Friday night, Penn Wood put the finishing touches on its first District One Class AAAA championship in 18 years ... and the Daily Times was all over it. (Game story and column can be found here.)

The Times was on the baseline, too, with staff photographer Bob Gurecki nabbing some shots of the action:
Penn Wood reserve forward Jeff Kyem pulls down a rebound in front of Plymouth-Whitemarsh's C.J. Aiken in the first half.

Shawn Oakman (center) embraces Aaron Brown (left) and Will Brown (right) in the moments following the Patriots' upset of the Colonials.

Reserve guard Jerry Price (No. 1) rushes to the court after the buzzer to meet Will Brown and Aaron Brown (back) following the Patriots' first district championship victory since 1992.

AROUND THE STATE
In a major upset, Reading dispatched Hempfield, 54-46, Saturday in the District Three Class AAAA title game. Hempfield, the top seed, had gone 27-0 en route to the title game.

What that does is make Penn Wood's road to a repeat as state champion a little more bumpy, with Reading winning and going to the West side of the PIAA bracket. The weekend is long, so let's see how the rest of the bracket shakes out before we reach any conclusions.

AROUND THE COUNTY
In the District One Class AAAA seventh-place game. Penncrest toppled Chester, 56-53, at West Chester East High School. The Lions' Rodney Duncan went off for 31 points, a career high. The Clippers trailed by 10 with two minutes to go before closing the gap. According to Penncrest coach Mike Doyle, Duncan's point tally is the best for any Lion in more than eight years.

Penn Wood junior Aaron Brown needed only 10 points Thursday to notch a career milestone.

Mission accomplished.

Brown scored 14 to lead the Patriots past Glen Mills, 73-49, in a win that clinched Penn Wood's undefeated season in the Del Val League portion of their schedule. Brown joined the 1,000-point club in the win. Shawn Oakman and Tyree Johnson, the reigning Daily Times Player of the Year, joined Brown as the team's leading scorers -- all having scored 14 apiece. A senior, Johnson also eclipsed the 1,000-point mark this year.

For those who don't know about Brown, you need to see the kid play. The 6-5 forward thrives on the wing. His jumpshot works well in his game, but he's at his best when he can get to the rim on his dribble-drive attack. He's even worked on his 3-point shot, too.

Brown emerged as a legitimate threat for the Patriots late last season in their district- and state-playoff runs en route to the PIAA Class AAAA championship. In the state semifinal victory against Mt. Lebanon, his worth really shone through when he shot 10-for-10 from the floor. This season, he has ranked within the county's top-five scorers from the first game of the year.

And scoring his 1,000th career point is only the latest milestone on Brown's resume.

What's that old parable? It has something to do with a tree falling in the woods... Anyway, a high-school boys basketball game started Saturday and ended Sunday. It didn't go to overtime. And it certainly wasn't televised, so there weren't any television timeouts.

So why did Archbishop Carroll's nonleague game against Mount Lebanon require two calendar days to complete? It's the fault of showcase tournaments, creating glossy games that have more to do with feeding bodies through turnstiles than with maintaining the well-being of the student-athletes involved in the game.

Maybe it's just this reporter's opinion, but it seems absurd that a high school game be started - and finished - so late in the night. Maybe the players actually enjoy a break from the monotony of 3:45 and 7:30 p.m. starts. Maybe the fans enjoy taking in a game that requires a few coffee trips to prevent snoring while watching.

I don't. I'm old school that way. It's a shame Carroll's Juan'ya Green, pictured, one of the county's finest scoring guards, posted 26 points and made 15 of his 17 shots from the free-throw line ... and nobody probably saw it. It's a shame All-Delco D.J. Irving scored 16 points and added five steals and four assists for Archbishop Carroll ... and nobody read about it in the newspaper.

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In games that started (and ended) Sunday:
Penn Wood 86, South Philadelphia 48: The Patriots absolutely pummeled their Public League foes in a game at Villanova's Pavilion. Four scorers hit for double figures, including All-Delco Tyree Johnson and forward Aaron Brown.

Parkland 61, Chester 59 (OT): The Clippers lost for the third time in five games and their second straight, in an overtime game at Parkland. Erikk Wright, a sophomore forward who scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, continues to emerge as a formidable player in the paint.

Despite what the subject line reads, this post is going to be about breaking down the box score from Thursday's Del Val League game, which went Penn Wood's way, 73-40.

The Patriots beat down the Bulls in every way imaginable. They shot 45 percent (30-for-66) while holding the Mills to 27 percent (12-for-44). They forced the Mills into 27 turnovers while committing only 11 of their own. They had an assist (15) for every other bucket. They outrebounded the Bulls, 33-26. And they killed the Bulls from long range, hitting 8 of their 20 shots from 3-point land.

"There's a bulls-eye on us, so every time we step on the court, we have to be ready to go get it," said Penn Wood point guard (and reigning Daily Times Player of the Year) Tyree Johnson. "I don't care who it is. i don't care if we're playing against girl scouts. If they step on the floor of this jawn, they have to be ready to play us."

The fact is, the Patriots are. Always have been. They pushed the ball up the floor, determined the pace of the game while killing any blow Glen Mills tried to accrue. They seemed every bit of the defending PIAA Class AAAA champions. And, until someone takes that from them, they will be.

Aaron Brown, pictured, and Will Brown had 17 apiece to lead the Patriots.

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EXTRA BOUNCES
---It was good to see former Glen Mills coach Craig Mellinger out and about at Harrison Athletic Center. I didn't talk to him too much, but he said he's enjoying spending more time with his two high-school-aged children than he used to.

---I don't like putting together 'Best of...' lists, unless it's the end of the season. But if I had to pick the best places in Delco to watch a boys basketball game, I'd put Glen Mills at or near the top. Whether they're ahead or down (by a lot, as was the case Thursday) the crowd is into it, the music is blaring and the place is jumping. Chester's at the top, too. And I'd say a distant third from those two obvious choices is Penncrest. There are so many good vantage points there.

Here's an up-close look at the Chester/Penn Wood game:
Early in the second quarter and with the game's outcome still in doubt, Penn Wood junior forward Aaron Brown (pictured) was whistled for a technical foul. The call was questionable, causing spectators and reporters, alike, to scratch their heads.

Brown is not an overly aggressive player. And players from both sides were jawing. Turns out he was whistled for running into his teammate, Shawn Oakman, which had to have been perceived as a sign of boasting, because there was no blatant contact between players from opposing teams.

"They all talk (trash) and any kind of bump would be seen as a form of aggression," Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones said. "Aaron is always emotional. But I know his emotions are going to lead to production."

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BY THE NUMBERS
10-11: Chester's proficiency at the free-throw line, a 91-percent clip.
19-34: Penn Wood's proficiency at the free-throw line, a 55-percent clip.
37-21: Penn Wood's rebounding advantage.
1: Technical foul, against Penn Wood's Aaron Brown.
3:28: Time it took Chester to get on the board.
4: Points scored by Will Brown during a dynamic second-quarter play. He hit a 3-pointer from the right side of the arc and, after sustaining a foul by Chester's Laquan Robinson, made the subsequent free throw.

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The arrangement to bring the first meeting of the season between these two Pennsylvania titans to Saint Joseph's University was the product of internal connections. Penn Wood alumnus Rap Curry, also the Patriots' athletic director, played a fruitful college career on Hawk Hill. So did Jameer Nelson, whose younger brother, Maurice Nelson, plays for Chester.

The younger Nelson, who had 17 points, was playing on the floor of Hagan Arena - formerly the Fieldhouse - for the first time in his life. And hanging about the court, in the rafters, is a banner bearing his brother's No. 14 and his likeness.

"I didn't even look up there today," Mo Nelson said. "I have in the past. Not today."

PHOTO BY DAILY TIMES' PHOTOGRAPHER BOB GURECKI

No one told Penn Wood that defending its PIAA Class AAAA championship was going to be easy. They're not even into the Del Val League portion of their schedule but the Patriots are fighting an uphill battle.

Coach Clyde Jones (pictured) and the Patriots went 1-3 this week at the City of Palms Classic, an exclusive, invite-only basketball tournament held in Fort Myers, Fla. Only the best of the best make it there. That's why the Pats got the call this offseason.

Among their losses were defeats at the hands of Paterson Catholic (N.J.) and Westchester (Calif.), both ranked within the top 50 in the nation by ESPN/Rise Magazine. The Patriots also lost to St. Frances (Md.) Wednesday.

Here's how Jones sizes up Penn Wood's performance down south:
On his level of frustration after these games were:
“Well, (Wednesday) we lost on a last-second shot to St. Frances. Against Paterson Catholic, we were up 20 and we turned over the ball late. Shawn (Oakman), Darian (Barnes) and Dequan (Pelzer) all fouled out. And (Tuesday), against Westchester, we tied it late and had another turnover. It's really been turnovers in late minutes that have hurt us.”

On accepting these losses because of who they were against:
“No losses are acceptable for me. But it's something the kids needed to experience. It's a measuring stick for us. It'll help us when we play teams back home. We were a turnover away from beating Westchester, the No. 6 team in the country (according to ESPN/Rise Magazine). And we were taking apart Paterson Catholic, another nationally ranked team, for three quarters. It's probably the best three quarters I've seen us play since I've been at Penn Wood. I feel for the kids because they deserved to win one of these games. They deserve them.”


On the play of junior forward Aaron Brown (pictured), who averaged 20.3 points and 7 rebounds in four games:
“He hit a wall (Wednesday), but he's really made it known that he's become a big-time recruit and a big-time player. The last two games, teams have seen what he can do. And it's not just Aaron. With Shawn, we've had coaches ask us why he isn't a top-10 Division I recruit. In Will Brown, you're starting to see what he can do when he comes out of his shell.”

On what he heard from college coaches while there:
“Tom Crean from Indiana told me he hasn't see a team play this well together in a long time. He also said it was encouraging to see kids interacting with each other and pushing each other the way our guys do. I also heard from coaches at Auburn, who saw our game against Paterson Catholic, that we were one of the best functioning high school teams in the country. The people running the tournament told us our kids were the most well-mannered, well-behaved team that's ever come through. That all means a lot to me, because when you're a coach, you're a lifelong learner. And it shows that our kids can learn, too.”

Penn Wood (3-3) returns to action Monday against Academy of the New Church at Widener.