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District 1 Playoff Primers: PAC, SOL, Central, Ches-Mont

02/07/2020, 1:30pm EST
By Josh Verlin


Carl Schaller (above) and Garnet Valley captured the Central League's top seed for the six-team playoffs. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Conference tournament season is here! The Philadelphia Public League tournament is already underway, and the Pioneer Athletic Conference held its opening round on Wednesday night.

With a few other leagues having their semifinals this weekend and championships early next week (and a few hours off this afternoon), I figured this would be a good time for a quick preview of a few different tournaments. We’ll do a Catholic League preview on its own after that field is finalized on Sunday, as well as district tournament previews next week:

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Central League
1st Round –– Both Games Sat., Feb. 8 @ 3:30 PM
3) Penncrest vs. 6) Strath Haven (@ Lower Merion)
4) Haverford vs. 5) Radnor (@ Garnet Valley)

The boys’ first-round games in the first year of the Central League's expanded six-team playoffs are both part of boy/girl doubleheaders, hence the somewhat-strange locations, as Haverford (13-9, 9-7) and Radnor (14-8, 9-7) both travel much further than they would have if they were playing at Lower Merion. Regardless, expect a couple of low-scoring, defensive battles, though it’s not as if there aren’t talented players on all four squads. Haverford/Radnor presents a battle of two of the best in the Central League in Fords’ do-it-all junior wing John Seidman and Radnor’s 6-6 forward Jack D’Entremont; though the two won’t likely be matched up much on one another, they have a similar ability to impact the game. Penncrest (17-5, 11-5) will utilize junior forward Denzel Atkinson-Boyer in the middle with guards Aidan Carroll and Marquis Tomlin matching up against Strath Haven (15-7, 9-7) wings Luke Edwards and Matt Shuler.

Semifinals –– Mon., Feb. 10, Location TBD
1) Garnet Valley vs. Haverford/Radnor Winner
2) Lower Merion vs. Penncrest/Strath Haven Winner

Garnet Valley (20-2, 14-2) took only two league losses all year: at Lower Merion in December and at home to Haverford on its home court to end the regular season, though the Fords were playing for a lot more in that game than the Jaguars were. Mike Brown’s sharpshooting GV team is led by juniors Carl Schaller and Neel Beniwal, and the top offense in the league will try to out-run no matter who emerges from the Haverford/Radnor winner. Lower Merion (17-5, 12-4) suffered a blow near the end of the season with an injury to freshman guard Sam Brown, the team’s top sharpshooter, but they still have sophomore big Demetrius Lilley, senior guard James Simples and sophomore Jaylen Shippen to make them plenty dangerous. The top two seeds are the favorites, but no upset in any round would be a total surprise.

Championship –– Tues., Feb. 11 @ Marple Newtown

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Owen Kropp (above) and Methacton are the overwhelming favorites in the PAC. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Pioneer Athletic Conference
Semifinals –– Fri., Feb. 7 @ Spring-Ford
2) Pope John Paul II vs. 3) Spring-Ford (6:00 PM)
1) Methacton vs. 4) Phoenixville (7:45 PM)

The PAC playoffs started this week, as Spring-Ford beat Upper Merion and Phoenixville downed Boyertown in a pair of games played in the 40s. Expect the semifinals to tick up a bit, as both PJP II and especially Methacton are capable of getting into the 60s or 70s. Spring-Ford (16-7, 7-3) has good size across the board, including 6-4 senior forward Tre Medearis and 6-4 senior guard Pat Kovaleski, while PJP (17-4, 9-1) features 6-5 junior wing Justin Green as an inside-out threat along with senior guard and sharpshooter Drew McKeon. Both teams have closed strong: Spring-Ford has won 12 of its last 14, and PJP won 11 straight and has won 12 of 13 entering the playoffs. Spring-Ford won the initial matchup, 50-47 back in December.

Phoenixville (14-9, 8-2) has a tough road against Methacton, a team it lost to 62-20 back in January. The Warriors boast 6-10 senior Jeff Woodward in the middle and a great group of guards, led by senior wing Erik Timko plus sharpshooters Brett Eberly and Owen Kropp. Methacton (20-2, 10-0) is the overwhelming favorite in the PAC, having won its last eight league games by more than 23 points each, and it’ll take a heroic effort by Phantom senior guard Steven Hamilton & Co. to upset Methacton in the semis.

Championship –– Tues., Feb. 11 @ Spring-Ford

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Justin Moore (above) and Cheltenham enter the SOL playoffs as the top overall seed after going unbeaten in league play. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Suburban One League
Semifinals –– Sat., Feb. 8 @ Bensalem
1) Cheltenham vs. 4) Central Bucks West (4:00 PM)
2) Bensalem vs. 3) Pennridge (6:00 PM)

The Suburban-One playoffs feature the three division winners from the SOL’s three conferences (American, Continental, National) and the wild card with the highest district ranking, which is how CB West snuck in out of the four teams across the conference that finished the year with four losses in their respective divisions. The Bucks (15-7, 8-4) are led by point guard Mika Munari and wing forward Jack Neri, but Adam Sherman’s squad is a typical CB West one, playing patient, disciplined ball on both sides of the court. Cheltenham, despite the loss of senior point guard and St. Francis (Pa.) signee Zahree Harrison to a knee injury in the opening game of the season, still went unbeaten in the American at 20-2 (14-0), behind the play of seniors Jaelen McGlone and Sean Emfinger, both 6-4, plus sophomore 6-2 guard Justin Moore.

Bensalem captured its first outright league title in more than two decades, as Ron Morris guided the Owls to a 17-5 (11-1 SOL-National) record, with junior guard James Ashford IV and forward Jeremiah Alexander leading the way. The Owls enter the playoffs on a two-game losing streak, while Pennridge (16-6, 9-3) dropped its season finale. The Rams are coming off an appearance in the PIAA 6A championship game but graduated most of that team; this year, senior Trent Fisher and junior guard Luke Yoder are the main pieces, but Dean Behrens’ group also has a number of other pieces who can pop in for double digits. Cheltenham enters the postseason as the overall favorite in the league, but all four of these teams have won a lot of games this season for a reason; the Panthers didn’t play any of the other three teams in the regular season, so there will be a learning curve, for sure.

Championship –– Mon., Feb. 10 @ Council Rock South

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Ches-Mont League

Semifinals –– Sat., Feb. 8 @ West Chester University
West Chester East vs. West Chester Rustin (3:00 PM)

Coatesville vs. Unionville (4:30 PM)

The Ches-Mont doesn’t seed its tournament, but has the top team from one division play the No. 2 of the other, and vice versa. In this case, both Coatesville and West Chester East went 11-1 in Ches-Mont National play, while Rustin and Unionville both went 9-1 in American play, so the matchups were basically irrelevant. Coatesville (17-5) boasts the high-scoring duo of 2,000-pointer Jhamir Brickus and 1,000-pointer DaPree Bryant in a senior-laden group, and Unionville will try to slow them down with an attack led by 6-6 Emory commit Logan Shanahan. Unionville will have to limit its turnovers and shoot well from deep using an inside-out attack, which it did in a 52-51 loss at Coatesville on Feb. 1, proof that this game can go either way.

Rustin (15-6, 9-1) is led by sophomore IV Pettit, a 6-0 sharpshooting guard who’s on pace to score a ton of points in a Knights uniform. They also have junior guard Griffin Barrouk, another strong outside shooter, and 6-5 senior big man Daniel Wethey inside. In East (19-3, 11-1) they’ll have to deal with a Vikings squad led by 6-9 Delaware commit Andrew Carr, a lanky wing who can play inside and out, plus senior guard Tym Richardson and sharpshooting freshman Jack Kushner. East has closed the season winning 10 straight and 14 of 15, and might have the most momentum of any team in District 1 entering the postseason.

Championship –– Tues., Feb. 11 @ West Chester University


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Tag(s): Home  Boys HS  Central League (B)  Garnet Valley  Haverford High  Lower Merion  Penncrest  Radnor  Strath Haven  Ches-Mont American (B)  Unionville  West Chester Rustin  Ches-Mont National (B)  Coatesville  West Chester East  Pac-10 (B)  PAC-10 Frontier (B)  Phoenixville  Pope John Paul II  PAC-10 Liberty (B)  Methacton  Spring-Ford  Suburban One (B)  SOL Liberty (B)  Cheltenham  SOL Colonial (B)  Central Bucks West  Pennridge  SOL Patriot (B)  Bensalem  Ches-Mont (B)