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RADNOR — The goals were arranged in order, all the better for the check marks of success. There would not be one without the other.
So it was Wednesday with a 55-29 victory over Marple Newtown in the District 1 Class 5A quarterfinals that the Radnor boys basketball team achieved another: A second consecutive trip to the PIAA tournament.
Behind 11 points apiece from Danny Rosenblum and Henry Pierce, the top-seeded Raptors improved to 25-0 and earned a spot in the Saturday’s district semifinals, good for an automatic bid to the tournament.
Though dropping to 12-12, the No. 9-seeded Tigers remained alive and will shuffle into the play-back round Saturday, where a win will return them to states.
“We had two goals,” Radnor coach Jamie Chadwin said. “One was a district championship. The other was a state championship. And you can’t go for the state championship without qualifying for it. So this is a step that way.”
Radnor reached the second round of the PIAA tournament last season before being eliminated, 62-39, by Imhotep Charter. The Central League have played all season — and in particular Wednesday — as if hardened by that experience.
After a pair of early Matt Gardler free throws gave MN a 7-6 lead, Jackson Hicke scored seven of the next nine to close the first quarter. A Cooper Mueller triple extended the run to 12-0 early in the second, and Radnor expanded its lead to 22-7 before the Tigers’ Ryan Keating hit two foul shots. By halftime, Radnor had a 27-13 cushion.
Pierce scored six in a 9-0 third-quarter flurry, and a couple of late dunks in the period by Charlie Thornton allowed Radnor to roll into the fourth with a 44-22 lead.
In the semifinals, the Raptors will face West Chester Rustin, a 55-52 winner Wednesday over West Chester East.
“We talked about this being the beginning of a new season,” said Rosenblum, whose control at the point kept Radnor on track. “So basically now we are 1-and-0. We knew they were going to throw some new stuff at us and some new sets, but we stuck to our defensive principles and it seemed like we got the job done.”
Gardler paced Marple Newtown with 11 points and Keating added eight, but the Tigers struggled to rebound against the deep Raptors.
“They are really good,” Marple Newtown coach Sean Spratt said. “They’ve got a ton of length. They’ve got a ton of athleticism. But what separates them is their unselfishness. It’s a pick-your-poison type of team, and they have multiple weapons that can hurt you. And that’s what happened.”
The Tigers hope to benefit from the experience as they continue to try to join the Raptors in the state tournament.
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Radnor’s Danny Rosenblum moves the ball against Lower Merion’s Sam Wright in the Central League final earlier this month. Rosenblum led the Raptors to 55-29 victory over Marple Newtown. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group)
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