SOL District One Boys’ BB Preview (Opening Round)

Jarrad Saffren previews the teams who will be competing in the upcoming District One Tournament as well as Friday’s 6A games.

Suburban One League boys basketball district playoff preview

By Jarrad Saffren

The District One Class 6A playoffs start Friday night. The District One Class 5A playoffs open next Wednesday, February 22.

Twelve Suburban One League boys basketball teams made the District One 6A playoffs. There are 24 teams in the field. SOL teams earned five of the eight byes. It would not be surprising if an SOL team, particularly #2 seed PW or #3 seed Abington, won the district title.

The three SOL leagues almost always account for about half the teams in the highest classification of the District One playoffs.

The last two District One Class 4A champions—Abington (2015) and Plymouth Whitemarsh (2016)—are SOL teams. (Class 4A was the highest classification before this year)

The SOL dominates, of course, because SOL parents are taller, stronger and longer than parents in other areas, and therefore produce better basketball players.

This is, of course, completely false. It’s actually a matter of math. There are three SOL conferences and 22 SOL teams, the most in either category.

In District One 6A, 19 of 39 teams are SOL teams.

Additionally, two other SOL teams—Wissahickon and Upper Moreland—made the District One Class 5A playoffs. So 14 SOL teams made the district playoffs in all, out of 22.

Not bad.

Hey, a lot of people moved to Bucks and Montgomery counties once upon a time. They are nice places to live.

Here is a preview of each first round matchup, plus a quick look at the teams that earned byes.

Everything is in capsule format. Enjoy…

District One Class 6A Byes

#2 Plymouth Whitemarsh

20-4 overall
Suburban One League American Conference champions (14-0)
Deep rotation includes eight players who play significant minutes
Colonials are led by junior backcourt duo Ahmin and Ahmad Williams, sharpshooter Matt Walker and 7-0 center Naheem McLeod
Beat #4 Coatesville (52-45) and #6 Pennsbury (64-48). Swept season series with #8 Cheltenham (74-59, 56-51) and #21 Hatboro-Horsham (54-36, 58-45).
Only loss to a District One team came to #3 Abington (70-66) in Suburban One League Tournament championship.
Will face the winner of #15 CR South vs. #18 CB East game.

#3 Abington

20-4 overall
Suburban One League National Conference champions (12-0)
Sophomore forward Eric Dixon (18.5) and junior guard Robbie Heath (15.9) combine for 34.4 points per game
Senior point guard Robert Young rarely turns ball over and senior center Joe O’Brien cleans glass, blocks shots and defends high-scoring big guys well
Wins over #1 Perkiomen Valley (51-47), #2 PW (70-66), #5 North Penn (66-45), #18 Central Bucks East (58-42)
Swept season series with #6 Pennsbury (37-31, 56-44), #15 Council Rock South (53-40, 43-41), #22 Neshaminy (60-38, 71-44)
12-1 in 2017
Will face the winner of #14 Downingtown East vs. #19 Norristown game

#5 North Penn

18-5 overall
Suburban One League Continental Conference champions (11-1)
Deep, experienced rotation includes six seniors and eight players who play significant minutes
Six players have led Knights in scoring at least once this season
David Guiliani, Reece Udinski and Ricky Johns have done so the most.
Beat #17 Methacton (56-51) and #18 CB East (60-54)
Swept season series against #12 Central Bucks West (48-35, 63-53), #20 Pennridge (56-50, 61-48), #23 Central Bucks South (60-51, 66-54)
12-2 in 2017
Will meet the winner of the #12 Cntral Bucks West v. #21 Hatboro-Horsham contest

#6 Pennsbury

15-8 overall
8-4 in SOL National play, finished second to Abington
Falcons led by senior forward Mark Flagg and senior point guard Addison Howard
Beat #5 North Penn (61-46), #8 Cheltenham (62-53), #14 Downingtown East (55-39), #15 Council Rock South (40-35), #21 Hatboro-Horsham (52-36)
Swept season series with #22 Neshaminy (62-45, 49-41)
Made district playoffs for sixth straight year
Will take on the winner of the #11 Penn Wood vs. #22 Neshaminy game

#8 Cheltenham

17-5 overall
11-3 in SOL American play, finished second to PW
Panthers led by senior forward Trevonn Pitts, junior point guard Ahmad Bickley, junior guard Jack Clark and senior guard Tim Spencer
Beat #3 Abington (79-76) and #12 CB West (61-57)
Swept season series with #21 Hatboro-Horsham (78-76, 59-53)
Won 11 of last 12 games
Will face the winner of the #9 Spring-Ford vs. #24 Avon Grove game.

District One Class 6A First Round

#21 Hatboro-Horsham at #12 CB West (Friday, 7 p.m.)
(Winner will face #5 North Penn)

Hatboro-Horsham

12-10 overall
8-6 in SOL American play, finished third behind PW and Cheltenham
Seniors Jay Davis and Clifton Moore combine for 38 points per game
Made 2016 PIAA Class 4A Tournament

CB West

15-7 overall
9-3 in SOL Continental play, finished second to North Penn
Junior forwards Collin MacAdams (16.2 points per game) and Jake Reichwein (14.8) lead Bucks
Won last six regular season games
Made district playoffs for fourth straight year
Made 2016 PIAA Class 4A Tournament

#18 Central Bucks East at #15 Council Rock South (Friday, 7 p.m.)
(Winner will face #2 Plymouth Whitemarsh)

CB East

12-10 overall
6-6 in SOL Continental play, finished third behind North Penn and CB West
Patriots led by senior guards Matt Pattyson and Elijah Seger
Beat #5 North Penn (40-38) and #20 Pennridge (50-48)
Swept season series with #23 CB South (58-55, 59-50)
Reached 2016 PIAA Class 4A Tournament

Council Rock South

13-9 overall
7-5 in SOL National play, finished third behind Abington and Pennsbury
Golden Hawks led by five seniors: Guards Alex Nordenholt, Austin Thomas, Kevin Newbert, and forwards Ryan Boyd and Ryan McNamee
Beat #6 Pennsbury (55-47), #18 CB East (53-42), #21 Hatboro-Horsham (39-36), #22 Neshaminy (50-35)
Made district playoffs for first time since 2009
Hosting playoff game for first time in school history

#20 Pennridge at #13 Downingtown West (Friday, 7 p.m.)
(Winner will face #4 Coatesville)

Pennridge

11-11 overall
5-7 in SOL Continental play, finished fifth behind North Penn, CB West, CB East and CB South
Rams led by sophomore point guard Sean Yoder, senior forward Kyle Yoder, senior guard Ryan Cuthbert and sophomore center Jon Post
Beat #15 CR South (48-44), #17 Methacton (44-43), #18 CB East (58-53), #22 Neshaminy (63-47)
Made fourth straight district playoff appearance

Downingtown West

14-8 overall
9-3 in Ches-Mont National Conference play, finished third behind Coatesville and Bishop Shanahan
Whippets led by senior forwards George Gordon and Matt Carson
Beat #14 Downingtown East (44-42)
Swept season series with #24 Avon Grove (41-39, 60-41)
Won seven of last eight games

#22 Neshaminy at #11 Penn Wood (Friday, 7 p.m.)
(Winner will face #6 Pennsbury)

Neshaminy

9-13 overall
4-8 in SOL National play, finished fifth behind Abington, Pennsbury, CR South and Council Rock North
Junior guard Chris Arcidiacono leads Neshaminy in points (21 per game), assists (three per game) and steals (two per game)
Beat #15 CR South (46-40) and #24 Avon Grove (55-49)
Made district playoffs for first time since 2011

Penn Wood

16-7 overall
Delaware Valley Conference champions (10-1)
Patriots are led by seniors Pernell Ghee, Kairi Jones and Jay Fitzgerald
Beat #13 Downingtown West (57-52) and #19 Norristown (64-43)

#23 Central Bucks South at #10 Lower Merion (Friday, 7 p.m.)
(Winner will face #2 Conestoga)

CB South

9-13 overall
5-7 in SOL Continental play, finished fourth behind North Penn, CB West and CB East
Titans are led by guard trio of Dan Tecce, Alex Karras and Nate Robinson
Beat #9 Spring-Ford (59-57), #12 CB West (52-44), #15 CR South (52-47)
Swept season series with #20 Pennridge (51-46, 68-54)
Made sixth straight district playoff appearance

Lower Merion

18-7 overall
16-3 in Central Athletic League play, finished second to Conestoga
Beat #7 Conestoga (58-56)

District One Class 5A First Round

#11 Wissahickon at #6 Phoenixville (Wednesday, February 22)
(Winner will face the winner of the #3 Penncrest vs. #14 Harriton game)

Wissahickon

13-9 overall
10-4 in SOL American play, finished third behind PW and Cheltenham
Trojans use deep rotation where eight players play significant minutes
Do-everything forwards Shane Ford and Zach Reiner lead Wissahickon
Swept season series with #16 Upper Moreland (62-54, 57-48)

Phoenixville

14-8 overall
7-3 in Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division play, finished second to Upper Merion
Led by Avery Close (17.7 ppg) and Shyheim Abernathy (15.2 ppg)
Beat #3 Penncrest (51-48) and #8 Upper Merion (63-59)
Swept season series with #15 Upper Perkiomen (54-45, 51-47)
Won seven of last nine games

#16 Upper Moreland at #1 Chester (Wednesday, February 22)
(Winner will face the winner of #8 Upper Merion vs. #9 Strath Haven contest)

Upper Moreland

12-10 overall
6-8 in SOL American play, finished fifth behind PW, Cheltenham, Wissahickon and Hatboro-Horsham
Golden Bears are led by sharpshooter Damian Washington, point guard Casey Decker and center Ryan Coyle
Won four of last six games

Chester