Devon Prep tops Obama Academy, extending City League drought

By: Eric Thomas
Thursday, March 19, 2026 | 10:01 PM

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HERSHEY – When the state basketball tournament started, there was one glaring record in the Class 4A boys bracket.

Devon Prep (5-18).

Yes, five wins entering the state tournament.

To the Tide’s credit, they turned it on when the lights got brighter.

Jaden Craft scored 21 points to lead three Tide players in double figures as Devon Prep (10-18) matched its regular season win total over the last three weeks, defeating City League champion Obama Academy, 58-41, in the title game Thursday night at Giant Center.

The win capped an improbable run and gave the Tide a third consecutive PIAA title, second straight in Class 4A

Obama coach Naron Jackson didn’t pay any attention to those five wins when the tournament started.

“We never look at that because our record will show something different too,” Jackson said afterward. “I was telling someone earlier they play a strong Philly conference schedule. Early in the year, they got some new guys back, so I knew they’d jell better at the end.”

Devon Prep’s defense put the clamps on Obama, holding the Eagles to 1-of-11 shooting in the first quarter. Foul trouble also hurt the Eagles as guard Naron Jackson and Eric James both ended up fouling out.

Then there was the 23-3 run the Tide used over the midway point of the first quarter into the second to take a 16-point lead with 5:37 remaining in the first half.

To the Eagles’ credit, they scrapped and clawed their way back into the game in the second half.

“I think it was six at one point, then we had another turnover and we were teetering with that 10-, 12-point lead for a while, then we broke the ice then they got it back up to 10, 12. It was kind of hard,” Jackson said.

Obama (20-10) was attempting to become the first City League school to win a PIAA boys title since Schenley defeated Chester in 2007. The last City League school to make the championship round was Allderdice in 2016.

Devon Prep is believed to be the first PIAA champion to win the title with a losing record.

“You could see these guys turn into a basketball team, to really develop, and tonight you could see they started to believe they could win,” Tide coach Jason Fischer said. “We wouldn’t beat that team in December. We wouldn’t have won any of these games. It was just a culmination of all these things all year.”

Obama had a sliver of hope midway through the fourth quarter when the Tide’s Owen Raymond picked up a technical foul. Jaden Colbert converted the free throws to bring the Eagles within six at 41-35, but a drive and dish from Cooper Fairlamb to Braedan Fisher slowed the Obama momentum.

James took a steal to the bucket to again cut it to six with 3:06 remaining, but Obama couldn’t find shots the rest of the way.

Despite fouling out late, James led Obama with 19 points and six rebounds. The Eagles shot 27% from the field and just 1 for 14 from 3-point territory.

“It was one of those things where maybe some things started to change a little bit,” Jackson said of the technical. “There were some 50-50 calls and different things that happened and 50-50 balls and we didn’t get them, and it led to them getting a bigger lead again. Just the fight in our guys, I love it. It’s who we are, what we did all year, but we just couldn’t get over that hump. There was like a feel to us today. It wasn’t us, to me.”

Tags: Obama Academy