City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The District 1 6A girls basketball bracket was announced earlier this week along with the rest of the district fields.

After a number of years of the favorites dominating the classification's semifinal field, there have been a few surprise runs in recent years. Defending champion Perkiomen Valley is the team to beat, but there's not much separating the next tier of squads looking to keep the Vikings from becoming the first repeat District 1 champ since Spring-Ford in 2012 and 2013.

We’ll have a full. breakdown 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 for District 1 6A Girls Bracket
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Favorites: Perkiomen Valley

The top seed has won the last three District 1-6A championships and five of the last six, including Perk Valley last season. The reigning champion Vikings entered the season as the clearcut favorites and nothing has happened to change that. Junior wing Grace Galbavy and junior forward Quinn Boettinger, a Navy commit, are two of the top players in the district and the Vikings have five others who would all start elsewhere. However, Spring-Ford nearly had them in their regular season finale. They're a wagon but not impervious to a bad night.

Contenders: Haverford, Conestoga, Upper Dublin, Spring-Ford, North Penn, Neshaminy

Despite graduating a D1 player, last year's runner-up Haverford is back as one of the top seeds, led by senior guard Aniya Eberhart (Millersville) and junior wing Rian Dotsey. Senior guard Marisa Francione (Scranton) and sophomore wing Ryann Jennings are two of five starters back looking to carry Conestoga on a deep run after a disappointing second-round loss last season. Senior Amy Ngo (Holy Family) and classmates Brighid and Nora Brady (Neumann) look to overcome the loss of point guard Megan Ngo to injury and lead the Cardinals on a deep run. North Penn had its 21- game win streak snapped in the SOL playoffs by Neshaminy, but Caleigh Sperling (Jefferson) and co. are still equipped for a deep run. Let's bump Neshaminy and seniors Reese Zemitis (Bucknell) and Lola Ibarrondo (Holy Family) into this group too after an eight-game win streak that included multiple double-digit wins against playoff teams and an SOL title. 

Dark Horses: Garnet Valley, Central Bucks East, Neshaminy, West Chester Henderson

A potential No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup between CB East and Neshaminy could be a fun one with a state playoff berth on the line. CB East has a talented bunch led by flamethrower Anna Barry. Garnet Valley went 1-4 against the other top two teams in the Central League, Haverford and Conestoga, but junior wing Haylie Adamski is a matchup nightmare. West Chester Henderson senior Whitney Evans could help the Warriors, who grabbed a Ches-Mont title on Tuesday, keep pace with Jags and others. 

Bracket Busters: Downingtown East, Pennsbury, Council Rock South, Unionville, Abington

The No. 11 seed has reached the semifinals in each of the past two tournaments, so Downingtown East, which has a young core headlined by 6-foot sophomore Charlotte Aldridge, are worth keeping an eye on. Pennsbury would first have to get past league rival Bensalem, which it split two regular season matchups with, but Frank Sciolla’s teams have made deep runs before and Falcons senior Sofia Vitucci is one of the area’s premier talents. Conestoga will have a challenge in whoever comes out of the 15/18 matchup between Unionville and Council Rock South. The last non-No.1 or No. 2 seed to win the championship was Abington as a No. 9 seed in 2017. After a surprise second-round loss as a high seed last season maybe the Ghosts find a way to make some noise.

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

16) Pennsbury (16-7) vs. 17) Bensalem (15-8), 7 PM
Winner gets 1) Perkiomen Valley

9) Neshaminy (20-4) vs. 24) Ridley (11-12), 7 PM
Winner gets 8) Central Bucks East

13) Abington (17-6) vs. 20) Great Valley (11-11), 5 PM
Winner gets 4) Haverford High

12) Kennett (17-7) vs. 21) Plymouth Whitemarsh (13-9), 7 PM
Winner gets 5) North Penn

15) Unionville (15-8) vs. 18) Council Rock South (14-8), 7PM
Winner gets 2) Conestoga

10) West Chester Henderson (19-5) vs. 23) Central Bucks South (12-10), 7 PM
Winner gets 7) Central Bucks East

14) Coatesville (15-8) vs. 19) Penncrest (16-8), 7 PM
Winner gets 3) Upper Dublin

11) Downingtown East (17-5) vs. 22) Downingtown West (11-11), 7 PM
Winner gets 6) Spring-Ford

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Second Round
Wed., Feb. 21

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Quarterfinals
Sat., Feb. 24

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Semifinals
Wed., Feb. 28

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Championship
Sat., March 2
At TBD

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