Back to familiar place
Executive Education looks to get past second round; Parkland heads to Reading
Here’s where it gets sticky for Executive Education.
In the first four years of their boys basketball program, the Raptors have won four District 11 titles and had no trouble winning their first postseason game outside the district.
But the second round has been the roadblock.
In 2019, Executive lost to Math,
Civics and Sciences 68-48 in the round of 16. In 2020, it was a 79-76 defeat to Constitution that ended the Raptors’ dreams. In 2021, a hard-fought 79-75 loss to Loyalsock made for a long bus ride from Williamsport back to East Allentown and last year it was a bitter 66-49 overtime loss to Holy Redeemer that sent Executive into the offseason.
The Raptors are knocking on the quarterfinal round door one more time, hoping to bust it down to reach the 3A bracket’s elite eight.
It won’t be easy. They are taking on a tough North Penn-Mansfield team with a 25-3 record in Shamokin on Wednesday night.
But coach Ray Barbosa, who has been as frustrated as anyone with the team’s inability to get deeper into states, is optimistic. His team is used to long bus rides and playing good competition all season long.
He believes this is a winnable
game if his guys execute.
“It’s going to come down to tempo,” Barbosa said. “They’re going to want to slow it down because they have a lot of size and we’re going to want to speed it up. They have some talented kids and they like to shoot 3s. We’re going to have play well to win, but I think the kids will be ready for the challenge.”
While Executive is headed
north and west to Northumberland County, Parkland is going next door to Berks County and a familiar spot, Reading High's Geigle Complex, to face Garnet Valley. It will be the second straight District 1 foe for the Trojans, who beat West Chester Henderson 56-39 Saturday afternoon.
And, Pocono Mountain West will also be in action. For the third consecutive time, the Panthers have encountered a postponement as their second-round game against Abington Heights was moved to 6 p.m. Wednesday at Hazleton. Pocono Mountain West, District 11's No. 2 team in Class 5A, also had its district title game against East Stroudsburg South moved back a day as well as its first-round game against Chichester.
Here's a look at Wednesday's Executive and Parkland games:
Class 3A
Executive Education (Dist. 11 champ, 22-4) vs. North Penn-Mansfield (Dist. 4, 25-3).
When/where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at Shamokin Area High School.
What’s next: Winner will play either District 12 champ West Catholic (16-10) or District 2 champ Holy Redeemer (26-2) in Saturday's quarterfinals. EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
Coach: Ray Barbosa (fifth season at Executive Education, 89-54; 153-54 in eight seasons overall).
Players to watch: Gabe Hornberger (So. G) 12.4 ppg, 3.5 apg; 25 3s; Jelarick Gonzalez (Jr. G) 3.9 ppg; Jayden Manning (Jr. G) 3.5 ppg 4.2 rpg; Rylan Muniz (Jr. G) 16.0 ppg, 73 3s; Moustapha Sanoh (6-11, Sr. C) 7.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg; Lamine Sanoh (6-9, Jr. F) 4.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg; Jaden Shipley (So. G) 4.2 ppg; Al Rios (Jr. G-F) 2.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg.
About the Raptors: Average 59.0 ppg, allow 47.2 ppg. … Have made 119 3s, shoot 50.2% from the field, 39.5% from 3-point range and foul line. … Hornberger is the best foul shooter of those with at least 20 attempts, making 75.4%. … Began season 2-2 and then won 14 straight before losing to The Patrick School at the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase Feb. 5. … Other losses were to Columbia of District 3, District 2 champ Abington and District 4 power Williamsport, by a combined 10 points. … In the 69-48 first-round win over String Theory, Hornberger had 18 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Muniz scored 16 points and both Lamine Sanoh and Al Rios had 11 rebounds. Executive had 47 rebounds as a team. NORTH PENN-MANSFIELD Coach: Kipper Burleigh Key players: Karson Dominick (6-4, Sr. F) 19.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg; Sam Lawrence (6-0, Sr. G) 5.9 ppg, 5.3 apg; Cooper Shaw (6-3, So. F) 8.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg; Alex Davis (6-1, So. G) 9.2 ppg, 3.4 apg; Burleigh Brody (6-5, Sr. F) 11.0 ppg, 10.6 rpg. About the Tigers: Average 59.7 ppg, allow 47.8 ppg. … Have made 145 3s and shoot 67% at the foul line. … Average 29.6 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 9.4 steals, 3.0 blocks and 11.6 turnovers per game. … Advanced with a 68-65 win over Delone Catholic. Dominick scored 26 points, Davis added 23 and Burleigh 11 in the program's firstever PIAA win after three previous losses. … The Tigers lost to Troy 50-46 in the District 4 title game. Other losses were to Wellsboro 65-48 and East Stroudsburg South 59-54 in a tip-off tournament.
Prediction: The long quarterfinal-round wait is over for the Raptors. Executive 64-59.
Class 6A
Parkland (Dist. 11 champ, 19-9) vs, Garnet Valley (Dist. 1, No. 7, 18-9)
When/where: 6 p.m. Wednesday at Reading's Geigle Complex.
What’s next: Winner will face either Lower Merion (Dist. 1, No. 3, 22-4) or Roman Catholic (Dist. 12 champ, 24-3) in Saturday's quarterfinals. PARKLAND
Coach: Andy Stephens (15th season at Parkland, 276-121, 19 seasons overall, 350-156).
Key players: Nick Coval (6-2, Jr. G) 23.1 ppg, 74 3s; Matt Ray (5-9, Sr. G) 8.1 ppg, 37 3s; Joey Gerbasio (6-1, Sr. G-F) 8.9 ppg, 32 3s; Zaire Smaltz (6-4, Jr. F) 3.8 ppg,; Connor Johns (6-2, Jr. F) 1.5 ppg; Luke Spang (6-0, Jr. G) 5.3 ppg, 34 3s; Robbie Ruisch (6-2, Jr. F) 3.2 ppg, 19 3s; Gio Escalona (6-6, Sr. C) 3.0 ppg, 14 3s.
About the Trojans: Average 56.4 ppg, 49.1 ppg. … Have made 216 3s, allowed 125 3s … Shoot 77.8% from the foul line led by Coval who has made 153 of 167 foul shots (91.6%) … In the win over West Chester Henderson, Coval led with 22 points, making 9 of 13 shots from the field. Ray had 7 assists, Smaltz had 9 rebounds …Parkland hit 19 of 34 shots overall and went 8-for18 from 3-point range. … Coval now has 647 points this season
and 1,410 in his career. He is third all-time in school history behind only 2002 grad Adam Lane (1,636 points) and 2017 grad Sam Iorio (1,892). … This is Parkland's 20th appearance in the state tournament and the Trojans are 15-19 all-time. They have reached the quarterfinals three times (2004, 2009, 2016). GARNET VALLEY
Coach: Michael Brown
Key players: Max Koehler (6-2, Sr. G); Logan McKee (6-6, Sr. G); Jack Krautzel (6-0, Jr. G); Ryan Faccenda (6-2, Sr. F); Jake Sniras (6-4, So. F).
About the Jaguars: Average 61.1 ppg, allow 57.2 ppg. … Advanced with a 46-45 win on a Sniras 3-pointer at the buzzer. … Went 2-2 in the District 1 tournament, beating Methacton 73-69, losing to Spring-Ford 56-38 and Central Bucks East 61-51 and beating North Penn 88-52 in the seventhplace game. … Earlier this season, Sniras scored 26 in a win over Upper Darby, which is the same team that beat Nazareth and Whitehall in a holiday tournament and eliminated Liberty in the first round. … Koehler is a York College commit. … Went 18-12 last year when they beat Abraham Lincoln of the Philly Pub League 65-56 in the first round before losing to Scranton 52-49 in the second round. … In the state tournament for the fifth time, have an all-time record of 3-4. Lost to Catasauqua 53-51 in the second round of the 1997 2A tournament.
Prediction: Having played Lower Merion, Archbishop Wood and Devon Prep will help the Trojans match up with the Jaguars. Parkland 49-46.