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After his final home appearance for Chestnut Hill College, Mt. Airy resident and Chestnut Hill Academy graduate Julian McFadden poses with his son Julian and other members of his family. At left in the front row is his mother, Cheryl, and at right is his nephew, Zaire, who is being held by the CHC guard’s grandfather, Hartwell McFadden. Behind them are (from left) McFadden’s grandmother, Frances Graham, and his sister, Tiffany Joynes (Zaire’s mother).

Going into last Saturday’s Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game, the host Chestnut Hill College Griffins had already clinched a spot in the playoffs, while Wilmington University was trying to become the last team to qualify.

Evan Botwin displays the gold medal and the bracket sheet he earned as the 103 lb. champion at the 2010 PA Independent School Wrestling Tournament.

Evan Botwin’s wrestling ability has taken him far; to be more specific, about two hours north of his home in Chestnut Hill.

Up until this year, the 103-pounder had attended Penn Charter since kindergarten, and he was a member of the Quakers’ varsity team as a freshman in 2008-2009. Last fall he transferred to Wyoming Seminary in Wilkes Barre, Pa., a boarding and day school with a nationally prominent wrestling program.

Two weekends ago, the Knights won the PAIS Championship for the fourth year in a row. Botwin won the championship in his weight class, taking a 4-2 decision from Episcopal Academy’s Luke Brooman in the finals.

Last weekend in the National Prep Wrestling Championships at Lehigh University, he won three matches with a technical fall, a first-period pin, and a 4-2 decision before he lost a 10-0 major decision against the eventual runner-up Max Hvolbek of 30-time national prep champion Blair Academy. Going through the wrestle-back rounds, Botwin eventually emerged in sixth place at the national meet. With 237 total points, the Knights finished second to Blair, with 274.

CHC women end season in homestand
by Tom Utescher

CHC’s Lindsay Alexander (right) gets off a shot despite the efforts of Monique Stephens of visiting Wilmington University.

Recovering from an early deficit, the Chestnut Hill College women came back to lead 28-20 late in the first half of last Saturday’s basketball season finale. The visiting Wilmington University Wildcats closed out the period with a 16-3 run and the host Griffins never regained the lead, suffering a 72-59 setback.

CHC, which fell short of a playoff berth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, conducted a pre-game ceremony honoring its five seniors, twin guards Carley and Maryanne Glass, and forwards Jenna Beck, Chanta’l Hardy, and Davina Yacab.

In the contest that followed, Hardy had a team-high 11 points along with five rebounds and four steals, while Carley Glass registered two points, four assists, and two steals. The Griffins got nine points from freshman forward Lindsay Alexander, and eight apiece from Beck and sophomore forward Aiesha Smith (seven rebounds, three assists).

The road to the basket may take many twists and turns, but GA’s Maggie Lucas (with ball) usually finds a way to get there.

When the PIAA and Independent School state championships have concluded and every team has turned in its uniforms, two high school basketball players from Pennsylvania will be looking forward to one last game.

One of them is Germantown Academy’s flamboyant 5-9 guard, Maggie Lucas, who learned last month that she’d been picked to play in the 2010 McDonald’s All-American Game on March 31.

Lucas will join 23 other players from around the country who will be divided into East and West teams for the McDonald’s classic, which will be held at Ohio State’s Value City Arena in Columbus. The GA senior will attend Penn State University next year.

Lucas, who entered Germantown Academy in the ninth grade, ended her career at the school with 2197 points, second on the Patriots’ all-time scoring list to 2004 grad Laura Kurz (2247). Kurz, who went on to play first at Duke and then at Villanova, played five seasons of varsity ball at GA, starting out in eighth grade.