High school basketball beat writers Kevin Cooney, Todd Thorpe and Scott Huff give their take on the upcoming District One AAAA Tournament in this first installment of the Intelligencer/Courier Times Playoff Preview. Cooney is the high school basketball writer for the Bucks County Courier Times while Thorpe covers high school basketball for the Intelligencer. Huff is the basketball beat writer for SuburbanOneSports.com. Check back for their predictions and perspectives before each round.
SuburbanOneSports.com: What are your thoughts after Friday night’s opening round? Were there any surprises, and if so, what were they?
Kevin Cooney: The one stat that is interesting is that 15 of the 16 home teams won – only (18th-seeded) Plymouth Whitemarsh wins on the road, which is kind of surprising. There were a couple of good games in there. I thought Council Rock North was pushed more than I expected by Central Bucks South. Obviously, they’re at a point where you wonder with the way it went down the stretch if the injuries have caught up with them. They have to get more scoring. They only had three guys that broke double figures the other night – Rip Engel, Aaron Morgan and Arron Goodman. They really have to find a little more offense, and they have to be a little more consistent than they’ve been at this point.
To make a long story short, there weren’t a ton of surprises. A couple of team’s struggles stood out. PW was an example of a team that used its strong non-league schedule, and it really paid off on Friday night.
Todd Thorpe: The first round made a pretty good case that the top 16 teams in the field were the best 16, as 15 
of the 16 games went chalk and all but one of the games was decided by seven or more points. Most probably would also agree that Plymouth Whitemarsh, seeded 18th, belonged in that mix and its win over No. 15 Conestoga was hardly an upset.
The closest game of the day was the Council Rock North-Central Bucks South game. CB South deserves credit for staying close and having a chance in the fourth quarter as the Indians definitely were a huge favorite, having won a December game between the two easily. South had a pretty good bounce-back season, going from 6-16 a year ago to 11-12 and a playoff team, and has all but two of its regular eight-man rotation returning. In the end, however, CR North had the big guns like Aaron Morgan, Arron Goodman and Rip Engel and was able to survive.
Scott Huff: The biggest surprise to me was that there were no surprises. With the exception of Plymouth Whitemarsh beating Conestoga, there wasn’t a single lower seeded team that pulled off an upset. And I don’t really believe that anyone thought PW’s win was a true upset considering the tremendous non-league schedule the Colonials played. The Suburban One League had a great showing with 10 of 13 teams advancing – and two of those three losses (CB South and Upper Dublin) came against other SOL teams (CR North and Cheltenham). Only Truman lost out of the SOL to Coatesville – and the only real surprise there was the margin of victory (82-49). I thought Truman would have been more competitive, but it doesn’t detract from its excellent season. The fact that the first round is one-and-done is what high school playoff basketball should be about. The second round – with the playback tournament for the ninth seed – is a bit too unique for me. The final eight teams should – and will - make states, but I’m not too big a fan of that ninth seed. Of course, the losers in round two will have a totally different view than mine.
SuburbanOneSports.com:Talk about the second round games to watch since this is when the district tournament gets interesting.
Kevin Cooney: The four all-SOL games are really, really good. Souderton at Council Rock North - Derek Wright has talked about how some of the injuries have taken a toll, and some of the other stuff may have caught up with them. Remember, they had a long run last year. They are guys that have played a lot together, and you wonder if this is a point where it starts to take its toll. You can say, ‘They’re young kids – it shouldn’t,’ but Goodman has had an injury, Morgan has been a starting point guard for four years, and Engel is trying to get used to be a big player on a team that is expecting a lot. It’s been a grind. The division was tougher than everybody thought it would be, but the one thing I also will say this is a team that has worked to get back to states from last year who feels that they could do something when they get there - and they play good defense. I think North advances on, but it’s going to be another squeaker.
Bensalem at Wissahickon – Wissahickon was impressive the other night, and Bensalem found a way to win its game. I’m interested to see if Bensalem’s depth or lack thereof starts to hurt them. They go about six or seven deep, and if anybody gets in foul trouble, what do they do? If anybody gets injured or is just ineffective, what will they do? They’re going into a real hornet’s nest at Wissahickon, a team that obviously played better the other night, but there’s still some question about how the schedule they played will affect them, but maybe that’s not fair because you have three teams in the second round. This is a 50-50 game. The first one to get to 50 points, ironically, will probably be the team that wins it. Can Wissahickon handle Dovanta Newkirk, Leo Vincent, Austin Nyekan and all those guys? Can they take those top guys away, and if they do, how does Bensalem respond? I think Bensalem is playing as well as anyone right now. I’ll take Bensalem in the upset, but it’s a real close game.
Cheltenham at Central Bucks West – West is a team that has a lot of people concerned and has a lot of people wondering what kind of group they have. The fact that it’s at West – maybe that helps West. (Coach) Adam Sherman usually does a real good job of making the adjustments from one game to another when two teams play each other back-to-back. I’m going to take West, but I’m not real confident in that either.
Norristown at Pennsbury – Pennsbury to me has been a remarkable story. For opposing teams, playing in that building is extremely difficult because the fans are really on top of you. The fans are rowdy and they’re loud, but Norristown is kind of used to those types of settings. When you play at PW and you play at Wissahickon, you kind of get used to it. Kieran Bolger getting past the 1,000-point mark is a huge burden lifted off of them because he can just play in the flow of the offense. I’m going to pick Pennsbury because they’re home. It’s been a remarkable run for them to get to this point. Norristown is the type of team that can win back for that ninth place, but I think Pennsbury wins that game at home. This was the toughest game to pick because you’re taking a leap that Pennsbury is what they say they are.
Todd Thorpe: There's nothing unexpected about the matchups, but which ones will be the headliners?
The second round has intriguing matchups up and down the brackets, and quite a few potential upsets. Last month, there was an interesting SOL Challenge. Tuesday night could be called SOL Challenge Part II, as four of the eight games pit cross-conference matchups. And every one of those four are “pick ‘em” type games where the seeds really don’t matter, except for home-court advantage.
Pennsbury-Norristown? Norristown was 1-1 against SOL National teams this season, including a win over Harry S. Truman and a three-point loss late in the season to CR North. Pennsbury has wins over Abington, CR North and Coatesville. This one should be very competitive.
CB West-Cheltenham? In December, Cheltenham handed one of West’s only two losses, by 14 points. This one is at the cozy-confines of West, where the Bucks have one of the best home-court advantages in the SOL and are undefeated on the season.
Wissahickon-Bensalem? Bensalem is riding a seven-game winning streak, and on its ledgers has wins over CR North, Pennsbury, and Abington (twice), all teams that are still playing. Wissahickon won the SOL American, split with Cheltenham and Norristown and has nonleague wins over the likes of Archbishop Carroll and La Salle. A win by either would surprise few.
Council Rock North-Souderton? OK, CR North, the No. 7 seed and at home is the clear favorite, but the Indians should have some concern. Souderton is a very good offensive team with a lot of weapons. The backboards may be the difference here.
And those are just the four SOL vs. SOL games. Would anybody be surprised if No. 11 Abington won at No. 6 Garnet Valley? Other than the top two seeds, Chester and Lower Merion, which I both suspect will win handily, I think this could be a very interesting second round.
Scott Huff: There really isn’t a game not to watch in the second round as a win punches a ticket to the state tournament for the winner. The SOL has exclusive rights to four of the eight brackets with the pairings of Pennsbury-Norristown; CB West-Cheltenham; Wissahickon-Bensalem; and Council Rock North-Souderton. All have proven to belong in the final Sweet 16 – and four will move on to the Elite Eight. Both SOL teams Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh hope to join those four winners in the Elite Eight with ‘upset’ wins over Great Valley and Lower Merion respectively. Penn Wood and Coatesville should be an interesting matchup of storied programs, while the only point of interest in the Chester-Methacton game will be the margin of victory for the Clippers.
SuburbanOneSports.com: Pick the eight winners on Tuesday night.
Kevin Cooney: Chester, Pennsbury, CB West, Bensalem, Lower Merion, CR North, Coatesville and Abington.
Todd Thorpe: Chester, Norristown, CB West, Wissahickon, Lower Merion, CR North, Coatesville and Abington
Scott Huff: Chester will be the most simple pick with a huge win over Methacton; Pennsbury’s home court advantage may be the only thing that separates the Falcons in a tight win over Norristown; CB West is tough at home and should avenge its earlier season loss to Cheltenham; Wissahickon is going to have to be at its best in order to beat Bensalem; Lower Merion might have too much talent and should defeat Plymouth Whitemarsh; Abington is my ‘upset’ pick over host Great Valley; and I like Coatesville in a track meet over Penn Wood.
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