BUFFALO, N.Y. – Canisius senior men’s basketball player Malik Johnson was recently named to the Preseason All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference second team. The Chesterfield resident has started all 99 career games played at the Jesuit-founded college and was an All-MAAC third-team choice at the end of the 2018-19 season after he averaged 9.6 points, 4.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in 32 contests. Johnson and his Golden Griffin teammates tipped off the 2019-20 basketball season on Nov. 9 against Brown. Johnson played 40 minutes and tallied 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but Canisius lost 75-68…

L.C. Bird High School boys basketball got some good news when Jaylen Dillard received a college offer after an outstanding season at a junior college. Dillard, a 6-foot 2-inch guard, received an offer from Division II Chowan, a Murfreesboro, N.C. school and member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. After his senior season and a state championship with the Skyhawks in 2017, Dillard pledged to Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte, but later transferred to Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville. He thrived there, averaging 17.9 points per game. An efficient scorer, he shot 48.6 percent from the floor and 44.1…

A common comment on the San Antonio Spurs in recent times is that they played “boring” basketball. Fans might form that opinion because San Antonio is big on defense and fundamentals. True to form, San Antonio recently signed a defensive specialist Kenny Williams as a free agent. Williams, a graduate of L.C. Bird High School, is the third Chester-area player to sign as a free agent with an NBA team, joining Robert Johnson (L.C. Bird/Benedictine) and Andrew White III (Thomas Dale/Miller School). Johnson spent the 2018-19 season with the NBA G League’s Wisconsin Herd, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks.…

Former Thomas Dale High School standout Monique Jones made the next step in her basketball and academic career by committing to Division II Chowan University last week. Jones played two seasons at Louisburg College in North Carolina with excellent results, especially last season. She averaged 14.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Both ranked second on the team in those categories. Louisburg finished the season 18-10. Chowan competes in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference with schools such as Virginia State and Virginia Union. The Hawks finished their season 13-15 and are looking to replace another Richmond area player, forward…

Mack Burgett Recently, L.C. Bird High School basketball has seen two more young men commit to play in the college ranks. Mack Burgett, a 6-foot 8-inch senior, is headed to Anderson University in Indiana.  “Before all, I want to thank the ‘man upstairs’ for giving the opportunity to play the game I love,” Burgett said in a statement where he thanked his friends, family and the L.C. Bird staff.  As a freshman, Burgett was skinny and around 6 foot 1 inch. By his senior season, he grew and transformed his game into a double-double machine in points and rebounds with…

The Jacobs Road Elementary School Jaguars won the Cub Division 9-U Big Ten Championship over the Midlothian Mustangs, 22-17, on March 9. First row: cheerleaders, Sydney Hoy, Olivia Duncan, Delanie Harper, Emma Jarrett; second row, Savannah Poore, Kaelah Goodman-Robinson, Madison Thompson, Alyssa Inge, Makayla Reed and Brooklyn Gale; third row, April Harper, Trinity Evans and Brandi Hoy; fourth row, Jamari Walker, Evan Lee, Paxton Hensley and Devon Raines; fifth row, Myles Morgan, Seth Cheatham, Aaron Harrison, Jaylen Cooper, Gabriel Lightfoot and Jaden Thompson; sixth row, principal Jennifer Lenz, assistant head coach Doug Lee, assistant principal Joel Eberts and head coach…

The Falling Creek Blackhawks 12-U basketball team won the Chesterfield Basketball League Championship in the Nets SEC division on Feb. 23 with a 57-45 win over Enon-Marguerite Christian. The Blackhawks finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, losing only to a tough Midlothian team. In the playoffs, Falling Creek defeated Scott and Swift Creek to make it to the championship game. This is the third year in a row that the Falling Creek Blackhawks have won a CBL championship. In 2017, the 10-U won the Bear NCAA Championship, and in 2018 they won the Minor Pac-10 Championship. Front, Kyrie…