Sports

Neumann-Goretti making history

3rd straight undefeated seasonJohn KnebelsSports Columnist SS. Neumann-Goretti’s basketball team has come and been replaced by … nobody. And since all but one of their standout players are underclassmen, one gets the distinct feeling that the Saints won’t be replaced by anyone else anytime soon. Despite clanking free throw after free throw to keep its […]

Wood girls grab league crown

John KnebelsSports Columnist Relief was a major part of it. So was pride. But according to the players and coaches that celebrated Archbishop Wood’s Catholic League basketball championship victory over Archbishop Carroll Monday night at the Palestra, the overriding feeling that accompanied the school’s first league title since 1982 was joy. Pure, unbridled joy. “It […]

St. Hubert wins first indoor title

By John KnebelsSports Columnist He just keeps getting better. Already an athlete with an impressive resume in both football and track, Cardinal O’Hara senior Tyler Gallen entered the Catholic League indoor track championship on Feb. 6 at Widener University with nothing to prove. But when you are an established athlete, motivation comes from within. “Anything […]

‘Deja vu’ for La Salle’s swimming champs

John KnebelsSports Columnist The swimmers have heard the many jokes, and they are able to laugh at all of them because they are all complimentary. Some say that Catholic League swimming should be separated into two leagues; one being La Salle, the other being all the rest. Others advise making a deal with a trophy […]

La Salle wins CL wrestling title, falls in states

John KnebelsSports Columnist When the Catholic League wrestling playoffs began, the only debate centered on which team would eventually finish as runner-up. The champion? That was a foregone conclusion. So on Feb. 2, inside their own gymnasium, it came as no surprise that the La Salle Explorers celebrated their third consecutive league title and fourth […]

Holy Ghost Prep has eyes on Flyers Cup

John KnebelsSports Columnist Twice in his high school career, Dave Bowman, a senior at Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem, was faced with a difficult choice. Should he do the sensible thing and not play ice hockey with his torn anterior cruciate ligament? Or should the puck-carrying defenseman just lace up the skates and deal […]

Neumann-Goretti leads Catholic League

John KnebelsSports Columnist The current Catholic League basketball standings could imitate Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities.” The first seven teams have records from 8-0 to 6-2. The other seven? None has a winning record. “Things can change because there is still a lot of basketball left,” said Neumann-Goretti junior Derrick Stewart. “A lot […]

1,000-point scorer shares joy with family, school

John KnebelsSports Columnist Lots of times an athlete will reach an amazing plateau and just shrug it off and pretend it wasn’t really a big deal. Refreshingly, that isn’t the way Lansdale Catholic senior Shea Wassel reacted when she became the 17th player – and seventh female – in school history to score 1,000 career […]

Early on, Catholic League features hoops classics

John KnebelsSports Columnist As “classics” are concerned, it might be too early to label any regular-season game with such distinction. But if it could be argued otherwise, there were two terrific Catholic League contests this week that were worth the price of admission. On Sunday, Jan. 16, Neumann-Goretti defeated Archbishop Carroll 74-68, and about 24 […]

Brothers offer good stance to St. Joe’s Prep wrestling

By John KnebelsSports Columnist Beat the daylights out of each other in practice. Claim you are better and stronger than the other. And often aim to get on each other’s nerves. Ah, brotherly love. While they admit to doing all of the competitive deeds listed above, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School brothers Mike and Matt DelSignore […]