The performance Thursday night by Interboro's Christian Irons triggered a thought: Who leads the county in single-game scoring for the season?

I hit my statbook and came up with this list - topped, of course, by 32-point outings from Irons and Ridley's Shawn Church. Take a look:

32 ... Shawn Church, RID (Dec. 15, 46-58 L, vs. CON)
32 ... Christian Irons, INT (Jan. 19, 60-47 W, vs. AP)
31 ... Raheem Harvey, GM (Dec. 17, 56-66 L, vs. RID)
29 ... Chuck Dorsey, AP (Dec. 17, 64-55 W, vs. SH)
29 ... Matt Fox, SPR (Dec. 20, 53-48 W, vs. CON)
29 ... George Walker, GM (Jan. 12, 70-71 L, vs. AP)
28 ... Shawn Church, RID (Dec. 10, 63-31 W, vs. AP)
28 ... Jon Vandenberg, GV (Jan. 5, 57-62 L, vs. CON)
28 ... Ryan Furst, MN (Jan. 13, 69-58 W, vs. HARR)
27 ... Shawn Church, RID (Dec. 30, 46-55 L, vs. Boys Latin)
27 ... Shawn Church, RID (Dec. 17, 66-56 W, vs. GM)
27 ... Christian Irons, INT (Jan. 5, 71-43 W, vs. Twin Valley)
27 ... Ryan Kelly, GV (Dec. 28, 65-52 W, vs. Collingswood)

Some additional notes for this list:
Raheem Harvey's 31-point game was his first game of the season, as he required doctor's clearance stemming from past injuries before beginning the year. ... Ryan Kelly's outing triggered Garnet Valley's first win of the season in its eighth game. ... From everything I've heard from those in the building, Ridley vs. Glen Mills was in the background and Church vs. Harvey became the story that Dec. 17 evening. Impressive.

In case you were curious:
The county's single-game scoring record belongs to two individuals - Sun Valley's Tom Hauer (1995) and Chester's Zain Shaw (1991) dropped 69 points in their respective games.

Night after night, coaches call the Daily Times with box scores to report. And night after night, we're treated to a high-scoring individual display coming from a team in the Del Val League.

Long known as one of the top leagues in Pennsylvania for its team success, the Del Val League is home this season to some of Delaware County's finest individual talent. Of Delco's top-20 scorers, 10 are from the six-team Del Val -- including Penn Wood's Malcolm Richardson (pictured), who leads the county with 19.8 points per game.

"You know what everyone says about this league, that it's the best in the state," Academy Park coach Allen Brydges said this week. "Let's just say there's no particular game that's a picnic."

"It just seems like every team has that guy with a capability to take over a game," Interboro coach Jeff Webb said recently.

As of Monday, Richardson led Del Val's cast of Delco's leading scorers. The others were: Academy Park's Chuck Dorsey (18.0 ppg); Interboro's Christian Irons (17.6 ppg) and Shawn Frampton (13.2); Chichester's Robert Pittman (14.5); Penn Wood's Tyree Bynum (12.6); Glen Mills' George Walker (13.7); and Chester's Rondae Jefferson (11.8) and Darius Robinson (11.6).

A Del Val representative has played for the PIAA Class AAAA title in each of the last five seasons. Chester won it all in 2008 and 2011 and finished runnerup in 2007, while Penn Wood was crowned in 2009 and took second in 2010.

Those seasons, the Del Val did it with team-oriented success. This year, more than the previous four since I've covered basketball in Delco, the Del Val can do it with exceptional scorers. ... And, oh by the way ... five of the six teams will enter league play next week with winning records.

Only in the Del Val.

(Photo: Courtesy Maxpreps.com)

He might be a work in progress, but Cardinal O'Hara's Ed Allen certainly is putting in the work.

The lean 6-4 senior forward, who plays the center spot for the Lions, totaled 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots (including this one, pictured) in O'Hara's 57-55 nonleague win Tuesday over Academy Park.

O'Hara doesn't have tons of size in the lineup, so Lions coach Tim Kelly is forced to play Allen in the middle. That's not an issue for Allen, an undersize big man who's got more height than weight. That didn't hinder Allen against Academy Park, with Allen holding his own against much more physical post players Cyrie Spencer (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Delco's leading scorer Chuck Dorsey (10 points).

"(Dorsey) got into foul trouble and we knew coming into the game that he'd jump and get tired," Allen said. "That was our gameplan and I just wanted to stay with him as long as I could, to make a difference."

Because of his lean build, rebounding ability and his shooting range, which stretches to 12 feet, Allen has "the potential to develop into a nice college player," Kelly said, even though it might take some time.

Kelly said Allen is receiving light Division II and III recruiting interest...for now.

(Photo: Times staff / ROBERT J. GURECKI)

Here's a look at Delco's top 10 leading scorers, through Wednesday's games.

(Through Wednesday)

Name, School ... Avg (Point, Games)

1. Chuck Dorsey, Academy Park ... 20.2 ppg (121 p, 6 g)
2. Malcolm Richardson (right), Penn Wood...19.0 ppg (95p,5g)
3. Shawn Church, Ridley ... 18.8 ppg (169 p, 9 g)
4. Alec Stavetski, Arch. Carroll ... 15.0 ppg (75 p, 5 g)
5. Rob Pittman, Chichester ... 14.5 ppg (116 p, 8 g)
6. Ryan Furst, Marple Newtown ... 14.4 ppg (130 p, 9 g)
7. Matt Fox, Springfield ... 13.8 ppg (110 p, 8 g)
8. George Walker, Glen Mills ... 13.7 ppg (82 p, 6 g)
9. John Fender, Strath Haven ... 13.4 ppg (94 p, 7 g)
10. Tyree Bynum, Penn Wood ... 12.6 ppg (63 p, 5 g)
CLOSE CALLS: Ryan Kelly (Garnet Valley) and Mike McKale (Springfield) each average 12.3 ppg and Pat McGee (Marple Newtown) averages 12.0 ppg.

Some things to consider here:
**It's a three-horse race. Beyond Dorsey, Richardson and Church (pictured), there's a great disparity in the players' averages.
**Penn Wood has two representatives in the top 10, in Richardson and Bynum.
***Glen Mills' Raheem Harvey does not qualify because he hasn't played in two-thirds of his team's games. The 6-8 center, who missed four games, is averaging 26.5 ppg through two games, however.

One final note: The location and time of Chester's game New Year's Day against Christ the King (N.Y.) have changed. The game, between teams that opened the season ranked in nearly every national poll, tips off at 7:45 p.m. at Widener.

After reading that headline, I know what you're thinking: "Who cares about Delaware County's leading scorers? We're only five games into the season!"

But I'll tell you who cares: The people who call me, email me and ask me at games...that's who.

So here are the county's leading scorers, through more than two weeks of the regular season:
1. Shawn Church, Ridley ... 21.0 ppg (126 points, 6 games)
2. Malcolm Richardson, Penn Wood ... 19.8 ppg (79 points, 4 games)
3. Chuck Dorsey, Academy Park ... 19.0 ppg (95 points, 5 games)
4. Rob Pittman, Chichester ... 17.0 ppg (85 points, 5 games)
5. Ryan Furst, Marple Newtown ... 15.5 ppg (93 points, 6 games)
CLOSE BEHIND: Penn Wood's Tyree Bynum, Strath Haven's John Fender, and Marple Newtown's Pat McGee, all of whom average 14.0 ppg.

Prior to this season, Glen Mills coach Tony Bacon told me he thought he'd have only one player back from last year's squad. Hey, that's the way it is at The Mills. But through three games, Xavier Couthen had been that kind of player, averaging 15 points.

But it looks like Couthen's got company.

The Battlin' Bulls brought out a familiar face Saturday, in a nonleague loss to Ridley. Senior Raheem Harvey coupled 31 points with 18 rebounds in his 2011-12 debut.

You may remember Harvey, a 6-foot-7 center, from a story that appeared in the Daily Times a few days prior to the season. Harvey sustained serious brain injuries during a car accident more than two years ago. He missed most of what should have been his junior year at Glen Mills, recovered and played his senior year last winter and, as it turns out, is back for another go-around with the Bulls -- most likely because of all the class he missed two years ago.

"We were just waiting for him to get cleared (medically)," Bacon said Saturday, following the Bulls' 66-56 loss to Ridley, in which Harvey had some company. Shawn Church, one of Delaware County's top scorers, had 27 points for the Green Raiders.

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Two other things from Saturday worth keeping an eye on:

***Chester took down Math, Civics and Sciences in a pairing of PIAA champions from last season. The Clippers, the Class AAAA winners, got seven points and 15 rebounds from Rondae Jefferson, 11 points and 13 boards from Erikk Wright and 13 points from Darius Robinson. They effectively shut down the Elephants, the Class A titlists, and elite scorer Jeremiah Worthem. The junior combo guard/forward, who has offers from Drexel, Rice, Saint Joseph's and La Salle, dropped in a game-best 14 points.

***Charles Dorsey could be a handful in the Del Val League. For now, he's scoring the heck out of the ball for Academy Park in nonleague play. The senior boosted his per-game average to 22.4 points with a 29-point showing Saturday in a 64-55 win over Strath Haven. Keep an eye on Dorsey this season.