District 1-6A and 5A Finals: 5 Takeaways

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Saturday night, Temple's Liacouras Center hosted the District 1 6A and 5A boys championship games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the opener of the double header, Radnor defeated Unionville 61-35 in the 5A title game and ran their record to 27-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second game of the double header (6A), Plymouth Whitemarsh staged a 4^th quarter rally to upend Spring Ford, 59-54.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is a high probability that all four of these teams will have deep state tournament runs. So, with that in mind, here are five takeaways from last night's District 1 6A / 5A boys championship tilts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1. [player_tooltip player_id='1116013' first='Jaden' last='Colzie'] is vastly underrated</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is easy to overlook a rock steady point guard in a starting five that features two elite scorers -- stretch-4 [player_tooltip player_id='1188211' first='Qudire' last='Bennett'] and combo guard [player_tooltip player_id='1123895' first='Chase' last='Coleman'], plus high-flying wing prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1589161' first='Jahseir' last='Sayles']. But those who know hoops realize the level of Colzie's talents. Yesterday he used the 6A championship game to cap his District tourney coming out party. Colzie racked up 13 points in the 4^th quarter (16 pts. overall; 3 triples) as he pushed “P-Dub” to the title. He also notched 16 points (3 threes) against Lower Merion in the semis. It is safe to say that Colzie has proven he is more than just a high IQ floor general who can run a team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2. [player_tooltip player_id='1460771' first='Jacob' last='Nguyen'] can get buckets against any opponent</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We have been writing about Nguyen's three-point shooting (70 3PM) and all-around basketball skills (17 ppg.) throughout the PAC regular season. Still, some questioned if he could play at the same prominent level on the big stage against marquee 6A teams. Well, we are here to report that Nguyen proved all the doubters wrong. Throughout the District 1-6A tourney, he continued to drain triples from all over the court. When opponents managed to chase Nguyen off the arc, he got to the rim off the dribble. Nguyen scored 20 points (4 threes) in SF's 6A title game loss. Across four District 1-6A tourney contests Nguyen averaged 17.5 ppg. on the strength of 3.25 made threes per run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3. [player_tooltip player_id='1200791' first='Cooper' last='Mueller'] is an elite lock down defender</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Radnor's team defense is one of the staunchest in the region. They routinely hold opponents under their scoring averages with a suffocating defense that produces steals / deflections and cleans the glass. Even though Radnor communicates at a high level and thus switches frequently on defense, their dominant defensive effort begins with the one-on-one lockdown services of [player_tooltip player_id='1200791' first='Cooper' last='Mueller'] (Princeton lacrosse commit). Mueller (8 steals last night) is typically tasked with guarding the opponent's No. 1 option. His extremely quick lateral movements, anticipation skills, physicality and high IQ have enabled Mueller to keep the area's top scorers in check every time. As a nice bonus, Mueller also scored 11 points in the 5A ‘chip win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4. Unionville has a bright future</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saturday night in the District 1-5A championship game, Unionville led Radnor 21-15 in the early 2^nd quarter. However, a 19-0 run by Radnor to close the first half gave the Raptors the lead for good and eventually the 5A hardware (61-35). Still, it looks like Unionville will be a 5A a contender for a couple more years as their lineup got significant contributions from junior combo guard JT Anderson (10 points) and junior three-point sniper Ryan Brown. Charlie Kammeier and Nicke Diehl (6 points) are two other Unionville 2024 prospects with tremendous upside. Talented 2026 stretch-4 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1493066' first='James' last='Brenner'] had a solid night (10 points) against a Radnor lineup that features four players who are 6'4” or taller.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5. Radnor has a deep 5A state tourney run in them</strong> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Capturing the District 1-5A championship title was a crowning moment for Radnor and their decorated 2023 group. But they are far from done. With shooting guard [player_tooltip player_id='1119137' first='Jackson' last='Hicke'] (18 points last night; Princeton commit), point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1200819' first='Danny' last='Rosenblum'] (Rochester commit), wing [player_tooltip player_id='1212678' first='Charlie' last='Thornton'] (12 ppg.), combo guard [player_tooltip player_id='1200791' first='Cooper' last='Mueller'] (11 pts. Saturday night) and 6'6” shooting guard [player_tooltip player_id='1812532' first='Jackson' last='Gaffney'] (11 pts. last night) this team has the talent to go deep in the PIAA 5A tournament. They will face Warwick in the state opener. Then a match-up with Philly Public League contender West Philly is a potential 2^nd Round game. If the 5A bracket goes “chalk”, Radnor would next face Archbishop Ryan in the quarterfinals. Earlier this season Radnor defeated Ryan by double digits. At this point it would likely be Radnor vs. Imhotep Charter in the 5A Final Four. That scenario is the 5A matchup area hoop heads have been debating all winter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->