Chester High's Rondae Jefferson is the 2011-12 Daily Times Player of the Year.

Jefferson averaged 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.7 blocks and 2.6 steals per game for the Clippers (32-0), who won back-to-back PIAA Class AAAA titles and finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally by USA Today.

Three other notes on Jefferson: His 21 rebounds against Lower Merion in the District One Class AAAA championship established a school record. He totaled 14 double-doubles of points and rebounds. And he nearly had a quadruple-double in the regular-season finale, totaling 15 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and eight steals.

Rounding out the 2011-12 All-Delco team are: Chester senior forward Erikk Wright; Glen Mills senior center Raheem Harvey; Penn Wood senior guard Malcolm Richardson; Ridley senior Shawn Church; and Archbishop Carroll junior guard Yosef Yacob.

Barring breaking news and college commitments, this likely will be the final blog post here for a while. Check back regularly, just to be sure, and thanks for your consistent readership this season. It's been a fun one.

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

Here's a look at Delaware County's free-throw shooting leaders for the 2011-12 season, with only two stipulations to make the cut: Players must have attempted an average of four free throws per game (88 for a 22-game season and so on) and must have knocked down at least 50 percent of them.

Without further ado, your leaders:

84.3 ... Dan Rutecki, Springfield (75-89, 22 G)
75.4 ... Kevin Gladstone, Haverford (98-130, 22 G)
75.3 ... Jerry Price, Penn Wood (61-81, 20 G)
73.2 ... Ryan Kelly, Garnet Valley (71-97)
71.5 ... Shawn Church, Ridley (63-88, 22 G)
69.2 ... Ryan Furst, Marple Newtown (72-104, 22 G)
68.1 ... Rob Pittman, Chichester (96-141, 19 G)
67.6 ... Alec Stavetski, Arch. Carroll (71-105, 21 G)
65.9 ... Malcolm Richardson, Penn Wood (56-86, 21 G)
64.2 ... John Fender, Strath Haven (68-106, 22 G)
63.3 ... Yosef Yacob, Arch. Carroll (76-120, 22 G)
62.4 ... Rondae Jefferson, Chester (73-117, 22 G)
58.3 ... Christian Irons, Interboro (84-144, 22 G)
55.9 ... Erikk Wright, Chester (52-93, 22 G)
55.4 ... Sammy Foreman, Haverford School (51-92, 22 G)
51.6 ... George Walker, Glen Mills (62-120, 22 G)

Well, reigning Central League MVP Shawn Church finally made a choice regarding his college recruitment: He hasn't picked a school.

The reason? Church, a 6-4 senior forward at Ridley, told me Thursday night that he will pursue the prep-school route in an attempt to improve his test scores and his college recruitment. Delaware County's second-leading scorer, Church averages 18..4 points per game.

Ridley coach Mike Snyder said Haverford coach Keith Heinerichs, Church's former coach at Ridley, will aid in the process.

"We're looking into that for him," said Snyder. "His AAU coach and Keith and I are going to help with that. There was Division I interest in the summer, but no offers. The AAU team he was playing for was loaded, so he was getting big-time schools looking at him. His grades aren't the strongest, so I think he's going to do the prep-school thing. He loves basketball and we want to help him get to the next level."

It had been believed that Church, the 11th player in Ridley history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau, was a Division I talent. While Snyder and Church confirmed that much, it'll take another year before we know where Church is taking his talents.

After Thursday's game, Haverford big man Kevin Gladstone told me he's narrowed his choices to four Division III schools: Wilkes, Gettysburg, Elizabethtown and DeSales. Gladstone, who averages 12 points per game, is a 6-4 forward.

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I've been told Chester junior Rondae Jefferson has been offered a scholarship by Temple, while Glen Mills senior Raheem Harvey has not, though Harvey has been spotted at two Temple games this season.

Jefferson, one of the county's best players, has missed four of the Clippers' last six games due to what Chester coaches have termed "dehydration and exhaustion." Harvey is fresh off his second triple-double of the season, posting 22 points, 22 rebounds and 10 blocked shots Thursday night in a win over Chichester.

(Times staff photo / JULIA WILKINSON)

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.

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.

Everyone at Ridley knows what Friday is.

It's more than the end of the Green Raiders' school week. It's more than their fourth Central League game. It's bragging rights.

Ridley (3-3, 1-2) travels to Haverford (3-2, 1-2) Friday night for a meeting with a familiar face. Former Ridley coach Keith Heinerichs (pictured), a Haverford resident, left the Green Raiders following last season to take the top spot with the Fords.

“I’m thinking this is going to be a big game," said Shawn Church, Ridley's high-scoring power forward. "(Heinerichs) teaches here still. I’ll be in his (U.S. history) class next semester."

Heinerichs coached Church and Dan Staiber, Ridley's only returning starters from last season, for three seasons. In 11 seasons at Ridley, Heinerichs posted a 183-104 record (.638 win percentage), guided the Raiders to four District One Class AAAA playoff berths in his final five seasons and matched the program's deepest run in 2007-08, when they reached the PIAA quarterfinals.

“That should be a little extra element to it," said Mike Snyder, Ridley's first-year coach who was a longtime assistant for Heinerichs. "Keith coached Dan and Shawn for three years. Should be fun. We text. We keep in touch. We try not to share too much. I’m sure he’s feeling how I’d be feeling -- a little odd, you know?"

Heinerichs will have more than Ridley to worry about. After posting 10 winning records in 11 seasons at Ridley, Heinerichs took on the Fords, who had posted four winning seasons in their past 14 years.

"I think it'll be awkward," Heinerichs said of the game. "I don't know what divorce feels like, but I imagine this will be a lot like that. It's like moving on with your life, but you're still around people you care about.

"I see Dan and Shawn and Derrick (Dawson) every day. I wrote Matt Zang a recommendation two weeks ago. This game is going to be a lot of fun."

If Haverford is going to bring home a win for Heinerichs, count on Kevin Gladstone - who scored 19 points Tuesday after missing the first five games of the year due to injury - and Pat Morgan, who's averaging 10 points per game.

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.

##

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.

Entering Thursday night's games, here's how my stat book shook out:

1. Juan'ya Green, Arch. Carroll ... 22.1 ppg
2. Aaron Brown, Penn Wood ... 22.0 ppg
3. Jordan Tucker, Academy Park ... 20.4 ppg
4. Shawn Church, Ridley ... 18.3 ppg
5. Ian Campbell, Penncrest ... 17.3 ppg
6. Jordan Sbraccia, Delco Christian ... 17.1 ppg
7t. Erikk Wright, Chester ... 16.0 ppg
7t. Taylor Wright, Episcopal Acad. ... 16.0 ppg
9. Omar Randall, Strath Haven ... 15.4 ppg
10. Steffon Poole, Glen Mills ... 14.8 ppg

More to come next week, when I unveil the county's top 25 scorers in the first installment of the boys basketball notebook.

It's going to be an all-Delaware County final in the Central League championship tournament.

That became official when Penncrest put the finishing touches on its 51-40 victory over Springfield and, at Bala Cynwyd Middle School, Ridley pulled a 42-40 upset of top-seeded Lower Merion.

In Penncrest's victory, Ian Campbell led three double-figure scorers with 14 points. Rodney Duncan had 13 and Andrew Radomicki scored 11. The storyline for the Lions was Matt Atkinson (9 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 7 steals), who came very close to a quadruple-double.

"We're very excited to be in this situation," said Penncrest coach Mike Doyle, whose team has steadily improved its win total in each of his seven years at the helm.

For Ridley, it was all Cameron Gunter, who had 15 points and 10 boards. But Marc Dziadon stole the spotlight. He only made two shots the entire game --- and one of them was a running layup as time expired, sealing the Green Raiders' upset. Shawn Church tossed in 13 points.

ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIP ... No. 4 Ridley takes on No. 2 Penncrest for the title Tuesday night in a 7 p.m. tipoff at Harriton High. Should be a good one.