Final look at the elite before states start
Next week the PIAA boys basketball tournament begins with approximately 192 teams competing to become one of six state champions, which for many players will be the highlight of their basketball careers. The thrills already started on Monday night when Roman Catholic beat Neumann Goretti 57-52 in overtime before a packed house at the Palestra in Philadelphia for the Philly Catholic League championship. It was Roman’s 33rd league crown. Obviously, Roman Catholic is a perennial power to be featured in states every year, but to remind you of who’s out there and how tough it will be for any of our teams to get to Hershey’s Giant Center and for the gold, here’s the latest look at the Beasts of the East rankings. They are compiled by Jason Hackman and Toomey Anderson, who follow the teams closely throughout the eastern half of the state (Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 11 and 12):
CLASS 6A Ranking, School, District, Record, Last time
1. Roman Catholic (12) 22-3, 1 2. Reading High (3) 24-1, 2 3. Plymouth-Whitemarsh (1) 25-2, 5 4. Archbishop Wood (12) 15-8, 3 5. Downingtown West (1) 16-5, 6 6. Spring-Ford (1) 24-2, HM 7. Lower Merion (1), 24-4, 8 8. Cumberland Valley (3), 20-3, 10 9. Williamsport (4) 18-4, HM 10. Emmaus (11) 19-5, 9 Dropped Out: St. Joe’s Prep (12) 4th last time; Garnet Valley (1), 7th last time. Honorable Mention: Central Bucks East (1); Coatesville (1); Garnet Valley (1); Haverford (1); Methacton (1); North Penn (1); Penn Wood (1); Perkiomen Valley (1); Upper Darby (1); West Chester Henderson (1); Scranton (2); Delaware Valley (2); Central York (3); Chambersburg (3); Hempfield (3); Waynesboro (3); William Penn (3); Wilson (3); Freedom (11); Liberty (11); Parkland(11); Central (12); Olney (12); St. Joe’s Prep (12) CLASS 5A 1, Imhotep (12) 19-3, 1 2. Radnor (1) 26-0, 2 3. Archbishop Ryan (12), 14-9, 3 4. Exeter Township (3), 19-6, 4 5. West Philadelphia (12), 15-11, HM 6. Unionville (1) 23-4, HM 7. Abington Heights (2) 20-4, 5 8., Pocono Mountain West (11) 18-4, 9 9. Manheim Central (3) 21-4, HM 10. Dobbins (12) 24-2, 8 Dropped Out: West Chester East (1), 6th last time; Dallas (2), 7th last time; Bonner-Prendergast (12),10th last time. Honorable Mention: Chichester (1); Holy Ghost Prep (1); West Chester East (1); West Chester Rustin (1); Dallas (2); West Scranton (2); Hershey (3); Lampeter-Strasburg (3); Mechanicsburg (3); Milton Hershey (3); Muhlenberg (3); Warwick (3); East Stroudsburg South (11); Southern Lehigh (11); Whitehall (11); Bonner-Prendergast (12); Fels (12); CLASS 4A 1. Neumann Goretti (12) 21-3, 1 2. Cardinal O’Hara (12) 16-7, 3 3. Berks Catholic (3) 21-4, 5 4. Valley View (2) 21-3, 5. Allentown Central Catholic (11) 16-7, 6 6. Scranton Prep (2) 15-9, 8 7. Fleetwood (3) 22-3, 7 8. Bethlehem Catholic (11) 15-7, 9 9. Shamokin (4) 18-7, 10 10. Octorara (3) 17-7, HM Dropped Out: Archbishop Carroll (12), 3rd last time. Honorable Mention: Bishop Shanahan (1); Greater Nanticoke Area (2); Tunkhannock (2); Bishop McDevitt (3); Eastern York (3); Littlestown (3); Schuylkill Valley (3); Athens (4); Danville (4); Lewisburg (4); Blue Mountain (11); North Schuylkill (11); Wilson (11); Archbishop Carroll (12); Audenreid (12); E&S (12); Overbrook (12) CLASS 3A 1. West Catholic (12) 14-10, 1 2. Holy Redeemer (2) 18-2, 3 3. Trinity (3) 19-2, 5 4. Math Civics and Science (12) 16-9, 4 5. Devon Prep (12) 10-12, 6 6. Columbia (3) 18-4, 2 7. Executive Education (11) 18-4, 7 8. Notre Dame Green Pond (11) 21-3, 9 9. North Penn-Mansfield (4) 23-2, 10 10. Delone Catholic (3) 14-7, HM Dropped Out: Mid-Valley (2), 8th last time. Honorable Mention: Old Forge (2); Southern Columbia (4); Loyalsock (4); Troy (4); Wellsboro (4); Warrior Run (4); Palmerton (11); Saucon Valley (11); String Theory (12); SLA-Beeber (12); Vaux (12) CLASS 2A 1. Constitution (12) 17-8, 1 2. Dock Mennonite (1) 24-2, 2 3. St John Neumann Regional (4) 21-4, 3 4. Holy Cross (2) 18-5, 5 5. Sankofa (12) 13-12, 6 6. Lancaster Mennonite (3) 15-7, HM 7. Schuylkill Haven (11) 19-5, 9 8. Mahanoy Area (11) 18-4, 10 9. Muncy (4) 18-6, HM 10. Delco Christian (1) 14-12, HM Dropped Out: Church Farm (1) 4th last time; #7 Maritime (12) 7th last time; Marian Catholic (11) 8th last time. Honorable Mention: Church Farm (1); Antietam (3); Halifax (3); Northwest Area (4); South Williamsport (4); Marian Catholic (11); Minersville (11); Tri-Valley (11); Maritime (12). CLASS 1A 1. Chester Charter (1) 19-5, 2 2. Linville Hill Christian (3) 21-0, 3 3. The City School (12) 22-3, 1 4. Greenwood (3) 23-1, 4 5. LaAcademia (3) 13-11, 5 6. Lancaster Country Day (3) 12-7, 9 7. Northumberland Christian (4) 19-5, 7 8. Forest City Regional (2) 12-10, 10 9. Notre Dame E-S (11) 13-9, HM 10. Phil-Mont Christian (1) 18-9, HM Dropped Out: Mount Calvary Christian (3) 6th last time; GAMP (12), 8th last time. Honorable Mention: Conestoga Christian (3); Dayspring Christian (3); High Point Baptist (3); Mount Calvary Christian (3); Galeton (4); North Penn-Liberty (4); Sullivan County (4); Bethlehem Christian (11); MMI Prep (11); GAMP (12).