City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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It’s time for the District 1 5A boys’ semifinals.

Only four teams are left in the district’s second-largest classification, down from 12 which began the postseason, though four others are still alive in the playback rounds. All four semifinals have already qualified for the PIAA Class 5A tournament, but the two winners of Saturday’s consolation games will also be joining them. 

If you want to read more about all the teams, be sure to CLICK HERE and check out our quarterfinal preview; I’m not going to go over every rotation again, just point out the important matchups and keys to watch.

Without further ado:

Semifinals
2) Chichester vs. 3) Unionville (1 PM)

This one should be fun and high-scoring, as both teams like to get up and down and get buckets, even if they do it in slightly different ways. Unionville spreads the floor out and can shoot from all five positions, and with anywhere from 6-8 different players capable of scoring in double figures. Chichester is a little more reliant on some creation from point guard Maz Sayed, and while the Eagles don’t shoot the ball as well as the Longhorns, it does have a few shooters who can get hot. To win, Chichester has to control the tempo and stop Unionville from getting hot from deep, because a 3-point shooting contest should favor the Longhorns; it’s possible Chi can out-shoot Unionville, but it can’t get stuck trading 2’s for 3’s. Going to take Unionville here in an upset, but won’t blink an eye if I’m wrong.

Prediction: Unionville, 65-60

1) Radnor vs. 12) WC Rustin (2 PM)

Rustin’s a great story, the Golden Knights shaking off a 3-6 start to the season and rallying to capture the final spot in the 5A tournament thanks to beating the likes of Henderson, Great Valley and Unionville, even though they’d lost four of five at the start of the District 1 playoffs. But then Vince Mostardi’s group put it together at the right time, taking out No. 5 Upper Dublin and then No. 4 West Chester East in consecutive games to lock up a state berth and find themselves in a matchup against top-seeded Radnor. But the Raptors are as dangerous as the name implies, unbeaten this season, have only won one game by fewer than 13 points since Dec. 27, and only Lower Merion was even able to stay that close. I just don’t see that run ending anytime soon.

Prediction: Radnor, 68-48

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Playbacks
4) West Chester East vs. 9) Marple Newtown (7 PM)

All is not quite right at West Chester East, which at one point in the season was 10-2 and riding high after beating Rustin by 10; since then, the Vikings are 6-6 and now on a three-game losing streak between their regular-season finale, a 28-point blowout in the Ches-Mont semifinals and now getting upset at home by that same Rustin squad in the quarters. Marple Newtown hasn’t quite played its best hoops lately either, losing five of its last six, but that one — against Sun Valley in the opening round of districts — was enough to buy them a couple more games, so here they are. The Tigers had a strong run through the middle of the season, going 10-3 from Dec. 23 to Jan. 28, and something tells me that Sean Spratt’s group is going to play its game against an East squad that’s not quite together at the moment and get back to states.

Prediction: Marple Newtown, 49-45

7) Holy Ghost vs. 11) Upper Merion (3 PM)

This is a rematch of a Dec. 8 game which Holy Ghost won 66-53, and though both teams have undoubtedly come a long way since then, Upper Merion’s has been without Devon Nelson, which would be another setback if the sophomore’s still out. Neither comes in particularly hotter than the other; Holy Ghost has won five of its last eight, and gave Chichester a good scare before losing by 10. Upper Merion has won five of its last seven, and made it to the PAC championship game after beating Perkiomen Valley in the semifinals. So we’ll pay attention to history and home court advantage and say Tony Chapman gets it done and makes it back to states.

Prediction: Holy Ghost, 58-52