Scott Huff previews Tuesday’s District One AAAA games featuring SOL teams.
By Scott Huff
The Final Four is the desired destination for the entire 32-team field that began PIAA Quad-A postseason play. That invited list included no less than 11 teams from the Suburban One League.
The treacherous journey came to an end in the first round for # 32 Norristown, # 15 Pennridge, # 26 North Penn, # 24 Central Bucks East, and # 21 Central Bucks South.
The trek to Temple University ended in the Sweet Sixteen round with the elimination of # 18 Souderton, # 30 Wissahickon, and # 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh.
The trip to the Final Four came to an end in the Elite Eight round to both # 7 Abington and # 22 Central Bucks West.
The lone team from the SOL to soar to the District semifinals on the big stage is # 5 Pennsbury. The Falcons will play # 1 Conestoga at 7:30 pm at TU, while the other semifinal game will be played at 6 pm between # 2 Chester and # 14 West Chester Rustin.
The winners of the semifinal games will advance to the PIAA Quad-A championship game to be played this Friday at Villanova with a 9 pm tip-off.
Stay tuned
And the beat goes on …
# 5 Pennsbury Falcons (21-4) vs. # 1 Conestoga Pioneers (23-4)
PIAA Quad-A Semifinal Game @ Temple University
Tuesday – 7:30 pm
Playoff Resume: Pennsbury opened district play with an 81-68 win over # 28 Academy Park and followed with a 67-50 victory over # 12 Oxford. The Falcons advanced to the semifinal game with an impressive 69-52 win over # 4 Spring-Ford. In the win over S-F, Mekhi Bryant (17), Derrick Woods (16), Cameron Jones (13), and Steve Ciotti (12) all scored in double figures. Conestoga opened district play with a 47-34 win over # 32 Norristown and followed with a 45-40 victory over # 17 Methacton. The Pioneers advanced to the semifinal game with an impressive 68-60 win over # 9 Lower Merion. In the win over LM, Martin Dorsey (14), Dan Vila (14), Zach Yonda (14), and Daryl Caldwell (11) all scored in twin digits.
Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman says: “Our goal since last March was to get to Villanova, and we took a big step when we beat Spring-Ford. We got a big lead, but we relaxed and had far too many (17) turnovers. We will learn from that. But we were good enough to recover and move on to Temple. Now we get a team that we lost to the first time in Conestoga (Conestoga beat Pennsbury 53-42 on 2/1/14). That was without doubt the worst game that we played all year, and it was combination of them playing good defense and us shooting poorly. The good thing about playing a team we have already played this year is that the players know what to expect. The kids are excited – the Falcon Nest (fans) will be in full force – and it should be a great experience for everyone.”
Winner Gets / Loser Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the # 2 Chester vs. # 14 West Chester Rustin game for the PIAA Quad-A District One championship on Friday (2/28/14) @ Villanova with a 9 pm start. The loser of this game will play the loser of the Chester/Rustin game for the number 3 and 4 seed from District One.
# 22 Central Bucks West Bucks (15-10) @ # 7 Abington Ghosts (21-4)
Tuesday – 7 pm
Playoff Resume: Central Bucks West opened district play with a 58-50 win over # 11 Penncrest and followed with a 37-35 victory over # 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Bucks lost their quarterfinal game to # 14 West Chester Rustin 48-40. In the loss to WCR, the Bucks were led in scoring by Evan Dunn (17) and Jared Kelly (15). Abington opened district play with a 61-44 win over # 26 North Penn and followed with a 53-34 victory over # 23 Haverford. The Ghosts lost in the quarterfinal game to # 2 Chester 63-51. In the loss to the Clippers, the Ghosts were led in scoring by Anthony Lee with 19 points, while Matt Penecale (17) and Amir Hinton (10) also scored in double digits.
Central Bucks West head coach Adam Sherman says: “Both Abington and us are alike in that we both lost an Elite Eight game and a chance at the Final Four. When you lose that game, sometimes it is hard mentally to come back and play your best basketball in the next game. Abington is a very athletic team with good size, and they will present a big challenge for us. We played well for most of the game against West Chester Rustin, but a bad three-minute stretch in the third quarter really hurt us and we never fully recovered. We have to put that game behind us and get ready for Abington. We need to regain some momentum, and you do that by winning.”
Abington head coach Charles Grasty says: “The difference in the game with Chester is that we didn’t keep them off the glass – they killed us on the boards. But we were still within six points four times in the second half but couldn’t get any closer. We had to chase, and the game was much closer than the 12 points that we lost by. Playing Chester – at Chester – was a great lesson for our players about playing playoff basketball. Only Matt (Penecale) and Anthony (Lee) really have any experience playing playoff basketball, and now the rest of the players have that experience. CB West is going to be a challenge because of their patience. We want that 5 seed – not the 8 seed. We don’t want to ride that yellow bus any further than we have to in the state playoffs.”
Winner Gets / Loser Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the game between # 4 Spring-Ford and # 9 Lower Merion game for the 5 and 6 seed. The loser will play the loser of the SF/LM game for the 7 and 8 seed.
# 30 Wissahickon Trojans (15-10) @ # 23 Haverford Fords (15-10)
Tuesday – 7 pm
Playoff Resume: Wissahickonopened district play with a 55-51 win over # 3 Great Valley and followed with a 73-41 loss to # 14 West Chester Rustin. The Trojans won in a playback game against # 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh 52-47. In the victory over PW, Chase Wilson scored a game-high 24 points for the Trojans while Chris Carradorini added 15 points. Haverford opened district play with a 53-39 win over # 10 Upper Darby and followed with a 53-34 loss to # 7 Abington. The Fords won a playback game against # 18 Souderton 59-52. In the victory over Souderton, Tom Liebig scored a game-high 21 points, while Mike O’Halloran added 11 points.
Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson says: “We’re hoping to capture a little more magic after beating PW. We lost to PW by over 30 (80-44) the last time we played them, but our seniors didn’t want this to be their last game. In fact, we had five seniors on the floor – Chase (Wilson), Chris (Vila), Thomas (Aloia), Chris (Carradorni), and Jared (Reed) at the end of the game. We controlled the tempo, and we had to do that if we were going to beat PW. Haverford is a team just like us – two teams that might have overachieved a little in the playoffs. Our mindset going into the game is just give it everything we have – and if we go out – go out playing our best basketball.”
Winner Gets / Loser Goes Home: The winner of this game will earn a state playoff berth and will play the winner of the # 17 Methacton / # 12 Oxford game for the 9 and 10 seed from District One. The loser will have its season ended.
Exit Door
# 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh (20-5) was shown the exit door with a somewhat surprising 52-47 loss to # 30 Wissahickon (15-10) in a PIAA Quad-A playback game. The Suburban One League American Conference champion Colonials had beaten their conference rivals twice during the regular season – the last time by an 80-44 score. PW was led in scoring in the season finale by Andre Mitchell and Brett Paul who each scored 11 points.
# 18 Souderton (15-10)was also shown the exit door with a somewhat surprising 59-52 loss to # 23 Haverford (16-10) in a PIAA Quad-A playback game. The SOL Continental Conference member earned a rare home playoff game for a # 18 seed but failed to take full advantage of it. The Indians were led in scoring in the season finale by Evan Sloane who scored 15 points.
# 7 Upper Moreland (6-17) was shown the exit door with a somewhat surprising 48-41 loss to # 2 Lower Moreland (17-7) in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal game. The SOL American Conference member had beaten Lower Moreland 45-42 in a non-conference contest in the first game of the season. The Golden Bears were led in scoring by Kevin McFall with 15 points, while Brendan O’Donnell added 9 points for the Purple & Gold.
Suburban One Sports.com
Top Ten
1. Pennsbury Falcons (21-4)
2. Abington Ghosts (21-4)
3. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (20-5)
4. Central Bucks West Bucks (15-10)
5. Wissahickon Trojans (15-10)
6. Souderton Indians (15-10)
7. Pennridge Rams (15-8)
8. Central Bucks South Titans (13-10)
9. Norristown Eagles (12-11)
10. Central Bucks East Patriots (12-11)
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