City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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Here’s installment No. 10 of City of Basketball Love’s state basketball rankings, a package that has appeared on the website every Monday thus far. 

Since much of Pennsylvania has wrapped up regular-season play and postseason play has or is about to get started, we’re going to put our polls on hold and let these teams challenge for championships by settling things on the floor.

Appearing below are all four of our top 10s, with PIAA district and this season’s record displayed in parentheses. Only those schools competing for PIAA state championships are eligible for ranking purposes.

CITY OF BASKETBALL LOVE STATE BASKETBALL RANKINGS

(records through games of Feb. 7/OW-others to watch/NR-not ranked)

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CLASS AAAA
Rome Boyer banked 15 points, including three on his third and final trey with just under a minute to go, as Coatesville slipped past Downingtown West 47-42 Tuesday night in Downingtown. Trent Hugan added 13 points as Chuck Moore’s Red Raiders led throughout while avenging their earlier loss to the Whippets. George Gordon and Ryan Betley shared 24 points for Downingtown West, which will meet up with Coatesville again in Monday night’s Ches-Mont championship.

No.  School                                      Rec    Pvs
1.     Allderdice (8)                             19-1        1                          
2.     Roman Catholic (12)                 18-4        2
3.     Parkland (11)                             20-3        3                              
4.     Coatesville (1)                           22-1        5
5.     Downingtown West (1)              21-2        4
6.     Reading (3)                               18-3        6
7.     Ridley (1)                                   21-1        8
8.     La Salle College (12)                17-5      10
9.     Plymouth-Whitemarsh (1)         20-2        7
10.   Abington (1)                              19-4    OW

Checked in: No. 10 Abington.
Checked out: No. 9 Archbishop Wood.

Others to watch: Abington Heights (2) 18-2, Academy Park (1) 16-6, Archbishop Ryan (12) 15-7, Archbishop Wood (12) 13-9, Baldwin (7) 16-6, Bethel Park (7) 16-6, Carlisle (3) 16-5, Cedar Crest (3) 18-5, Central Bucks West (1) 19-4, Central York (3) 19-2, Chartiers Valley (7) 17-4, Cheltenham (1) 16-6, Chester (1) 16-6, Conestoga (1) 17-6, Emmaus (11) 17-6, Harrisburg (3) 16-4, Hazleton (2) 17-3, Latrobe (7) 20-1, Lower Merion (1) 15-7, Martin Luther King (12) 12-10, McCaskey (3) 17-5, Northeastern (3) 21-1, Penn Hills (7) 17-5, Pennridge (1) 19-4, Pine-Richland (7) 15-6, Plum (7) 15-5, Pocono Mountain West (11) 20-3, Spring Grove (3) 20-2, Strath Haven (1) 19-4, Upper Merion (1) 16-6, William Allen (11) 16-6.

Intriguing matchups of the week: Monday night will be teeming with championship events in suburban Philadelphia as three postseason crowns will be decided. We’ll begin with the Ches-Mont League final, which will feature No. 4 Coatesville and No. 5 Downingtown West squaring off for the third time — and the second time in less than a week (see above). Also on tap is the Central League title game between No. 7 Ridley and a Conestoga club the Green Raiders bested twice during the regular season. And, finally, freshly minted No. 10 Abington will take on Central Bucks West in the Suburban One League final.

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CLASS AAA
Getting 18 points apiece from Geno Stone and Marcus Hooker, No. 4 New Castle remained unbeaten by turning away No. 7 Beaver Falls 60-49 on the road. Tuesday’s win gave Ralph Blundo’s Hurricanes a sweep of their WPIAL playmates. … Scranton Prep claimed its scrap with rival Abington Heights, winning 73-61 behind 22 points from Logan Bailey and 14 more from Nick Dende. Prep sported a 36-19 lead at the halftime break. … And on Sunday in Philadelphia, Archbishop Carroll collared the No. 2 seed in the Catholic League playoffs by squeezing past Archbishop Wood 67-65. Ryan Daly netted 26 points for the Patriots, including a trey with seconds to go. 

No.  School                                       Rec     Pvs
1.     Neumann-Goretti (12)                20-2         1
2.     Imhotep Charter (12)                  19-3         2
3.     Archbishop Carroll (12)               20-2         3
4.     New Castle (7)                            21-0         4
5.     Scranton Prep (2)                       18-2         5
6.     Mars (7)                                      17-5         6
7.     Beaver Falls (7)                          19-3         7
8.     Pottsville (11)                              22-0         8
9.     Del-Val Charter (12)                   17-4       10
10.   Milton Hershey (3)                     20-1     OW

Checked in: No. 10 Milton Hershey.
Checked out: No. 9 Lewisburg.

Others to watch: Allentown Central Catholic (11) 13-9, Benjamin Franklin (12) 15-6, Berks Catholic (3) 14-7, Bethlehem Catholic (11) 13-9, Bishop McDevitt (3) 16-5, Blue Mountain (11) 18-4, Boys’ Latin (12) 18-4, Cathedral Prep (10) 14-6, Clearfield (9) 19-2, Cocalico (3) 17-5, Crestwood (2) 15-5, Eastern Lebanon County (3) 19-4, Eastern York (3) 19-4, General McLane (10) 16-4, Girard (10) 17-3, Hampton (7) 15-7, Highlands (7) 18-4, Hollidaysburg (6) 15-4, Holy Ghost Prep (1) 16-6, Lampeter-Strasburg (3) 21-2, Lewisburg (4) 20-1, Lower Moreland (1) 17-4, Meadville (10) 17-2, Middletown (3) 14-8, Nanticoke (2) 16-4, Octorara (1) 19-4, Palmyra (3) 17-5, Salisbury (11) 18-4, Shamokin (4) 21-1, Somerset (5) 16-5, Steel Valley (7) 15-4, Strong Vincent (10) 14-5.

Intriguing matchups of the week: All of western Pennsylvania — and maybe plenty of others across the Commonwealth — will be on full alert Monday night when No. 4 New Castle wheels confidently into Pittsburgh for a matchup with Class AAAA No. 1 Allderdice. One night later, in suburban Harrisburg, a possible District 3-AAA championship preview may unfold when No. 10 Milton Hershey opens the four-team Mid-Penn Conference playoffs against Bishop McDevitt.  

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CLASS AA
Winning four times in five days — all at home — Church Farm parlayed victories over Holy Ghost Prep (49-36), Lower Moreland (67-52), New Hope-Solebury (64-47) and Bristol (63-56) into the Bicentennial’s Independence League crown. Augustus Veniukevicius totaled 77 points in the Farm’s four victories, while Fred Odhiambo collected 57 more. Marc Turner’s Griffins will open the Bicentennial playoffs Monday night at home against Valley Forge Military Academy.

No.  School                                            Rec    Pvs
1.     Aliquippa (7)                                     21-0       1
2.     Lincoln Park (7)                                19-3       3
3.     Conwell-Egan (12)                            14-8       2
4.     Greensburg C.C. (7)                          20-1       4
5.     Church Farm (1)                                19-3       5
6.     Quaker Valley (7)                               18-3       8
7.     Mid Valley (2)                                     18-2       6
8.     Camp Hill (3)                                      16-5       7                                     
9.     Minersville (11)                                   19-3       9
10.   Mastery Charter North (12)             20-1   OW

Checked in: No. 10 Mastery Charter North.
Checked out: No. 10 West Branch.

Others to watch: Avonworth (7) 14-8, Bellwood-Antis (6) 18-2, Berlin Brothersvalley (5) 17-3, Bishop Canevin (7) 16-5, Bishop McCort (6) 15-5, Cambridge Springs (10) 15-4, Dunmore (2) 14-6, Fairview (10) 13-7, Greenville (10) 15-5, Hanover (3) 16-7, Holy Cross (2) 13-6, Hughesville (4) 15-5, Laurel (7) 17-5, Meyers (2) 14-6, Neshannock (7) 16-5, Northwestern (10) 16-4, Our Lady of Sacred Heart (7) 16-5, Penns Valley (6) 16-4, Titusville (10) 17-3, Trinity (3) 15-6, Tyrone (6) 13-6, Upper Dauphin (3) 19-3, Washington (7) 15-6, West Branch (6) 18-2, West Middlesex (10) 13-7, York Catholic (3) 17-5.

Intriguing matchups of the week: No. 9 Minersville will begin chasing a Schuylkill League championship Tuesday night at Pottsville’s Martz Hall, where the Miners will open the four-team event against Blue Mountain. And No. 7 Mid Valley, upended by Lakeland Friday night on Tony Harding’s buzzer-beating trey (Harding finished with 37 points), will be looking for revenge Thursday when Mike Abda’s Spartans visit Holy Cross.  Holy Cross won the earlier scrap 42-38.      

CLASS A
Drew Magestro and Jason Austin bucketed 30 of their combined 39 points after the halftime break Friday night as No. 1 Kennedy Catholic held on for a 75-69 victory at No. 3 Farrell. Magestro finished with 24, Austin tacked on 15 and Maceo Austin added 14 for KC, which led 61-50 with four-plus minutes to go only to see the host Steelers pull within six (71-65) in the final minute. Malik Miller, Terrance Holloway and Kyi Wright shared 44 points for Farrell, which last month dropped a 79-76 decision in OT at Kennedy.

No.  School                                             Rec    Pvs
1.     Kennedy Catholic (10)                     18-2       1
2.     Monessen (7)                                   19-3       2                                 
3.     Farrell (10)                                       14-5        3
4.     Constitution (12)                              11-11      4
5.     St. John Neumann (4)                      20-0       5
6.     Elk County Catholic (9)                    21-0        6
7.     Homer-Center (6)                             19-0        7
8.     Clarion-Limestone (9)                       20-1        8
9.     Phil-Mont Christian (1)                      21-1        9
10.  Sewickley Academy (7)                     20-2      10

Checked in: No one.
Checked out: No one.

Others to watch: Bishop Carroll (6) 14-6, Bishop Guilfoyle (6) 12-5, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (7) 13-8, Clairton (7) 15-3, Clarion (9) 15-5, Coudersport (9) 20-1, Cowanesque Valley (4) 19-3, Eden Christian (7) 18-3, Faith Christian (1) 16-5, Ferndale (6) 18-3, Jeannette (7) 15-6, Jenkintown (1) 14-8, Lincoln Leadership (11) 16-5, Lourdes Regional (4) 16-5, Math, Civics & Sciences (12) 9-13, McConnellsburg (5) 17-3, Millersburg (3) 16-6, Millville (4) 17-4, North Penn-Mansfield (4) 14-8, Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg (11) 12-7, Old Forge (2) 10-9, Paul Robeson (12) 16-6, Ridgway (9) 19-2, Rocky Grove (10) 15-5, Saltsburg (6) 18-2, Shanksville-Stonycreek (5) 20-1, Shenandoah Valley (11) 15-6, Southern Fulton (5) 17-3, Sullivan County (4) 19-2, Union-Rimersburg (9) 15-6, Vincentian (7) 14-6, York Country Day (3) 19-0.

Intriguing matchups of the week: Undefeated No. 7 Homer-Center will try to clinch the Heritage Conference championship Wednesday night when Bob Rado’s Wildcats pay a visit to a dangerous Saltsburg side. And on Saturday at home, No. 3 Farrell will host District 10-AAA hammer Strong Vincent in its regular-season finale.