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.

Penncrest senior Matt Atkinson knows he's going to college to play football. He was the Central League's First Team quarterback. He made the All-Delco football team as an all-purpose player. And he had - statistically speaking - one of the strongest seasons in recent memory for a player under center.

So performances like Friday's, in a 55-36 win over Strath Haven, are kind of fun. Atkinson scored 14 points, had four boards and four assists in the rout.

"It's kind of disrespectful, you know? If they're going to leave me open, I'm going to shoot," said Atkinson, who made four 3-pointers in the win over Haven. "I guess they didn't watch (video of) any other games. They didn't know to get a guy on me.

"I don't know. I was just ready to shoot tonight. The last two practices, I got a lot of shots up, so I felt good."

Atkinson said he likes the football programs of four schools --- Del Val, Albright, Wesley and Lycoming --- that are pursuing him. He likes the campus at Albright, where he visited last week. He said he doesn't have a preference, but has to get through all the visits.

In the meantime, he's got some games to win with the Lions (17-2).

UP THE ROAD: Pick up a copy of Monday's Daily Times. Inside, you'll see a story on Atkinson, who was selected as our Daily Times Athlete of the Week.

There were only three games Wednesday. Allow me to take you beyond the box score for each of them:

CHESTER 69, CHICHESTER 47
In the Del Val League opener for both teams, this was always Chester's game - even if Chi led, 15-13, after one quarter. Four Clippers hit for double figures - Kareem and Laquan Robinson, Erikk Wright and Darius Collins. And Wright, though I'll need to check on this, fell one rebound shy of a double-double in his seventh straight game. The Eagles are good, and better than they have been in recent years, but the Clippers are still the Clippers.

ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 74, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 44
Eight games in, we're finally starting to see how balanced Carroll's team is. Matt Donaldson, who has very limited hoops experience, bullied LC for 11 boards. I have yet to see him in person but Yosef Yacob (10 points, four steals) is looking solid. And Ben Mingledough had 22 points, a career-best. LC never stood a chance. And that's before you count All-Delco D.J. Irving and Juan'ya Green, who had 12 and 16 points, respectively.

EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 48, GERMANTOWN FRIENDS 33
Even with star center Isaiah Baker feeling ill and missing the game, the Churchmen rolled. Taylor Wright is beginning to prove that he's a threat you can't leave open on the perimeter, with his three 3-pointers. And three others scored in double figures.

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One thing I forgot to bring up didn't happen Wednesday. It was part of Tuesday's action.

Penncrest barely snuck past Marple Newtown, 58-57, using a pair of free throws by Matt Atkinson with 7.5 seconds remaining. The thing about Atkinson, the First-Team All-Central League quarterback pick in 2009, was that he hadn't scored all game prior to stepping to the line.

Also, the senior limited Marple stud two guard Soutiri Sapnas to a rather pedestrian 23 points, which almost has become an off night for the senior.

"Soutiri got two looks in the last six-and-a-half seconds and he missed on both," said Penncrest coach Mike Doyle. "Matty did a great job. He didn't worry about scoring - he had zero - and he hit those shots. The gym was rocking. It was close to standing-room only here and it was a great high school experience."

Part of what I love about high school hoops is the atmosphere. Sounds like it was a good one at Kaufman Gymnasium.

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.