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TITLE GAMES/SEASON RECAP

                                                                                    PUBLIC LEAGUE
                                                                                                     At Temple's Liacouras Center
                                                                                                       S. Mansion 60, Gratz 49
        The Knights spurted to a 10-1 lead, got 22 points and 13 rebounds from Omar Thomas and held off a late-game challenge to win their first-ever title and spit out the bad taste of an 0-16 lifetime record against Gratz. Gregory "Fatty" Cunningham had nine points and nine assists while freshman Maureece Rice added 13 points, three assists and three steals to negate the rough times suffered by Darryl Jones -- limited to 16 minutes by foul trouble; departed with 7:44 left. For Gratz, only Percell Coles (18) reached double figures and it was his trey that sliced Mansion's lead to 41-38 with just under 4:00 left. The Knights stormed to 10 of the next 14 points. Mansion coach Gerald Hendricks dedicated the win to his 17-year-old son, Kyle, a national-class breaststroker who'd been left quadriplegic in a swim-practice accident 17 months earlier.

                                                                                                        CATHOLIC LEAGUE
                                                                                            At Temple's Apollo
                                                                                                      Roman 58, Neumann 55
        After enduring a mostly frustrating season, sub John Huggins had 15 points and four assists in 26 minutes and made a steal and two free throws with 32.4 seconds left to provide a 56-53 lead. Neumann's Brandon Brigman (follow) and Roman's Brent Welton (two foul shots) traded scores, then Neumann's Cantrell "Man-Man" Fletcher barely missed a buzzer-beater from the right side of halfcourt. For Roman, Michael Wild (17 points) hit three treys, Tamal Forchion grabbed 14 rebounds and Eddie Griffin had 15 points, 10 boards, six blocks. Five Pirates scored from nine to 13 points while Fletcher had seven assists and Brigman had 13 boards. Robert "Beattie" Taylor (pronounced) and David "Meatball" Crawford (mild) played with limps after suffering ankle injuries. Both schools' rooters threw trash at each other and Roman's net-cutting ceremony was delayed by 10 minutes.

                        INTER-AC LEAGUE
                         Gtn. Academy (10-0)

The title was decided on Feb. 18 as host Penn Charter (7-1), still harboring hopes of forcing a tie, was jolted by the Patriots, 63-50, who were playing their finale. Soph Matt Walsh, a star sub making his first start of the season, shot 8-for-14 (3-for-3 on treys) en route to 20 points. Mike Slattery (14, six assists), Lee Melchionni (13) and Chris Rodgers (11) also scored in double figures. Sean Knitter (22, 13 rebounds) and Brett Storm (16) led PC. The Quakers fell in their finale at Malvern, 62-48, and both teams finished 7-3 for second.

PLAYOFF RESULTS
PUBLIC LEAGUE

Division E/One Round Only
Bok 81, Roxborough 54
Lovett Davenport, cut in the preseason and then brought back because coach Chicky Chiumento "had a feeling," hustled for nine assists and seven steals. James Frager (27), Valgene West (21) and Jevne "Juice" Wise (14) led in scoring. Roxborough's Khalif Jones had 17 points, 12 rebounds.
Kensington 88, Fels 82 (2 ot)
Carlos Munoz (20), Nick Pote (18), Tarik Hanton (17) and Nick Pote (16) led in scoring and deep sub Jim Slavin scored all five of his points in the extra sessions. Shaun Snyder (24) and George Mosee (18) paced Fels.

Challenge Playoffs
West 80, Kensington 66
Senior Donny Williams had 13 points, two assists and two steals. His brother, Donta, a soph, had 12 points, five assists and two steals. Kensington's leaders were Nick Pote (19, 10 assists) and Tarik Hanton (21, 16 boards).
Lamberton 69, Bok 62
Brandon "Pooh" Gary shot 10-for-13 at the line en route to 26 points. Russell Walker (18) helped. Bok's Valgene West hit for 21 points.

Round-of-16
Straw. Mansion 94, Lamberton 44
Darryl Jones had 25 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and seven steals. Omar Thomas added 24 points, 16 rebounds. Lamberton's Brandon "Pooh" Gary (19) nailed five treys.
Gratz 54, West 35
Only Percell Coles (12) scored in double figures for the Bulldogs, but Shaun McKie had nine rebounds and five assists. Donny Williams (14) topped West.
Olney 58, Mastbaum 55
Star guard Alex "Boo" Thompson shot 0-for-10 and went scoreless, but David "Bone" Bell (23 points) and Solomon Harris (12, 12 rebounds) covered for him nicely. The Trojans forged a 49-40 lead and then held on. Mastbaum's Shejdie Childs mixed 25 points, four assists, six steals.
King 64, Dobbins 48
Dawan Robinson, King's first PL scoring champ (31.5 average), jetted for 20 points and 10 assists and got help from Wayne White (13, eight rebounds). The scoring leaders for Dobbins were JeVan Sayles (15) and Maurice Allen (13).
Bartram 69, Central 65
The Braves' leading scorer was substitute forward Anthony Boyer (16). Robert Bouknight added 14 points while Bobby Leach blended 13 points, four assists, five steals. For Central, Isaiah "Zike" Nathaniel (24) shot 11-for-13 at the line, soph Sharif Bray scored 19 points and Brian Wells had eight blocks.
Penn 55, Eng. and Science 49
Nasser Battle (14) and Mustafa Shakur (11) scored six points apiece in a 20-13 fourth quarter. Randy Morman had 12 points, 14 boards. William Gary (13) led the losers.
Frankford 62, Southern 45
The Pioneers recorded a surprisingly easy road win as Phillip Alston scrambled for 18 points and 11 rebounds. Karl "Kobe" Mitchell (16) and Nicholas King (13, 11 boards) assisted. Terrence "Puppy" Smith and Jahmel Smith (10 each) led Southern, which entered 20-2.
Franklin 42, Univ. City 38
Jamal Nichols scored 14 points and swept 19 rebounds in the slow-paced game. Only sub Maurice Maxwell (10) hit double figures for UC.

Quarterfinals
Straw. Mansion 76, Franklin 60
Omar Thomas generated 25 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and three blocks as the Knights charged to an emotional victory. Gregory "Fatty" Cunningham mixed 13 points, eight assists and five steals and lesser light Frank Griffin made all but one of his shots for 10 points. Franklin point guard Hanif "Julio" Styles, a three-year starter, bowed out with a career-high 27 points.
Gratz 55, Penn 31
Only two players scored in double figures. Gratz's Percell Coles shot 4-for-7 on treys en route to 20 points and Penn's Mustafa Shakur had 13 points. Gratz's Shaun McKie had six assists. Penn's Randy Morman had nine rebounds.
Olney 68, Bartram 60
Bouncing back from his round-of-16 goose egg, Alex "Boo" Thompson exploded for 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists as the Trojans won on the road. Solomon Harris had 18 points and seven rebounds, made a twisting layup with 1:20 left for a 62-57 lead and followed almost immediately with a rebound and outlet pass to Vernon Robinson for a clinching layup. Bartram's Bobby Leach had 18 points, nine assists.
King 57, Frankford 32
Dawan Robinson led the way with 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists and three steals as King earned a trip to the semifinals for the first time since 1981. Bruce Bonner helped with 12 points while Raheem Scott added nine points, nine boards. Frankford shot 10-for-43 and was outrebounded, 33-17.

Semifinals
Back-to-Back Days at St. Joseph's
Straw. Mansion 73, King 47
Omar Thomas shot 14-for-18 for 28 points and snatched 11 rebounds as Mansion earned a trip to the title game for the first time in its 20 PL seasons. Freshman Maureece Rice added 21 points while shooting 9-for-13. Darryl Jones came through with 10 points, 14 boards, six assists. Dawan Robinson scored 20 points to become King's first 1,000-point scorer (1,018). The Cougars were outrebounded, 44-19.
Gratz 56, Olney 45
Percell Coles scored 20 points and sophomore sub Michael Blackshear had 12 points and 10 boards as the Bulldogs advanced to the final for the 11^th time in 12 years. Blackshear shot 4-for-5 and 4-for-4. For Olney, which played tough but faded after cutting the lead to 40-39 on a reverse, alley-oop dunk by 6-6 point guard David "Bone" Bell with 6:47 left, Alex "Boo" Thompson had 17 points and Vernon Robinson claimed 11 rebounds.

CATHOLIC LEAGUE

South Preplayoffs
At Bonner
O’Hara 63, SJ Prep 59 (ot)
Fran Grandieri shot 7-for-14 (three triples) and 9-for-14 for 26 points as O'Hara beat a team that had registered a regular season sweep by 37 total points and led by 35-26 with 2:52 left in the third quarter. Grandieri also had 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks. The Lions went ahead for good, 59-56, with 1:04 left as Mike Zamulinsky hit a three on a pass from soph Chris Grandieri, Fran's sophomore brother. Jamar Stokes (16 points) and Ryan Tyson (14) led Prep.
At Bonner
Carroll 68, O'Hara 58
Fran Grandieri again was spectacular, getting 31 points -- the fourth-best total in CL postseason history -- and nine rebounds, but his outburst could not offset the balanced scoring of sub Kevin Waterman (18), freshman Kashif Payne (17, eight assists) and Dave Hoopes (14). Carroll thus earned a playoff spot after going 0-14 in the '99 season.

Quarterfinals
Back-to-Back Days at Tom Gola Arena
Neumann 65, Carroll 52
A 25-for-30 performance at the line and 16 points apiece from Cantrell "Man-Man" Fletcher, David "Meatball" Crawford and Brandon Brigman (nine rebounds) allowed Neumann to control the game. Frosh Jordan Ingram led Carroll in points (12) and rebounds (seven).
Dougherty 40, McDevitt 37
Driving coach Mark Heimerdinger batty, the Cardinals for some reason played beyond conservatively in the final quarter, losing it by 7-4, and barely survived. Jonathan Davenport led Dougherty in points (13) and boards (six) and sub Aaron Pinckney, who'd missed a large chunk of the season with knee miseries, shot 4-for-4 for eight points. McDevitt's Wayne Bishop, the two-time North scoring champ, had 13 points and Jack Ketterlinus came close on a running, straight-ahead trey at the buzzer.
Roman 85, West 38
Eddie Griffin, the two-time South scoring leader, posted 23 points in 20 minutes as Roman stormed to the biggest win in CL playoff history, surpassing 34-pointers by Roman in the '91 quarterfinals and final. Sub Brent Welton had 11 points, six rebounds. West had no one in double figures, shot 16-for-62 and was outrebounded, 37-20.
La Salle 67, North 42
Neighbors Brian "Whitey" Horgan (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Dennis Stanton (18) paced the romp. Soph Rob Sullivan added 11 points and three assists and limited star Steve Szychulski to five points. North went 6-for-28 on treys.

Semifinals
Doubleheader at Temple’s Apollo
Neumann 63, La Salle 46
Brandon Brigman shot 9-for-14 while scoring 19 points and leading Neumann to a win made simple by a 28-17 second half. Cantrell "Man-Man" Fletcher and David "Meatball" Crawford had 12 points apiece. For La Salle, Brian "Whitey" Horgan (18) shot 8-for-17. His teammates shot 10-for-31.
Roman 57, Dougherty 37
Don't let the final score fool you. Sparked by Robert Carter, who several times maneuvered around Roman star Eddie Griffin for baskets, Dougherty charged within 43-37 with 3:14 left. The Cardinals then went dry and Roman finished with a 14-0 run. Griffin had 14 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks. Michael Wild added 10 points, seven assists. Jonathan Davenport topped Dougherty in points (14) and rebounds (six).