Boys and girls brackets announced
PAC puts 12 teams in District 1 basketball playoffs
With league champions determined and a few non-conference games in the books, the Pioneer Athletic Conference girls and boys basketball teams now know their postseason fates.
District 1 officially announced its girls and boys basketball brackets on Thursday after a seed meeting Wednesday night. There will be a total of 12 PAC teams in the District 1 Class 6A, 5A and 4A boys and girls basketball tournaments.
PAC girls champion SpringFord was the No. 1 overall seed in the Class 6A field after an undefeated 18-0 season that included an overtime win over No. 4 Upper Dublin. Lucy Olsen and company will have to wait to see who they face in the second round at home Wednesday as they play the winner Saturday’s first round game between No. 16 Penn Wood (6-4) and No. 17 Perkiomen Valley (8-6).
The Rams and Vikings are joined by No. 9 Methacton (145) in the Class 6A girls field. The Warriors will travel to No. 8 Abington (12-4) on Wednesday for a second round game. Abington won a 75-66 game against the Warriors on Tuesday. The winner of the No. 8/9 matchup will face Spring-Ford or the No. 16/17 seed in the quarterfinal round.
Liberty Division champion Perkiomen Valley (11-3) earned itself the No. 5 seed in the District 1 Boys Class 6A field, hosting No. 12 Pennridge (13-5) in the second round on Tuesday. No. 10 Boyertown (9-5) will travel to No. 7 Central Bucks East (12-3) in a secondround contest Tuesday.
No. 16 Methacton (10-6), last year’s District 1 champs, hosts No. 17 Central Bucks South (9
6) in a first-round game on Saturday. The winner faces No. 1 Cheltenham (13-1) in the second round Tuesday, which would be a rematch of last year’s District 1 title game if the Warriors win their playoff opener.
The PAC has a pair of teams in both Class 5A fields. Phoenixville’s girls (10-5), the Frontier Division champions, earned the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 West Chester East (9-6) in a quarterfinal Wednesday.
An eight-game win streak down the stretch earned No. 8 Pottsgrove (10-7) a first round home game against No. 9 Mount St. Joseph (7-6) on Saturday. The winner takes on No. 1 Springfield-Delco (16-0) on Wednesday.
On the boys side, No. 6 Phoenixville (9-6) travels to No. 3 Holy Ghost Prep (11-6) in a quarterfinal matchup Tuesday with the winner heading to the semifinals.
No. 9 Upper Merion (87) travels to No. 8 Unionville (4-5) on Saturday for a chance to take on No. 1 Upper Moreland (13-3) in a quarterfinal Tuesday.
Both Pope John Paul II squads will participate in the Class 4A tournaments. The boys side will only have two teams this season with last year’s champ No. 1 Pope John Paul II (13-1) hosting No. 2 New Hope Solebury (6-12) on Wednesday for a district title and spot in the state tournament.
PJP’s girls have an extra step to secure a potential district title. The No. 3 Golden Panthers (10-6) travel to No. 2 New Hope Solebury (15-3) in a semifinal Tuesday with the championship game to follow Friday.
Only District 1 champions will advance to the PIAA tournament this season. The District 1 Boys Class 5A tournament will conclude March 16 and the Girls Class 5A tournament March 17. The District Class 6A boys and girls tournaments will play their championship games March 19.