City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2024-25 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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The name on the front of the uniform has changed, but there’s a lot that’s still the same for Lonnie Diggs. 

The first-year head coach at Chester Charter Scholars Academy, Diggs takes over in the true start of a new era, with the still-young program joining the Bicentennial Athletic League for the 2024-25 season. But after 13 years as an assistant and six as the head coach at now-closed Math, Civics & Sciences, including multiple state championship runs, Diggs is starting anew at a program he hopes to turn into the next small-school powerhouse in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

A 12-year-old charter school, CCSA started as a K-6 school in 2012-13, its first high school class graduating in 2019. The Sabers first fielded a varsity basketball team — without any seniors — in 2017-18, making the District 1 Class 1A field for the first time in 2020, winning the title in its debut season. They were in the state quarterfinals, ready to face Southern Fulton, when COVID canceled the remainder of the postseason. 

That appearance, along with another quarterfinal showing in 2023, remains the high-water mark for the program. Diggs wants more. 

“We expect to win the Bicentennial League, we expect to win a state championship in Single A this year, that really doesn’t change, as far as our goals as a program,” he said. “I have my whole staff from MCS, we expect to win right away.”

The Bicentennial is tough at the top, with Dock Mennonite and Delco Christian likely to be Chester Charter’s biggest competition for a title. Dock has won the last two league titles, beating Church Farm two years ago and Delco Christian this past February. Both Dock and Delco return a good chunk of talent, including a couple BAL Player of the Year candidates apiece.

But Diggs’ confidence has a strong foundation.

All four of his assistant coaches — John Dennis, Jeremiah Worthem, Tiriq Henson and Butch Coggins — followed him over from MCS. So did three sophomores — Nieem Gregory (6-2), Dom Miller (6-3) and Jamar Grooms (5-9) — plus 6-3 junior Zion Robinson.

Senior guard Tre Caldwell is the only returning starter from a team that went 13-12 last season, winning the District 1 title but falling to High Point Baptist in the first round. Fellow senior Calvin Lewis (6-0) and sophomores Maurice Barnes (6-4) and Troy Griffin-Soto (6-3) also return from last year’s rotation, and Diggs said he’s ready to utilize all of them this year.

“When we first got there, (Diggs) gave everybody a talk, that it was going to take a lot of time and work,” Lewis said. “We’ve got to put in the work — if we want to win districts, Bicentennial championship, we’ve got to put in the work.”

Infusing a good deal of leadership, experience, and talent in the backcourt will be senior guard Josiah Hutson. The former Cheltenham lead guard told CoBL he moved down to Chester with his family in the summer, and will finish out his high school career as one of the Sabres’ featured pieces. 

Going from a 6A public school to a small charter school in a different county has been an adjustment for the 5-11 combo guard, who’s impressed with his scoring and ball-handling for the Sabres all summer long.

“It’s definitely a brand-new experience for me, I’ll say that,” Hutson said, “but I’m definitely enjoying every bit and every moment of it.

“Just (focusing on being) a good teammate and a good leader, that’s all,” Hutson added. “We’ve got the pieces, we’ve got everything that’s involved around us, we’ve got everything we need. Just being a more mature teenager and a better leader on the court.”

Also coming aboard this offseason has been junior guard Jah Sabb, who previously played at West Catholic. Like Hutson, the 5-10 Sabb starred for BW Elite this summer on the Hoop Group circuit, Hutson at the 17U level and Sabb at 16U. 

The biggest challenge for Diggs and his staff this offseason has just been to get all his various pieces on the same page, to form some cohesion heading into December. Early results have been positive: the Sabers have competed at a high clip all fall, 

“They just play together really well, especially considering the short period that we got a lot of new people integrated, dealing with a new staff,” said Diggs, who also got hired as an assistant principal at Upper Darby High School this offseason. “I think the team really gets along well and I think they play well together, for the short time they’ve been together.”

Diggs and Chester Charter will face a familiar foe in the second game of the season, with Philadelphia Public League squad Constitution coming down to Chester on Dec. 2. The Sabers also have a quality January matchup with Loyola Blakefield (Md.), which features Delaware commit Mason Ellison. Bicentennial play runs the length of the season, with the Delco Christian (Jan. 13 at Chester Charter) and Dock Mennonite (Jan. 15 at Dock) games back-to-back.

In order to make it to the District 1 Class A tournament, Chester Charter needs to finish in the top four out of seven in the district rankings. A semifinal win is enough to earn a trip back to the state tournament, just five more victories from bringing a trophy home from Hershey.