City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
--

We're down to 16 teams left in the District 1 AAAA tournament, as half the field was knocked out in the opening round on Friday night. As we get deeper into the tournament, the games obviously pick up more importance--but this round is easily the most crucial.

The eight second-round winners will automatically qualify for the PIAA state tournament and will all play three more games to determine seeding, so a win does much more than just extend the season by one more game. The eight losers aren't out of it: they'll all go into the play-back bracket, where they’ll battle it out for the remaining two spots that District 1 is allotted.

Here’s a look at the eight games in the District 1 AAAA second round; all games at the higher seed's home court, all tipoffs at 7 PM:

1) Coatesville vs. 17) Central Bucks East
In what likely should have been a much more convincing win, Coatesville experienced quite the hiccup against 32-seed Bensalem, eking out a 43-40 win in what very well could’ve been a stunning finish to their polished campaign. The Red Raiders’ senior-laden roster--most notably led by Rome Boyer, Justus Martinez, Jordan Young, Trent Hugan and Dalton Donovan, just to name a few--should be able to revive its energy going into a second round home game with Central Bucks East, who took down a Pennsbury team that qualified for last year’s PIAA AAAA state tournament. If the Patriots are going to pull off the upset and lock down a spot in states, it’s going to have to knock down its jump-shots, as Coatesville has been known to hold even the most high-scoring opponents to as few as 35 or 40 points. East has an experienced roster featuring big men Blake Peterson and Tiemo Fenner plus wing Tommy Strasburger giving them plenty of size to match Coatesville's not-undersized roster.

9) Chester vs. 25) Hatboro-Horsham
The Clippers were gifted a second home game to begin the district playoffs thanks to the Hatters’ upset over No. 8 Strath Haven in the first round, and playing at the Clip Joint tends to bode well for Chester. Prior to losing in the district play-backs at home last year, Chester hadn't lost a home game in several decades. But they'll be going up against a Hatboro squad that's feeling pretty good about itself after a 68-45 win, led by 6-8 junior Clifton Moore's 28-point effort. Moore will find himself going up against a deep and tough Chester frontcourt led by 6-6 senior Jamar Sudan, 6-7 senior Marquis Collins, 6-7 junior Jordan Camper and 6-8 senior Maurice Henry; Henry and Collins are both committed to Delaware State. This Clippers squad is desperate to get back to the state tournament after last year's disappointing exit, and as the season's gone on they've only been playing with a purpose more and more.

4) Ridley vs. 20) Perkiomen Valley
Perkiomen Valley, fueled by a controversial last second call in its league championship vs Spring-Ford, is playing its best basketball this season. The Vikings are now 14-4 in 2016, thanks to some stout defense, excellent ball control, and timely shooting. Perk Valley features one of the best scorers in the district, as junior guard Justin Jaworski has been lights out from beyond-the-arc all season. Combine that with some great defense and the Vikings are one of the more dangerous lower-seed teams left in the field. Jaworski will go head-to-head with Ridley's Brett Foster, an East Stroudsburg commit, who leads a Green Raiders squad that's only lost one game all season. Mike Snyder's bunch went unbeaten in Central League play behind the play of Foster, sharpshooting wing Julian Wing and a third key senior, Ryan Bollinger. The Raiders play as tough a defense as you'll find and look to Foster and Wing in transition, though the whole roster can hit shots. Perk Valley will look to slow it down and make just enough buckets to earn its first state berth in school history

5) Pennridge vs. 12) Spring-Ford
When these two teams met in last year’s district playoffs, it was about as one sided as it gets. Pennridge blew through Spring-Ford 78-54, ending Spring-Ford’s season. But Spring-Ford is back this year, with an improved team, ready to challenge the Suburban One Continental winners in a matchup of two very similar teams. Both feature one inside presence, with Pennridge 6-foot-8 center Max Wagner and Spring-Ford’s 6-foot-5 center Cameron Reid, who can both play inside and out at the offensive end. Outside of those two bigs, both teams love to get out in transition, run the floor, and shoot threes. Both teams are led by excellent guard play, Pennridge senior Danny Long and Spring-Ford senior Matt Gnias. Long, a Monmouth baseball commit, is the all-time leading scorer in school history and the engine to the Pennridge offense. Gnias is the Rams’ leading scorer, dropping 24 points last Tuesday night in Spring-Ford’s PAC-10 title win over Perkiomen Valley. This game is bound to be high scoring, and may come down to whichever team can knock down more threes in big moments.

2) Plymouth-Whitemarsh vs. 18) Academy Park
After wearing down 15-seed Upper Merion in the opening round, the Knights travel to another Suburban One squad in the Colonials, who just might be the best team in the district. P-W, led by senior guard and Rider commit Xzavier Malone, is certainly among the most versatile--Jim Donofrio's squad can slow it down and run its offense, with Malone plus seniors Oakley Spencer and Kevin Ashenfelter all high-IQ players who can score the ball and create for others including 6-6 senior big man Mike Lotito, a solid two-way player. But Donofrio can bring in sophomore guards Ahmad and Ahmin Williams and turn up the pressure, to match an Academy Park squad that will run and run to their hearts' content. Allen Brydges has one of the area's best under-the-radar seniors in super-athletic 5-11 guard Jawan Collins plus stud 6-5 freshman Khyree Temple to lead the way, but they'll need the supporting cast to step up big-time to take down one of the district favorites.

7) Central Bucks West vs. 10) Phoenixville
In what should be one of the most tightly-contested games on the second round slate, the Bucks host the Phantoms in a battle of teams who could easily play the role of dark horse on the road to Temple. The Bucks have played far above their 7-seed recently with wins over Plymouth-Whitemarsh and Abington to take home the Suburban One League title last weekend, before slashing Downingtown East by 19 in their district playoff opener. Phoenixville, who dropped a bitter upset in their league semifinals to Perkiomen Valley, held a perfect record in the Pioneer Athletic Conference prior to the postseason, and bounced back with a slim first round win over Boyertown. The Phantoms are led by do-everything senior guard Christian Kelly, a 6-4 wing guard who's the team's leading scorer as well as its top defender, plus 6-5 big man Jeff Conboy and junior forward Avery Close. C.B. West has a guard-heavy approach led by Lafayette commit Cal Reichwein, plus fellow seniors Billy Power, Luke Irons and Connor Lynch; another senior, 6-5 Erich Hohenleitner, provides the size up front.

3) Downingtown West vs. 14) Conestoga
The Whippets, who are led by two future Ivy League players in Penn commit Ryan Betley and Cornell commit Josh Warren, entered the district playoffs with arguably the hardest road to the final four. Having already jumped over the first hurdle in a seventeen-point triumph over Garnet Valley, West will have its next test against the district’s 1-seed of the past two years, Conestoga. The Pioneers have one of Chester County’s best players in Daryl Caldwell, who played on both of those top-seeded teams, and will need to have one of his best games if his Pioneers are going to avoid the playback bracket and clinch a third straight state bid, as their opponent Tuesday night can often light up the scoreboard.

11) Lower Merion vs. 27) Upper Dublin
Upper Dublin's in the second round by virtue of a John Barrett 3-pointer that lifted the Cardinals past Abington in the last seconds of the opening round, knocking the defending champs out of the tournament. Lower Merion needed heroics of its own in the first round, a Terrell Jones triple just before the buzzer--this one in overtime--in a 68-66 win over Penn Wood. It might be difficult for this one to live up to the excitement of the last two, but we'll take anything close. The Aces, under the guidance of 26th-year head coach Gregg Downer, are no stranger to postseason success, having won state titles in 1996, 2006 and 2013, and while Downer might not have Kobe Bryant on this year's team, he's got talent in the form of Jones, a 6-4 wing, plus 6-0 senior point guard K.J. Helton and 6-9 senior Jeremy Horn, who will have a size advantage on Upper Dublin 6-5 senior Will Derr.