Four SOL teams will be in action this weekend. Scott Huff previews all of the upcoming games.
By Scott Huff
The Suburban One League will have four teams enter the PIAA state tournament this 2012-2013 season, and all four teams will play games this weekend that will determine which way the GPS will be set in the bus for game one of states.
Upper Moreland will be the showcased SOL team as the Golden Bears will play for a first-ever PIAA Class AAA District One title on Saturday (8 pm) against Pope John Paul II at Villanova University. A trio of SOL Quad-A teams – Abington, Norristown, and Central Bucks South – have all qualified for the big show and play seeding games on Friday.
Win or lose – the Golden Bears, Ghosts, Eagles, and Titans will take part in the scholastic version of March Madness.
PIAA District One Class AAA Championship Game
Saturday – March 2, 2013
Villanova University – 8 pm
[#4] Upper Moreland Golden Bears (13-11) vs. [# 3] Pope John Paul II Golden Panthers (15-9)
Last Game: Upper Moreland advanced to the district championship game as the Golden Bears defeated [# 8] Octorara – 60-55. Matt Kohn scored a game-high 28 points to fuel the Upper Moreland attack, while Kevin McFall also scored in twin digits with 15 points. Pope John Paul II advanced to the district championship game as the Golden Panthers defeated [# 2] Glen Mills – 60-41. Brent Mahoney led PJP with 13 points, while Jamel Stinson and Michael Cianciulli each scored 12 points for the Golden Panthers.
In the Box: Upper Moreland 14-16-12-18=60/Octorara 12-11-14-18=55. Pope John Paul 12-13-7-16=60/Glen Mills 5-16-14-7=41.
District One Playoff Road: Upper Moreland opened the district playoff run with a 66-46 victory over [# 5] Pottstown. Pope John Paul II opened the district playoff run with a 42-38 victory over [# 6] Lower Moreland.
And the starters are: Upper Moreland – Matt Kohn (6-0, Sr); Kevin McFall (6-5, Jr); Mark Williams (6-3, Sr); Tommy Robinson (6-3, Jr); and James Martin (6-3, So) Pope John Paul II – Brent Mahoney (6-5, Sr); Alex Pate (5-10, Sr); Jamel Stinson (6-4, Sr); James Fleming (5-11, Jr); and Michael Cianciulli (6-0, So).
Upper Moreland head coach Brian Corrado says: “Our main focus in this game is to win a district championship – not just play in the game. All season long the coaching staff and the players have been looking forward to an opportunity to play for a championship, and now we have our chance. Playing in the Suburban One American Conference has prepared us well for this game. Once we beat Octorara to make states, the players started talking right away about doing more than just making states. We are hungry and motivated to win the first ever district championship for Upper Moreland.”
Winner Gets / Loser Gets: The winner of the Upper Moreland/Pope John Paul II game will play the fourth place team out of District 3, while the loser will play either the District 6 champion or the District 8 champion.
PIAA District One Quad-A Seeding Games
Friday – March 1, 2013
The [# 3 / # 4] State Seeding Consolation Game
[#5] Abington Ghosts (21-5) @ [#3] Great Valley Patriots (24-2)Last Game: Abington fell into the consolation bracket as the Ghosts were defeated in the PIAA District One Quad-A semifinal game by [# 1] Chester - 76-43. Matt Penecale paced the scoring attack for Abington with 14 points, while Jordan Simmons also scored in twin digits with 12 points. Great Valley could not compete with powerful Lower Merion as the Patriots were defeated 61-35. Mikael Bridges paced Great Valley with a team-high 16 points.
In the Box: Abington 13-11-8-11=43/Chester 12-16-24-24 = 76. Great Valley 7-4-11-13=43/Lower Merion 16-13-16-16=61.
District One Playoff Road: Abington opened the playoffs with a win over Oxford (84-53) and followed with victories over Penn Wood (66-52) and Ridley (46-40). Great Valley opened the playoffs with a 51-40 win over Harry S Truman and followed with victories over Central Bucks South (60-57 in overtime) and Methacton (41-38).
Abington head coach Charles Grasty says: “There is no question that we want to win this game. You never want to enter the state playoffs losing two in a row; we were in this position last year and were able to win the # 3 seed by beating Wissahickon. We will print out the brackets and let the players see where we are going to go – win or lose. We played a little out of character when we lost to Chester – we rushed things and turned the ball over. We will need to play back in character against Great Valley. They are going to be patient and will try and slow us down. We can’t let that happen. (Mikael) Bridges is an excellent player. We have seniors on this team that know what competing on the state level is all about, and we consider this game our first state playoff game.”
Winner Gets / Loser Gets: The winner of the Abington/Great Valley game will play the third place finisher from District 12, while the loser will play the fourth place finisher from District 3 on March 9, 2013.
The [#9 / # 10] State Seeding Consolation Game
[#14] Central Bucks South Titans (17-9) @ [#4] Norristown Eagles (22-4)
Last Game: Central Bucks South played its way into the state playoffs as the Titans defeated [#15] Penncrest 46-41. Kevin Raymond led CB South in scoring with 15 points. Norristown played its way into the state playoffs as the Eagles soared to a 67-45 win over [#25] Harriton. Luke Kelley paced the Norristown scoring with 19 points, while Josh Johnson chipped in with 18 points.
In the Box: Central Bucks South 6-9-11-20=46/Penncrest 6-11-9-15=41. Norristown 22-16-14-15=67/Harriton 16-10-5-14=45.
District One Playoff Road: Central Bucks South opened the playoffs with a win over Wissahickon (63-55) and followed with a 60-57 overtime loss to Great Valley. The Titans then defeated both Souderton (54-40) and Penncrest (46-41). Norristown opened the playoffs with a 63-51 victory over PlymouthWhitemarsh and followed with a 64-61 overtime loss to Ridley. The Eagles then defeated both Penn Wood (73-59) and Harriton (67-45).
Previous Meeting: Norristown crushed Central Bucks South in a previous meeting this season as the Eagles soared to a 61-37 victory over the Titans on January 19, 2013. Norristown raced to a 35-10 margin at the close of the first half and was never threatened. The Eagles were led in scoring by Josh Johnson with 15 points, while Jahbri Hargrove scored in double digits with 10 points. The Titans were led in scoring by Matt Scamuffo with 10 points.
Central Bucks South head coach Jason Campbell says: “There is no doubt that we have to be able to put that game behind us. I looked at the film and they played with a lot more effort and energy than we did. This is an important game for us, and it is my job as head coach to make sure we enter the game with the proper mindset. Our goal at the beginning of the season was to make it to states – we did that but we don’t want to go into states with a loss. We can’t be too happy with just getting into states.”
Norristown head coach Michael Evans says: “We played them and beat them earlier in the year, but neither of us is the same team now that we were back then. We did what we had to do to get into states, and now we want to enter states with a win. CB South is a lot like us in that they play a lot of players and any one of those players are capable of having a good game. We want to take advantage of the things we do well and play our game.”
Winner Gets / Loser Gets: The winner of the Central Bucks South / Norristown game will play the District 12 champion, while the loser of the game will play the District 3 champion. Both games are on March 9, 2013.
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