So far, so good.

That’s the simple analysis of how the Inter-Academic League has fared in the Pennsylvania Independent Tournament that began on February 18 and finishes on February 27.

Among the 16 teams, each of the Inter-Ac’s six teams qualified. Five of the six were victorious in the first round and moved on to the quarterfinals. Of those, two advanced to the semifinals.

Here is a summary of what has occurred thus far:

On February 18 junior Nick Alikakos scored 23, junior Conner Delaney 17, and senior Matt Woods 13 to lead Episcopal Academy past Solebury School, 61-59.

On February 19, Penn Charter edged Academy of the New Church behind sophomore Mason Williams’ 20 points and senior Harrison Williams’ 12. Malvern Prep defeated Shipley, 72-60, as senior Will Powers scored 23 while Mike Hollingsworth added 17 and junior Tommy Wolfe contributed 14. Germantown Academy rolled past Germantown Friends, 63-45, with senior Inter-Ac Most Valuable Player Devon Goodman netting 23, senior Gabe Alter 14, and Bailey Whitman 11. Thanks primarily to sophomore Kharon Randolph’s 20 points, senior Tommy McNamara’s 13, and senior Jack Marshall’s 11, Haverford School upended Friends Central, 63-54. In Springside-Chestnut Hill’s 53-38 loss at Hill School, sophomore Sean Simon scored 15.

With no rest for the weary, the tourney continued on February 20. Episcopal Academy and Germantown Academy both advanced to the semifinals while Malvern Prep and Penn Charter ended their respective seasons in convincing fashion.

EA topped Haverford School, 59-53, as Delaney (20), Woods (19) and Alikakos (15) scored all but five of the Churchmen’s points. The Fords received stellar efforts from Randolph (21 points), Marshall (16), and freshman Gavin Burke (11). They finished with a 10-15 record.

Germantown Academy coasted past Kiski, 54-31. Junior Evan-Eric Longino scored 21 and junior Kyle McCloskey added 12. Pretty amazing, then, that the Patriots won two games with three different players scoring in double figures in the first win, followed by two different players doing likewise in the second victory.

Penn Charter lost to powerful Hill School, 59-37. Although 10 different Quakers scored, none notched more than seven points. The Quakers finished with a record of 13-10. Malvern Prep received 21 points from Powers and 15 from Wolfe, but it was far from enough as the Friars closed out a 16-13 campaign by losing to Westtown, 77-47.

Both Germantown Academy, the Inter-Ac champion, and Episcopal, the Inter-Ac runner-up, will play on February 26 at Penn Charter High School. The Churchmen face Westtown at 3:30, followed by the Patriots versus Hill School. The two survivors will compete in the tournament championship 3 PM on February 27.

“It’s great to have another week playing for GA,” said Germantown Academy senior Gabe Alter. “We seniors know that our time in a GA uniform is running out, so we’re really happy to have been able to have a good weekend and extend our season.”

Patriots senior Devon Goodman pointed out that GA’s season ended in the quarterfinals the past two years.

“It’s amazing to be in the semifinals,” he said. “Since we have two games left, we told ourselves we might as well try to win it all.”

Episcopal is taking a similar approach.

“It feels good to be in the semifinals and to be playing a talented team in Westtown,” said EA junior Nick Alikakos. “We just have to keep playing hard.”

Junior teammate Conner Delaney agrees.

"It’s big to get here along with some other very good teams,” said Delaney. “This is the first time in a few years that an Episcopal team has made it this far, and we just want to show that we can play with the big teams like Westtown.”

John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com.