Three SOL teams will be in action on Saturday when the PIAA Class AAAA state tournament begins.
By Scott Huff
The trek to Hershey to compete for the PIAA Quad-A basketball title begins this Saturday for the 32-team field.
The Suburban One League will have a trio of teams that will begin that championship journey as Pennsbury, Abington, and Central Bucks West survived the District One playoffs as three of the ten teams that will represent District One. Good luck to the Falcons (1-2), Ghosts (1-6), and Bucks (1-10).
And the beat goes on…
PIAA Quad-A First Round State Basketball Tournament
Saturday – March 8, 2014
(1-2) Pennsbury Falcons [22-6] vs. (3-5) Wilson Bulldogs [26-3]
@ Council Rock South High School – Holland – 4:30 pm
Playoff Resume: Pennsbury advanced to the District One final before losing to champion Chester – 52-49. The Falcons opened districts with an 81-68 win over Academy Park – followed with a 69-52 victory over Spring-Ford – and captured a 58-36 win over Conestoga. Wilson lost in the second round of the District Three Tournament to eventual district champion William Penn – 53-47. The Bulldogs opened district play with a 49-39 victory over Lower Dauphin – defeated Reading 60-54 in a playback game – and earned the fifth seed with a 53-41 win over Cumberland Valley.
Players To Watch: Pennsbury features Cameron Jones, Mekhi Bryant, Derrick Woods, Steve Ciotti, and Nigel Johnson. Wilson showcases Travaun Coad, Sam Smith, Jaylin Calloway, Matt Timochenko, and Kyle Watkins.
Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman says: “We learned in the loss to Chester that we can compete with higher quality teams in the state. The key to March Madness is to prepare and concentrate on the game right ahead of you, and that for us is a very good Wilson team. They were to top seed in District 3 but lost to William Penn and dropped down to a # 5 seed from the district. (Travaun) Coad is very athletic and one of the best players we have seen this year. And they also have two good shooters – and they play with a lot of energy. We have had great practices and are ready to go.”
Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the (12-2) Martin Luther King [23-5] vs. (3-6) Cumberland Valley [19-7] game on Wednesday – March 12, 2014.
(11-2) Emmaus Green Hornets [18-8] vs. (1-6) Abington Ghosts [22-6]
@ Parkland High School - Allentown – 7:30 pm
Playoff Resume: Emmaus advanced to the District 11 final before losing to champion Parkland – 60-33. The Green Hornets opened district play with a 51-44 victory over Bangor and followed with a 61-54 win over Liberty. Abington opened District One play with a 61-44 win over North Penn and followed with a 53-44 win over Haverford. The Ghosts lost in the district semifinals to eventual champion Chester – 63-51. Abington rebounded with a 57-52 overtime win over Central Bucks West but lost to Lower Merion 53-42 to earn the district six seed.
Players To Watch: Emmaus features Joe Nicolini, Joey Polczynski, David Kachelries, Matt Kachelries, and Tyler Prescott. Abington showcases Matt Penecale, Anthony Lee, Amir Hinton, Khari Jefferson, and Jordan Neely.
Abington head coach Charles Grasty says: “The loss to Lower Merion on our home court hurt the players – it was the first time in 35 games that we lost a game on our home floor. But now we have to refocus and play Abington basketball to begin the state playoffs. I didn’t like our body language before the Lower Merion game, but we will learn from that. Emmaus is a very good team that plays hard and competes every possession. We watched a lot of film on them, and we understand what we have to do to beat them. We are going to play our game and make them speed their game up – we need to create tempo. We have played both CB West and Haverford recently, and Emmaus plays a lot like them. I like where we are – and if we can match their intensity we should be fine.”
Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the (3-1) York (William Penn) [22-6] vs. (1-10) Haverford (15-10) game on Wednesday.
(11-1) Parkland Trojans [21-5] vs. (1-8) Central Bucks West Bucks (15-12)
@Freedom High School – Bethlehem – 7:30 pm
Playoff Resume: Parkland won the District 11 championship with a 60-33 victory over Emmaus. The Trojans opened district play with a 59-44 victory over Allentown Allen and followed with a 71-42 win over Stroudsburg. Central Bucks West opened District One play with a 58-50 victory over Penncrest and followed with a 37-35 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Bucks lost back-to-back games to games to Abington (57-52 in overtime) and Spring-Ford 65-51.
Players To Watch: Parkland features Justin Zajko, Nick Rindock, Jimmy Hahn, Ryan Keller, and Sam Iorio. Central Bucks West showcases Jared Kelly, Pat Kelley, Evan Dunn, Kyle Salvitti, and Cal Reichwein.
Central Bucks West head coach Adam Sherman says: “Parkland is a very interesting team that is going to present quite a challenge for us. They have five players that can all shoot the basketball – they make good decisions with the ball – and limit turnovers. They remind me a lot of Pennridge and North Penn in our league. They will run when they have the opportunity, but they are also very comfortable in the half court. We have to stay focused on the things that we want to do, and play the game at our tempo. The one really good thing about our team right now is that we continue to get better every game.”
Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the (1-4) West Chester Rustin [17-10] vs. (3-4) Central York [24-4] game on Wednesday.
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