that's an unreal amount. Second, there was a time in the third quarter when Marple had more 3-pointers as a team (7) than 2-point field goals (6).

Here are some of my other findings from a night of Delaware County boys basketball action:
2 - Wins Ridley needs to clinch the Central League crown, after beating Upper Darby tonight.
5 - Number of Haverford High scorers to reach double figures. That's NBA caliber, right there.
7 - Number of games (and losses) for the Haverford School in Inter-Ac play.
10 - Blocked shots recorded by Glen Mills' Aaric Murray, who posted a triple-double in the Bulls' win over Penn Wood.
10 - Consecutive Del Val League crowns won by Chester High. Kudos to the Clips for maintaining their reign of the league for the past decade.
14 - Conestoga's biggest lead over Marple Newtown, which overcame the deficit only to lose to the Pioneers.
26 - Points scored by Ridley's Shamar Harris, posting a new career-high in the process.

Academy Park coach Rick Pergolini has been absent from the sideline for close to a month.

Complications from a May 2006 kidney transplant have kept Pergolini either in the hospital or resting comfortably at home the last four weeks. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Times, Pergolini said he wants to return this week for the Knights' final two games.

The Knights would welcome his return, since they are desperately missing their coach. Said senior Anthony King: "...when I have a question about basketball or anything, he's the one I go to. Without him here, it's like, 'Well, who do I go to? Who do I turn to?'" Check out the story and read up about Pergolini's health status only in Sunday's Daily Times.

Elsewhere on the hardwood, there were only a few games Saturday featuring Delco teams:
...Playing its third game in four days, Glen Mills showed its fatigue in a loss to a Coatesville team that has won 15 of its last 18 games.
...Marple Newtown got 32 points from Soutiri Sapnas in an upset of Garnet Valley.
...Delco Christian has two big guns in Jon DeShields and Jake Godino. But every now and then Pete Hughes (16 points) flexes his muscles. He did Saturday in a win.

Scoring 20 points per game is not enough to make Marple Newtown sophomore Soutiri Sapnas smile. Sapnas is pretty darn competitive and wants to win.

His performance Friday night in a 61-58 loss to Upper Darby proved the fact that he does not like losing. After the game, Sapnas overlooked his own 32-point effort and instead chose to focus on improving the Tigers' chances of winning.

"Yeah it's great to lead the team (in scoring), but I'd rather do it in a win," said Sapnas, who scored a career-high 34 points last month against Friends Central. "We're staying in games and cutting down leads but we can't get it all together. ...We're close."

Sapnas is the only sophomore among the county's top 25 scorers, ranking fifth with a per-game average of 20.2 points. For more on Sapnas, read a profile story on him from earlier in the season.

And for more on Upper Darby's win Friday over Marple Newtown, pick up today's Daily Times.

On another note, basketball fans can rejoice! Eight games, including a nearly-full Del Val League slate, will be played Saturday -- including Karon Burton (pictured above) and Chester. What's my pick for game of the day? Garnet Valley at Academy Park, 3 p.m. GV's Tim Lang and J.J. Rapczynski are a fun duo to watch.