City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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Here’s installment No. 4 of City of Basketball Love’s state rankings, a package that will appear on Mondays throughout the remainder of the regular season.

We did showcase a set of preseason rankings leading up to the opening weekend (Dec. 9-10) and those groupings served as a starting point — since we’re going to continue to shuffle things around after each weekly cycle.

Appearing below are all six 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.

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Previous Rankings: Jan. 2 | Dec. 26 | Dec. 18 |

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CITY OF BASKETBALL LOVE STATE BASKETBALL RANKINGS

(records through games of Jan. 8/OW-others to watch/NR-not ranked)

CLASS 6A

J.J. Winslow’s penetration and finish with 18 seconds to play lifted top-ranked William Allen to a come-from-behind 53-52 victory over Class 4A No. 5 Bethlehem Catholic in an East Penn Conference Steel Division thriller Tuesday night. Tyrese Martin netted 20 points and Talek Williams chimed in with 18 for Doug Snyder’s Canaries, who trailed 46-41 entering the fourth quarter.

No.  School                                                Rec         Pvs
1.     William Allen (11)                       11-0         1
2.     Reading (3)                                 10-2        3            
3.     Roman Catholic (12)                   11-1        5
4.     Archbishop Ryan (12)                 10-1        2
5.     Emmaus (11)                                9-1         7
6.     Pine-Richland (7)                         10-0       6
7.     Abington (1)                                  9-3        9
8.     Plymouth-Whitemarsh (1)            9-2         4
9.     Father Judge (12)                        9-3       OW 
10.   Downingtown East (1)                 10-0       10

Checked in: No. 9 Father Judge.
Checked out: No. 8 Penn Hills.

Others to watch: Butler (7, 7-4), Carlisle (3, 8-2), Central Dauphin East (3, 7-3), Cheltenham (1, 6-3), Coatesville (1, 8-3), Conestoga (1, 9-1), Council Rock South (1, 8-2), Dallastown (3, 8-3), Fox Chapel (7, 10-1), Harrisburg (3, 8-2), Hatboro-Horsham (1, 6-4), Hazleton (2, 6-2), La Salle College (12, 7-4), Latrobe (7, 9-1), North Hills (7, 9-1), North Penn (1, 9-3), Penn Hills (7, 9-1), Pennsbury (1, 7-4), Perkiomen Valley (1, 9-2), Peters Twp. (7, 10-2), Pocono Mountain West (11, 8-2), St. Joseph’s Prep (12, 7-3), State College (6, 7-3), Williamsport (4, 7-4), Woodland Hills (7, 7-3).

Bullish matchups of the week: No. 10 Downingtown East will take on Coatesville in a Ches-Mont League encounter at home. … Philly’s Holy Family University will be the place to be Wednesday night, as No. 3 Roman Catholic and Class 3A No. 1 Neumann-Goretti are set to collide in Catholic League play.

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CLASS 5A

Eli Brooks posted some huge numbers Wednesday night, scoring 40 points and grabbing 20 rebounds in Spring Grove’s narrow 79-77 victory over Middletown. Both were career highs for the personable 6-1 senior, who will play for John Beilein beginning next season at the University of Michigan. What made Brooks’ night even more notable is he scored 29 points in the final 10 minutes of the nonleague clash, connecting on his last nine shots. Brooks, who last month moved atop the Rockets’ all-time scoring chart, is rapidly bearing down on 2,000 career points.

No.  School                                               Rec       Pvs
1.     Archbishop Wood (12)                8-3         1
2.     Bangor (11)                                 9-0         2
3.     Abington Heights (2)                  10-1        3
4.     Archbishop Carroll (12)               9-3         4
5.     Northeastern (3)                          12-0       5
6.     Whitehall (11)                               9-2         6
7.     Bonner-Prendergast (12)             11-1       7
8.     Chester (1)                                   6-2         8
9.     Meadville (10)                              10-0        9
10.   Penncrest (1)                                9-2       10

Checked in: None.
Checked out: None.

Others to watch: Academy Park (1, 4-3), Allentown Central Catholic (11, 7-4), Bayard Rustin (1, 6-4), Bishop Shanahan (1, 6-5), Blue Mountain (11, 7-2), Cathedral Prep (10, 5-4), Chartiers Valley (7, 7-1), Hampton (7, 7-5), Highlands (7, 6-5), Hollidaysburg (6, 7-4), Holy Ghost Prep (1, 6-3), Manheim Central (3, 9-0), Mars (7, 8-2), Martin Luther King (12, 8-4), Mastery Charter North (12, 12-0), Mechanicsburg (3, 9-2), Milton Hershey (3, 6-2), Montour (7, 5-4), Moon (7, 7-1), Palmyra (3, 12-1), Pottsville (11, 6-2), Simon Gratz (12, 7-4), Spring Grove (3, 7-3), Springfield-Delco (1, 6-4), Strath Haven (1, 8-2), Upper Merion (1, 9-3), West Scranton (2, 7-3).

Bullish matchups of the week: No. 2 Abington Heights will welcome several Lackawanna League rivals to its suburban Scranton roost, as Ken Bianchi’s Comets will play host to Class 4A No. 2 Scranton Prep on Tuesday and West Scranton on Friday. … Another nifty Philly Catholic League struggle figures to take place on Friday night when No. 1 Archbishop Wood visits No. 7 Bonner-Prendergast.

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CLASS 4A

Tennessee State recruit David Morris scored 24 points and Aje Gore finished with 17 as No. 9 Strong Vincent held on for a thrilling 60-58 victory over crosstown rival Cathedral Prep Friday night in Erie. Prep had a chance to pull it out at the horn, but a 3-point heave was barely off the mark. Morris, by the way, is No. 3 in Erie scoring history with 1,744 career points. Former Penn standout Jed Ryan is No. 1 at 1,926.

No.  School                                                    Rec       Pvs
1.     Imhotep Charter (12)                        9-1        1
2.     Scranton Prep (2)                              8-1        2
3.     New Castle (7)                                   9-1        3
4.     Quaker Valley (7)                                9-1        4
5.     Bethlehem Catholic (11)                     7-3        5
6.     Universal Audenried (12)                    6-2        6
7.     Lancaster Catholic (3)                       10-1        7
8.     Clearfield (9)                                       9-0        8
9.     Strong Vincent (10)                            7-2        9       
10.   Berwick (2)                                          8-0    OW

Checked in: No. 10 Berwick.
Checked out: No. 10 Beaver Falls.

Others to watch: Beaver Falls (7, 4-4), Berks Catholic (3, 6-4), Central Martinsburg (6, 7-2), Central Valley (7, 6-4), Conwell-Egan (12, 4-6), Eastern York (3, 9-1), Farrell (10, 4-5), Indiana (7, 7-2), Lower Moreland (1, 6-2), McGuffey (7, 11-1), Meyers (2, 5-3), Middletown (3, 6-2), Nanticoke (2, 7-1), Punxsutawney (9, 7-1), Salisbury (11, 7-3), St. Marys (9, 7-2), Wyoming Area (2, 8-0).

Bullish matchups of the week: We’ll skip forward to Saturday when No. 2 Scranton Prep wheels down I-81 to take on Dave Mullaney’s Pottsville Crimson Tide at Martz Hall and No. 7 Lancaster Catholic hosts an Eastern York side that began the week with nine consecutive victories. Catholic’s Berger Gymnasium will be busy this weekend as Joe Klazas’ Crusaders host Class 3A No. 7 Lancaster Mennonite one night earlier in a Lancaster-Lebanon 3 Section 3 dandy.

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CLASS 3A

Yielding 49 points in its latest two victories, new No. 8 Greenville remained perfect after motoring past Sharpsville (48-17) and Mercer (57-32). Joe Batt banked 16 points for Mark Batt’s Trojans against Sharpsville, then joined Trap Wentling (16), Mike Blaney (14) and Tyler Kincaid (12) in double figures by netting 10 points against Mercer. Greenville collared the District 10-AA title last season and reached states before tumbling in the opening round to Washington.

No.  School                                                        Rec      Pvs
1.     Neumann-Goretti (12)                       5-5         1
2.     Trinity (3)                                          10-0        2              
3.     Lincoln Park (7)                                 8-2         3
4.     Valley Forge (1)                                 9-3         4
5.     York Catholic (3)                               10-1        5
6.     Del-Val Charter (12)                           8-4         6
7.     Lancaster Mennonite (3)                   11-1        8
8.     Greenville (10)                                   10-0     OW
9.     Mid Valley (2)                                      8-1        9
10.  Loyalsock (4)                                       9-2       10

Checked in: No. 8 Greenville.
Checked out: No. 7 Steel Valley.

Others to watch: Annville-Cleona (3, 8-3), Bellwood-Antis (6, 7-2), Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (7, 8-4), Central Cambria (6, 7-2), Columbia (3, 9-2), Dunmore (2, 4-4), East Allegheny (7, 7-2), Fairview (10, 10-0), Girard (10, 7-3), Juniata (6, 9-0), MaST Community (12, 10-1), Richland (6, 5-2), Shady Side Academy (7, 9-3), Steel Valley (7, 6-5), Washington (7, 6-3), Wellsboro (4, 8-3), Westmont Hilltop (6, 7-3).

Bullish matchups of the week: No. 2 Trinity certainly has an intriguing week ahead since Larry Kostelac Jr.’s unbeaten Shamrocks will visit dangerous Milton Hershey on Tuesday for a Mid-Penn Capital Division showdown. That’s not it, however, since Trinity must visit Steel-High on Friday before taking on Bishop McDevitt in the Harrisburg area’s version of the Holy War. … No. 7 Lancaster Mennonite will hop on the bus for a short ride to Lancaster Catholic to meet the 4A Crusaders in a game with Lancaster-Lebanon Section 3 ramifications. Geoff Groff’s Blazers must turn around and play No. 5 York Catholic Saturday at home.

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CLASS 2A

Jared Green, Derek Keglovitz, Owen Chambers and Aaron Wolfinger recorded double-figure efforts, sharing 46 points as Coudersport rallied for a 56-54 victory over Ridgway in a possible District 9-2A championship game preview. Coudersport, which debuted this week at No. 10, trailed 22-15 after one and 31-27 at the break.

No.  School                                                  Rec       Pvs
1.     Math, Civics & Sciences (12)        10-1        1
2.     Constitution (12)                             8-4         2
3.     Greensburg C.C. (7)                      10-0        4
4.     Church Farm (1)                             7-2         6
5.     Sewickley Academy (7)                  6-3         3
6.     Bishop Canevin (7)                         7-3         5
7.     Our Lady Sacred Heart (7)             7-3      OW
8.     Laurel (7)                                        7-2      OW
9.     Marian Catholic (11)                        6-1     OW
10.   Coudersport (9)                               8-0     OW

Checked in: No. 7 OLSH/No. 8 Laurel/No. 9 Marian Catholic/No. 10 Coudersport.
Checked out: No. 7. Bishop Guilfoyle/No. 8 Mahanoy Area/No. 9 Shenandoah Valley/No. 10 Ridgway.

Others to watch: Bishop Guilfoyle (6, 3-3), Bishop McCort (6, 6-1), Brockway (9, 8-3), Cambridge Springs (10, 7-2), Clarion (9, 6-3), Clarion-Limestone (9, 6-3), Fort Cherry (7, 9-2), Keystone (9, 7-1), Mahanoy Area (11, 7-2), Millersburg (3, 8-3), Moshannon Valley (6, 9-0), Motivation (12, 9-4), Neshannock (7, 7-3), North Penn-Mansfield (4, 9-3), Penns Manor (6, 8-2), Ridgway (9, 8-2), Rocky Grove (10, 9-1), Shenandoah Valley (11, 9-2).

Bullish matchups of the week: No. 1 Math, Civics & Sciences certainly will endure a challenging week as Dan Jackson’s Elephants will meet Class 3A No. 6 Del-Val Charter on Tuesday, Class 4A No. 1 Imhotep Charter on Thursday and take on New Jersey hammer St. Benedict’s Prep on Saturday. … Suburban Pittsburgh should have a dandy on Friday night, when No. 6 Bishop Canevin pays a visit to new No. 8 Laurel in yet another WPIAL Class 2A Section 3 skirmish.

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CLASS 1A

Popping four players into double figures Friday night, No. 10 Southern Fulton quieted Forbes Road 63-30 at home for its sixth straight victory. Branden Lynch and Dylan Gordon each scored 15 points for the victors, while Chase Varner added 11 and Carl Potter finished with 10. Kent Hendershot’s club also unleashed some nasty defense, limiting the visitors to 15 points over the final 24 minutes.

No.  School                                                      Rec       Pvs
1.     Kennedy Catholic (10)                       8-1        1
2.     St. John Neumann (4)                        8-0        2
3.     Elk County Catholic (9)                      8-0        3
4.     Monessen (7)                                     5-4        4
5.     Saltsburg (6)                                       8-0        5
6.     York Country Day (3)                          7-3        6
7.     Shanksville-Stonycreek (5)                 9-1        7
8.     Lincoln Leadership (11)                      8-2        9
9.     Lourdes Regional (4)                          8-3        8
10.   Southern Fulton (5)                             8-1      10

Checked in: None.
Checked out: None.

Others to watch: Clairton (7, 5-3), Cornell (7, 8-3), Faith Christian (1, 7-2), Ferndale (6, 9-1), Jenkintown (1, 6-4), Millville (4, 8-0), Rochester (7, 8-2), Sankofa Freedom (12, 7-5), Shade (5, 8-2), Turkeyfoot Valley (5, 6-3), Union (7, 8-2), Vincentian (7, 6-2).

Bullish matchup of the week: We’re going to yet another spiffy matchup involving Rick Mancino’s once-beaten No. 1 Kennedy Catholic side since the Golden Eagles will square off against Class 3A No. 3 Lincoln Park Saturday at Slippery Rock University’s Morrow Fieldhouse.