02/26/2026
Hill Back in State Championship Game
In a great game in Gillison Gym, Hill (23-9) upended a very tough Haverford (25-5; 10-0 InterAc Champs) squad to earn a return trip to the PAISAA Championship game, to be held this Friday at 730pm at St Joseph’s University. Hill will face Phelps, who beat top-seeded Westtown in the other semifinal. It will be a rematch of last year’s title game; Phelps also won at Hill in overtime on February 4th. Despite some early offensive speed bumps with tempo, Hill played a clean game, yielding just 5 turnovers on the game. The Blues would not allow any transition or second-chance points in the game. It will take that effort or better to bring home a state title against a very talented Phelps team on Friday night.
It was a back and forth game throughout, with Hill trailing 6-0 early then up 20-16 after a quarter. Ethan Johnston ’26 beat the halftime buzzer for a three that made it 34-33 Hill at half. The Blues made a strong push to start the second half and Haverford answered, closing to 49-45 after three quarters. In the fourth, Hill led 54-50, then a tough blocking call and1 3-pt play for Haverford’s outstanding 6’5 guard Silas Graham ’27 (game-high 21 points) cut it to 54-53. At the other end, Eyan Valadez ’28 found Cole Trn ’27 for a clutch three answer, and Hill controlled the game from there. Joseph Terreri ’26, in his final game in Gillison of a great four-year career that will make him the winningest player in Hill history with 83 or 84 wins (tbd), had a great game, scoring 11 points to go with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. He is one of four Blues in double figures, with Zane Conlon ’26 adding 8pts, 8r, 3a. Johnston stat-stuffed for 14pts, 10r, 4a, 2b, 2s. Caleb Jameson ’26 added 14pts and Ben Natal ’26 chipped in 11pts, 4r, 2s.
Friday will be Hill’s sixth PAISAA championship game, as the Blues appeared in the first two editions in 2007 and 2008, brought home the title in 2014 and 2018, and now are in back to back title games in 2025 and 2026.