Attention turns to PIAA tournament

After an exciting District 11 tourney, area qualifiers head to states

While Easton Area Middle School staged five District 11 tournament games on Saturday, including two boys title games, Pleasant Valley was a busy venue as well.

The three boys games played in Brodheadsville featured a pair of upsets and the shot of the entire tournament as Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg’s Xavier Spears hit a 3-pointer from well beyond the 3-point arc at the buzzer to give the Spartans a 58-57 win over Forest City and the District 11-2 Class A subregional championship.

The upset wins came from Palmerton and East Stroudsburg South. The Blue Bombers ended a six-game losing streak to Colonial League rival Notre Dame-Green Pond by beating the Crusaders 68-55 behind a 27-point effort by Brayden Hosier in the District 11 Class 3A third-place game. And East Stroudsburg South, which had lost to Pocono Mountain West three previous games, stunned the

Panthers 43-34 for the District 11 5A championship.

The Cavaliers had lost in the 5A finals the previous two years, but were able to break through for the program’s first district gold since 2018 and just its second overall. The Cavaliers also won a district championship when it was just East Stroudsburg in 1994.

Sophomore Jaen Chatman scored eight of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as South dominated the final period 13-4 after the teams played to a 30-30 tie through three quarters.

Those results capped a frenetic few weeks of district tournament action and only three of the top seeds in the six classifications went on two win the district gold.

Now, the teams get to get to pause for a week before the games continue in the PIAA tournament.

Unlike last year when there was a just a break of three or four days between the end of districts and the start of states, the PIAA has gone back to giving teams time to recover and regroup for the start of state play.

As in the past, the 5A, 4A and 1A will be on a Friday-Tuesday-Friday pattern through the quarterfinals and 6A, 3A and 2A will go on a Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday loop. All games in the first round are at the home of the higher seed.

The semis in 1A and 4A will be held on March 20 with the final on March 23. The 5A semis will be held on March 20 with the title game on March 24 and the 2A, 3A and 6A semis are scheduled for March 21 with the finals in 2A on March 24 and the 3A and 6A championship games slated for March 25.

Among the teams making their first state-tournament appearance will be first-year program Bethlehem Christian. The Panthers secured the third spot in the District 11-2 subregional with a 60-58 win over MMI Prep on a buzzer-beater by freshman Gabe Transue who scored 26. Amari Williams added 12.

3A CONSOLATION: PALMERTON 68, NOTRE DAME-GREEN POND 55

Notre Dame-Green Pond 17– 4– 13– 21— 55 Palmerton 20– 11– 15– 22— 68

NOTRE DAME-GREEN POND (58)

Isaiah Miles 00-00, Zach Rodgers 44-516, Colin Boyle 10-12, Cameron Bohn 50-213, Dainn Vassallo 42-2- 10, Andrew Lessig 10-02, Caleb Hobbie 00-00, Chase Marcks 50-012, Dan Darno 00-00, Bernie Gomez 00-00. Totals 206-1255. PALMERTON (68)

Matt Machalik 41-29, Justin Sebelin 00-00, Kendall Robinson 31-27, Chase Reph 70-014, Aiden Leister 00-00, Jacob Grammes 20-25, Logan Anthony 00-00, Brayden Hosier 78-927, Trace Stahler 00-00, Zack Anthony 30-16. Totals 2610-1668.

3-pointers: Notre Dame (9) Rodgers 4, Bohn 3, Marcks 2. Palmerton (6) Hosier 5, Grammes.

Note: Notre Dame’s season ended with a 21-5record. The Crusaders were the Colonial League champions.

6A CHAMPIONSHIP: ES SOUTH 43, PM WEST 34

East Stroudsburg South 9– 9– 12– 13— 43 Pocono Mt. West 9– 10– 11– 4— 34

EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH (43)

Mike Patterson 14-86, Joe DeJesus 20-04, Logan Santos 10-12, Jaen Chatman 69-1222, Xavier Carnegie 00-00, Mike Green 30-07, Jamal Watts 10-22. Totals 1413-2343.

POCONO MOUNTAIN WEST (34)

Julian Pagan 36-812, Kyon Coles, Jr. 30-17, Devin Artis 20-04, Ethan Sakwa 10-03, De’von Smith 00-00, Jonathan Mateo 00-00, Jayden Huggins 12-64, Adrian Brito 20-04. Totals 12 8-1534.

3-pointers: ES South (2) Chatman, Green. PM West (2) Coles, Sakwa.

Fouls: ES South 19, PM West 23.

Officials: Andy Donatelli, Johnny Hymans, Rob Bosak.

PIAA BOYS BASKETBALL FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS

CLASS 6A

Games on Saturday

West Chester Henderson (D1No. 10, 16-11) at Parkland (D11champ, 18-9), 3p.m.

Upper Darby (D1No. 6, 16-10) at Liberty (D11 No. 2, 16-10), 3p.m.

Emmaus (D11No. 3, 20-6) at Hempfield (D3No. 3, 24-3), 4p.m.

CLASS 5A Games on Friday

West Chester East (D1No. 5, 18-8) at East Stroudsburg South (D11champ, 19-6), 7p.m. Chichester (D1No. 3, 21-4) at Pocono Mountain West (D11No. 2, 21-6), 7p.m.

CLASS 4A Games on Friday

E&S Carver (D12No. 5, 12-12) at Allentown Central Catholic (D11champ, 17-9), 7p.m. Greater Nanticoke Area (D2, No. 3, 17-9) at Bethlehem Catholic (D11No. 2, 17-8), 7p.m. Overbrook (D12, No. 12, 13-13) at Blue Mountain (D11, No. 3, 21-6), TBD

CLASS 3A Games on Saturday

String Theory (D12, No. 5, 9-13) at Executive Education (D11champ, 20-4), 3p.m.

Devon Prep (D12, No. 3, 11-12) at Saucon Valley (D11, No. 2, 21-7), 3p.m.

Palmerton (D11, No. 3, 20-7) at MCS (D12, No. 2, 16-10), TBD

CLASS 2A Games on Saturday

Northwest, D4, No. 3, 21-5) at Mahanoy Area (D11champ, 20-4), 3p.m.

Sankofa Freedom (D12, No. 2, 13-12) at Tri-Valley (D11, No. 2, 20-6), 3p.m.

Minersville (D11, No. 3, 16-9) at Holy Cross (D2 champ, 19-5), 3p.m.

CLASS 1A Games on Friday

Mount Calvary (D3, No. 5, 20-8) vs. Notre DameEast Stroudsburg (D11champ, 15-9), 5p.m. at East Stroudsburg South

Bethlehem Christian (D11, No. 3, 14-10) at City School (D12champ, 22-3), TBD/