City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The District 1 tournament fields were officially announced earlier this week. The 24-team Class 6A boys bracket typically has some of the most intrigue with the District 1 winner often looked at with the potential to make a state run and 12 total squads advancing to the PIAA bracket.

Last season was mostly chalk with the first, second, third and fifth seeds all advancing to the semis and seven of the top eight seeds reaching the quarters. But there have been some runs from double-digits seeds recently, including 14-seed Abington and 12-seed Norristown going all the way to the title games in 2021 and 2022, respectively,  and other Cinderella runs like surprise quarterfinal appearances and state playoff berths from 23rd-seed Abington and  24th-seed Garnet Valley in 2022.

We’ll have breakdowns of the first-round matchups later this week, but here’s a quick look at how the field stacks up:

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Click Here to see the District 1 6A bracket

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Favorites: Lower Merion, Coatesville, West Chester Henderson

The top seeds typically go deep in District 1 with No. 1 reaching the semifinals in six straight years, No. 3 reaching the semis in five of the last six and No. 2 and No. 4 making four appearances each during that stretch. A team outside the top three seeds hasn't won since No. 6 Abington in 2015.

The Lower Merion boys won championships in 2021 and 2022 before Plymouth Whitemarsh knocked the Aces out in the district semis last season on the way to a title. Outside the program, it was expected to be a down year for LM with the stars of that squad gone, but coach Gregg Downer has put together one of his best coaching jobs to date, leading Lower Merion to a 22-1 mark. Senior Adam Herrenkohl is one of the surprise stars of the district this season.

Often up there with the rest of District 1’s historic powers, Coatesville hasn’t been to a district title game since 2019 and hasn’t won a championship since 2001. The Raiders, led by senior guards Dior Kennedy and Zuri Harris ,have the pieces to match up with anyone.

West Chester Henderson returned the star backcourt of Nyle Ralph-Beyer (Sacred Heart) and Connor Fleet this season — two of the district’s most lethal scorers. Senior 6-7 forward Nelson Lamizana, who was at Henderson as a freshman and sophomore, returned to give the Warriors an inside presence few in the district can match. Two of Henderson’s three losses have come to Lower Merion and Coatesville.

Contenders: Chester, Spring-Ford 

A backcourt of senior E.J. Campbell and junior Jacob Nguyen, a Division I recruit, is certainly capable of leading Spring-Ford to a district crown after a runner-up finish last season. The Rams have a win over Coatesville on their resume and took care of business for much of the Pioneer Athletic Conference regular season outside an eye-catching 71-49 loss to Methacton on Jan. 30. 

The Clippers are back with the District 1 heavyweights after missing the tournament for the first time in 53 years last season. Senior 6-5 forward Dominic Toy is a UConn football recruit with senior guard Datne Atkinson-Payne a name more should know. Circle a potential quarterfinal with Coatesville as a must-see as a Jan. 26 game against the Raiders was paused with Coatesville ahead 66-62 with 1:35 left in the fourth quarter and never completed.

Dark Horses: Methacton, CB East, Bensalem, Perkiomen Valley, Plymouth Whitemarsh

The Pioneer Athletic Conference has sent a team to the district title game in three of the last four years. If it’s not Spring-Ford look out for Methacton, who has a do-it-all senior in Alex Hermann and emerging star in sophomore Christian Matos, or Perk Valley, led by one of the area’s top scorers Julian Sadler. CB East has a senior group led by Jake Cummiskey, who had multiple buzzer beaters during a semifinal run as a freshman. Bensalem had some magic in close games earlier this season and coach Ron Morris making a run with sons Antonio and Noah in their final season would be fun to watch. PW entered the season as one of the favorites again. While the Colonials haven’t played consistently, senior Jaden Colzie and sophomore Mani Sajid give them enough firepower to make a run if they can string a few good games together.

Bracket Busters: Central Bucks West, Garnet Valley, North Penn

Central Bucks West had a turnaround season and has gotten hot late with a run to the Suburban One League championship game. The No. 11 seed Bucks have a path for a deep run. No. 15 Garnet Valley and junior Jake Sniras get league foe Harritton in the first round. A potential second-round matchup with Spring-Ford would be a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal. Looking toward the back of the field at the squads looking to make a surprise run to states, No. 21 North Penn may be one of the ones to keep an eye as the Knights are coming off the program’s first state playoff win in program history last season.

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District 1 6A First Round (Boys)
Fri., Feb. 16

16) Conestoga (15-9) vs. 17) Neshaminy (15-8), 7 PM
Winner gets 1) Lower Merion (22-1)

9) Abington (18-6) vs. 24) Springfield (Delco.) (11-11), 7 PM
Winner gets 8) Bensalem (18-5)

13) Plymouth Whitemarsh (14-9) vs. 20) Council Rock South (14-8), 7 PM
Winner gets 4) Chester (18-2)

12) Cheltenham (17-6) vs. 21) North Penn (12-10), 7 PM
Winner gets 5) Coatesville (17-6)

15) Downingtown West (13-10) vs. 18) William Tennent (15-7), 7PM
Winner gets 2) West Chester Henderson (21-3)

10) Perkiomen Valley (19-5) vs. 23) Avon Grove (12-10), 7 PM
Winner gets 7) Central Bucks East (18-6)

14) Garnet Valley (15-8) vs. 19) Harriton (14-9), 7 PM
Winner gets 3) Spring-Ford (18-5)

11) Central Bucks West (18-6) vs. 22) Pennsbury (11-11), 7 PM
Winner gets 6) Methacton (16-7)

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Second Round
Tues., Feb. 20

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Quarterfinals
Fri., Feb. 23

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Semifinals
Tues., Feb. 27

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Championship
Sat., March 2
At TBD

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