Patriots

David Stilley stood on the field after Haverford School's 28-14 loss to Germantown Academy on Saturday trying to control his emotions and talk to a reporter. He was more successful with the latter. Stilley, a 6-foot, 2-inch 210-pounder, finished the game only 4 yards short of becoming the Inter-Academic League's first 3,000-yard career rusher. He had watched his team dominate the first half, lose control in the second and drop a game that had seemed impossible to drop at halftime.

Archbishop Carroll missed the Catholic League playoffs last year because of the league's tie-breaking system. The Patriots made doubly sure Saturday that a tie-breaker would not leave them on the outside looking in again this year. Host Carroll's 56-13 demolition of St. John Neumann clinched a spot in the playoffs with two league games remaining. The playoffs may have been a foregone conclusion to those who have watched the Patriots routinely crush opponents, but they were more like the Holy Grail to the Carroll coaches and players who have lived with last year's disappointment.

Great Valley got a big game from senior center Scott Milne and moved closer to entering the District 1 Class AAA playoff field as the Patriots ran past host Owen J. Roberts, 66-54, in Pioneer Athletic Conference play Friday night. Milne collected 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to help the Patriots improve their overall record to 8-13 (3-3 in the conference's second half). Great Valley coach Paul Girone has said he wanted to enter his club in the district's open tourney, but only if it wins 10 games by the end of the season.

The Penn Wood Patriots were tired. Very tired. They had played two tough games that went into overtime Tuesday and Wednesday before they met the Ridley Green Raiders on Thursday in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA basketball playoffs. These were the same Green Raiders who had been on a hot streak for more than a month. Their most recent victims before the Patriots arrived in Ridley had been Conestoga. So the Green Raiders of the Central League were ready and waiting for Penn Wood of the tomorrow.

Central Bucks East basketball coach Bob Walsh got an unexpected bonus from his halftime talk to Bret Spoerle on Tuesday night. Walsh exhorted Spoerle to play better defense in the second half, which he did. But the senior guard also poured in 19 of his game-high 23 points as the Patriots whipped host Pennridge, 85-61, in a Suburban One National Colonial Division game. "Sometimes one generates the other," Walsh said after his team improved to 4-1 in the division (8-4 overall)

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. - The Somerset Patriots defeated Camden, 8-6, last night and pulled into a tie with the Riversharks for the second-half championship of the Atlantic League. The Patriots used the long ball to take an 8-0 lead after three innings. Edgard Clemente ripped a three-run homer in the bottom of the first. Norm Hutchins hit a two-run shot in the second and Luis Lopez belted a solo homer in the third. Camden, the league's first-half champion, responded with solo homers by David Miller, Stoney Briggs and Angel Pena, plus a two-run shot by Francisco Morales.

Junior guard Rodney Morrison scored 4 points in overtime and Germantown Academy defeated visiting Chestnut Hill Academy, 65-60, in an Inter-Ac League game Tuesday. "We didn't do anything differently in the overtime," said GA coach Dave Hoch. "We just decided to score some points and win the game. We started off real well, but sometimes we have lapses. We're still a fairly young team. " Thanks to 8 first-quarter points from senior guard Marvin Walters, the Patriots (4-4 league, 12-10 overall)

It is no secret that the Inter-Academic League is a physical league. But what occurred at Germantown Academy Friday night made most any other Inter-Ac game look serene. Malvern Prep paid the Patriots a visit and was greeted with 24 foul calls, including a technical foul on coach Bud Tosti in the second quarter. Mindful of being the gracious host, Germantown Academy was whistled for 29 fouls, including a bench technical. What it all added up to was a rough 73-62 victory for Malvern Prep's Friars (2-4 league, 7-13 overall)

So much for Showdown No. 1. It took Glen Mills about 8 minutes of play Wednesday night to turn its long-anticipated game at Penn Wood from a crucial early-season Del-Val League contest into an old-fashioned whipping. The defending state champions charged to a 29-point halftime advantage and coasted to an 86-60 pasting of the Patriots, using swarming guard play to disrupt Penn Wood's offensive quickness and unleashing their trademark low- post game to dominate the inside. After one period, Glen Mills led, 20-6.

Episcopal Academy coach Dan Dougherty paid Germantown Academy the ultimate compliment Friday night in the Inter-Ac League opener for both teams at Germantown Academy. With the Churchmen leading 28-19 entering the fourth quarter, Dougherty called for a freeze. Episcopal then ran off the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter to protect its lead, allowing the Churchmen to ultimately win, 36-23. "We had not been shooting particularly well," Dougherty said. "We're a better man-to-man team.