High School Basketball Playoffs Preview: Breaking Down the Local Teams' Chances

This is a special time of the basketball season that means everything. It’s the time that defines a season. It’s the time of the year that makes memories. It’s a time that represents everything for seniors—where losing comes with a gut-wrenching finality.

It’s playoff time.

The PIAA District 1 playoffs brackets were released in the boys’ and girls’ Class AAAA and Class AAA categories Sunday at Council Rock South High School and a number of schools in the Patch coverage area received playoff berths.

Both Lower Merion’s boys’ and girls’ teams made it in Class AAAA, with the Lady Aces the highest seed of all the area schools, as the No. 5 seed. Both Harriton’s boys’ and girls’ teams made in Class AAA. Marple Newtown’s girls qualified in Class AAA, while Penncrest’s boys and Haverford High School’s girls made in the Class AAAA playoffs.

The top nine teams in Class AAAA advance to the state tournament, while the top three teams in Class AAA qualify. The higher seeded team has home-court advantage through the first two rounds, and afterward, each round is played on a neutral court.

The Class AAAA girls and boys district championship will be played at the Villanova Pavilion on Friday, March 4, while the girls and boys Class AAA district finals will be held Saturday, March 5, also at Villanova’s Pavlion.

Here’s a breakdown of the area teams involved:

Boys

Harriton

The Rams (11-11) are the No. 7 seed in Class AAA and will host No. 10 Sun Valley (6-16) on Wednesday, February 23. Harriton enters the tournament off a strong 47-45 victory over Strath Haven last Thursday. Harriton beat Sun Valley earlier this season, 46-44, on January 8.

“Beating Strath Haven was big for us, it was a team win,” Rams’ coach Jesse Rappaport said. “I feel a lot better heading into the playoffs after the Strath Haven game, and now we’ll get time to heal and get healthy for the playoffs. Sun Valley gave us a real battle the last time we played them, so I think this will be a tough game.”

If the Rams adavance, they’ll play traditional Class AAA power Holy Ghost Prep (15-7), the No. 2 seed, in district quarterfinals on Saturday, February 26.

“If we win, we have Holy Ghost Prep, but we’ll get ready for that later, we respect the heck out of them; we have to win the first game to get them and that’s what going to be our focus,” Rappaport said. “I don’t even want my guys thinking about it. It’s the playoffs and we know who we’re facing. We are a little different than the last time Sun Valley saw us, from a team that constantly pressed. We’ve been playing the match-up zone well. I’m not sure what we’ll do. I do want us well rested and have our legs under us.”

Lower Merion

The Aces (15-7), seeded No. 13, have closed strong, winning nine of their last 10 entering the Class AAAA district tournament as the No. 13 seed hosting No. 20 Methacton (14-8) on Friday at 7 p.m.

Aces’ coach Gregg Downer, who’s won two state titles, goes into tournament plat with a simple one-game-at-a-time mantra. The first game, however, is critical. Downer calls it the “uniform game, because the players have to turn their uniforms in if we lose it,” Downer said. “We were a little worried how things would shake up when we were 6-6, but we rallied and now we’re looking to keep the momentum up going into the playoffs.

“We had some close losses early and that shook our confidence a little, but we the season has gone on, a lot of our younger guys have gained experience and we’ve won close games recently. We know if we play a close game, we can play our way out of it.”

If Lower Merion wins, and the seeds hold true, the Aces would be matched against their old Central League rivals, Upper Darby (21-1), the No. 4 seed, in the second round. “I will say Upper Darby did a great job this year, and Bb Miller particularly did a great job, they answered everyone, but we need to beat Mathecton first,” Downer said.

Girls

Harriton

The Rams are 7-15 and very young. Harriton enters the Class AAA playoffs as the No. 10 seed and will open at No. 7 Upper Merion (10-12) on Tuesday, February 22. Harriton starts freshmen Sabrina Tabasso and Katie Melvin—and the Rams only senior starter is Betsy Hurtado.

“With such a young team, it could be up-and-down, and we’re coming off beating Ridley, which was our first Central League road win in three years in the league,” Rams’ coach Carla Coleman said. “We beat Marple Newtown earlier this season for our first league win built confidence. We’re coming off a 1-21 season last year, so we’re just happy to be playing. This feels like night and day from last year. We didn’t know whether or nto we even got in. This has been a year to remember and this adds to it.”

Lower Merion

The Aces finished 19-3 overall and 16-0 in the Central League, winning their second league title in the last three years. Lower Merion, the No. 5 seed, will host No. 28 Great Valley (13-9) on either Friday, as part of a girls-boys doubleheader, or will play Saturday night. The girls-boys doubleheader will be determined this week.

For now, the Aces are riding a seven-game winning streak into the district playoffs, and if they advance, and the seeding holds true, they’ll face the winner of No. 12 Downingtown West (14-8) or No. 21 Haverford (14-8) in the second round. Get by that round, and it’s a chance to meet No. 4 seed Cheltenham, which beat the Aces in 2008-09 district finals.

“We’ve been playing well; we’ve grown a lot since the beginning of the season,” said Aces’ point guard Sheba Hall, who was on the district final team two years ago. “Coach [Lauren] Pellicane always talks about the team from two years ago, and we’re using that as motivation. Looking back, we’re happy and surprised how this season has turned out. We’re going to keep playing hard. We’re expecting, hopefully, to go far.”

The top nine teams out of District 1 Class AAAA qualify for the state playoffs.

Haverford High School

It’s been at least six years since the Fords have been in the district Class AAAA playoffs. Haverford is 14-8 and enters the playoffs as the No. 21 seed, traveling to No. 11 Downingtown West, which is also 14-8, on Saturday, February 19. The Fords enter the playoffs winners of five of their last seven games. Haverford has beaten Central League powers Ridley and Springfield—both on the road in the final seconds.

“I like they way we’re playing right now,” Fords’ coach John Berardoni said. “We’re starting to put things together and playing a good brand of basketball. I’m excited about it, and excited to be in this position again. The way we’re playing defense and the way we’re attacking offensively, we’re not backing down. If we do those things, we can compete. But it will start on the defensive end, no doubt about that.”

Berardoni likes the nothing-to-lose attitude his team will have—“We’re playing with house money right and let’s just go out and play and see what happens. I’m not looking ahead by any means.”

If the Fords win, they would probably face No. 5 seed Lower Merion.

Boys

Class AAAA

1. Chester vs. 32. Perkiomen Valley

2. Council Rock North vs. 31. Great Valley

3. Plymouth-Whitemarsh vs. 30. Interboro

4.  Upper Darby vs. 29. Kennett

5.  Neshaminy vs. 28. Ccentral Bucks East

6.  West Chester Rustin vs. 27. Penncrest

7.  Norristown vs. 26. Ridley

8.  North Penn vs. 25. Upper Dublin

9.  Bensalem vs. 24. Strath Haven

10.  Coatesville vs. 23. Souderton

11.  Penn Wood vs. 22. Conestoga

12.  Glen Mills vs. 21.Central Bucks West

13.  Lower Merion vs. 20. Methacton

14.  Pennridge vs. 19. Henderson

15.  Wissahickon vs. 18. Spring-Ford

16.  Cheltenham vs. 17. Springfield

 Class AAA (first three teams receive first-round byes)

1. Octorara 

2. Holy Ghost Prep

3. Lower Moreland

4. Pope John Paul II vs. 5. Pottstown

6. Bishop Shanahan vs. 11. Upper Moreland

7. Harriton vs. 10. Sun Valley

8. Upper Merion vs. 9. Phoenixville

Girls AAAA

1. Council Rock North vs. 32. Central Bucks West

2. Mount St. Joseph’s vs. 31. Bishop Shanahan

3. Downingtown West vs. 30. Academy Park

4. Cheltenham vs. 29. Souderton

5. Lower Merion vs. 28. Great Valley

6. Boyertown vs. 27. Central Bucks South

7. Upper Dublin vs. 26. Coatesville

8. Central Bucks East vs. 25. Chester

9. Spring-Ford vs. 24. Neshaminy

10. Council Rock South vs. 23. Unionville

11. Avon Grove vs. 22. Garnet Valley

12. Downingtown West vs. 21. Haverford High School

13. William Tennent vs. 20. Plywmouth-Whitemarsh

14. Sun Valley vs. 19. Radnor

15. West Chester Rustin vs. 18. Upper Darby

16. North Penn vs. 17. Abington

Class AAA (first four teams receive first-round byes)

1. Villa Maria Academy

2. Nazareth Academy

3. Springfield

4. St. Basil’s

5. Oxford vs. 12. Pope John Paul II

6. Villa Joseph Marie vs. 11. Phoenixville

7. Upper Merion vs. 10. Harriton

8. Merion Mercy vs. 9. Marple Newtown