East, West, Camden Catholic Boys Basketball All in Playoffs

Back on Jan. 19, the boys basketball teams at Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West hooked up for a thrilling contest that came down to the last second.

If things go well for each local team in their playoff openers, fans will be treated to a sequel.

The NJSIAA released the playoff brackets Friday, revealing the Cougars as a No. 6 seed and the Lions as a No. 14 seed. All first-round games are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 25.

East opens at home against No. 11 Clearview. The two teams did not meet in the regular season, but did share three common opponents: Williamstown, Kingsway and Eastern. Clearview (9-8) defeated Kingsway (74-65) and lost to Eastern (62-51) and Williamstown (46-40). East (15-5) also defeated Kingsway (58-45) and lost to Eastern (66-61) and Williamstown (36-34).

For a rematch to happen in the postseason, West (10-8) will have to overcome a Shawnee (17-2) team that has given it trouble this season. Shawnee won both regular season meetings by 13 points (65-52, 72-59).

East and West will meet one more time in the lead-up to the playoffs, as part of the Cherry Hill East Invitational Feb. 16.

The complete Group 4 boys’ basketball first-round schedule is below:

No. 9 Williamstown at No. 8 Southern Regional

No. 10 Egg Harbor Township at No. 7 Triton

No. 11 Clearview at No. 6 Cherry Hill East

No. 12 Cherokee at No. 5 Eastern

No. 13 Absegami at No. 4 Toms River North

No. 14 Cherry Hill West at No. 3 Shawnee

No. 15 Washington Twp. at No. 2 Lenape

No. 16 Toms River South at No. 1 Atlantic City

The Camden Catholic boys basketball team also qualified for the postseason, earning a No. 5 seed in Non-Public A. The Irish (13-5) will host No. 12 Monsignor Donovan.

The Camden Catholic girls will also be home for the first round of the playoffs. The Irish (10-8) garnered a No. 6 seed and will open against No. 11 Bishop Eustace.

The girls teams from East and West each failed to make the playoffs.