It wasn't as dramatic as most championship games are, but Penncrest will take it.

The Lions thumped Ridley, 45-26, Tuesday night in the Central League championship game at Harriton High School. The teams' only other meeting this season went to overtime, with the visiting Green Raiders stealing a victory.

This time, it was all Penncrest (21-3), which won its first league title since 1999 and only its seventh all-time. Senior Rodney Duncan inflicted most of the damage, dropping in 20 points. Fellow senior and backcourt mate Andrew Radomicki dropped in 12 for the Lions, who outscored the Green Raiders (16-8) in each quarter.

Both teams could end up seeing each other in the District One Class AAAA playoffs, which commence Friday. Eighth-seeded Penncrest will host No. 15 Owen J Roberts and 19th-seeded Ridley heads to No. 14 Central Bucks South.

For more on the Central League championship game, pick up a copy of Wednesday's Daily Times.

It's going to be an all-Delaware County final in the Central League championship tournament.

That became official when Penncrest put the finishing touches on its 51-40 victory over Springfield and, at Bala Cynwyd Middle School, Ridley pulled a 42-40 upset of top-seeded Lower Merion.

In Penncrest's victory, Ian Campbell led three double-figure scorers with 14 points. Rodney Duncan had 13 and Andrew Radomicki scored 11. The storyline for the Lions was Matt Atkinson (9 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 7 steals), who came very close to a quadruple-double.

"We're very excited to be in this situation," said Penncrest coach Mike Doyle, whose team has steadily improved its win total in each of his seven years at the helm.

For Ridley, it was all Cameron Gunter, who had 15 points and 10 boards. But Marc Dziadon stole the spotlight. He only made two shots the entire game --- and one of them was a running layup as time expired, sealing the Green Raiders' upset. Shawn Church tossed in 13 points.

ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIP ... No. 4 Ridley takes on No. 2 Penncrest for the title Tuesday night in a 7 p.m. tipoff at Harriton High. Should be a good one.

If you stopped out to Acme last night - or decided to stay in and avoid the apocalyptic-type snow that was forecast - you probably missed this one.

It was a doozy.

Springfield knocked off Penncrest, 57-48, Friday in a night game-turned-matinee in the Cougars' home gym. Snow kept the game, part of the Central League's Coaches v. Cancer fundraiser, from being played after dark, but it couldn't keep the Cougars from pulling the upset.

With the win, Springfield (15-6, 11-4) locked up a spot in next week's Central League championship tournament. Also, the Cougars have won 11 of their last 12, after dropping five in a row from Dec. 22 to Jan. 5.

Senior forward Wally Rutecki, pictured, had the big game for the Cougars, with 22 points and eight rebounds. Brendan McNamee and Zack DeVito tossed in 18 and 11, respectively, for the victors.

How bad did things get for visiting Penncrest (18-3, 12-3)? The Lions trailed, 24-13, at halftime and 41-21 entering the fourth quarter. Andrew Radomicki scored 22 for Penncrest.

We all make them, these things we call new year's resolutions. We resolve ourselves to be better, more committed, more determined to something, anything. But we never follow through.

That changes now.

It's the early going of the boys basketball season, and it's been tough finding chances to blog about the teams and players in Delaware County. But I'm vowing right now to fix that in 2010. (Question: Is it twenty-ten, or two-thousand-and-ten? I need to get that answered post haste.)

Anyway, here's a quick-hitting recap of Wednesday's games:
---Penncrest (6-0) is Delco's lone unbeaten boys basketball team. The Lions won their own tournament behind 27 points from Andrew Radomicki. Is it just me or is someone different stepping up every night for coach Mike Doyle? One night it's Radomicki. The next it's Rodney Duncan, or Matt Atkinson, or Ian Campbell. That's a well-balanced team.

---Marple Newtown's Soutiri Sapnas put up 47 points in a one-point loss to Girard College. It was the third time in his career that Sapnas has eclipsed the 40-point barrier. His career-best was in the second-to-last game of the regular season a year ago, when he tossed in 49.

---The Class AAA teams in Delco are all over the place. Springfield wins four in a row to start the year, then loses four straight. Strath Haven, on a four-game winning streak, opened 2009 at 1-3. And Carroll needed overtime in its first two games.

More to come in the days to follow. Happy New Year, everyone.