Coatesville faces big hurdle in state opener

Saturday, the three remaining Class 6A area squads, plus Church Farm in the 2A bracket, begin play in the PIAA playoffs.

All games are at neutral sites and one of the favorites in the 6A bracket has to be Coatesville. The Red Raiders face a very tough District 3 invader in Carlisle today at Spring-Ford High School at 4 p.m. Coatesville is coming off a 57-51 loss to Abington in the District 1 title game, and Red Raider coach Chuck Moore knows how tough the Carlisle team can be.

“Carlisle is a very talented team who plays in a very competitive league in District 3,” Moore said. “They are led by an explosive guard in Deshawn Millington, who is the heart and soul of their team. They are great at getting out in transition with the ball in his hands and on the the other end of the floor they show a lot of different looks defensively. I expect it to be an up-tempo game Saturday afternoon. Our focus will be on transition defense, valuing each possession and maximizing our opportunities.”

Coatesville is a quality team that can play up-tempo or beat you in the half court game with penetration by guards Jhamir

Brickus, Kamau Brickus and Dapree Brytant. But, Carlisle is not your ordinary five seed. The Thundering Herd’s Millington averages 19.3 points per game and he has plenty of help in the scoring department. This should be a close game, but one I think Coatesville will pull out. THE PICK >> Coatesville 64, Carlisle 61

••• Conestoga gets going against the No. 2 seed from District 12, the Lincoln Rail Splitters. Conestoga comes into this game as the six seed from District 1, and today at 5 p.m. at South Philadelphia High School, the Pioneers will have to get big games from shooters Charlie Martin and Scott Shapiro to get the taller Lincoln squad away from the glass. Conestoga will hope to slow things down against the typical man to man Philadelphiaarea

style of defense Lincoln will come with.

Lincoln has a quality player in 6-foot-4 Nassir Coleman and two other 6-6 or bigger players. Coleman will have to kept under control but Conestoga usually brings a very good defensive game to the floor, and that will be the difference down the stretch. THE PICK >> Conestoga 54, Lincoln 48

••• Downingtown West is the 10th seed from District 1 and the Whippets have the task of going all the way to East Pennsboro High School at 7:30 p.m. to take on high-powered Harrisburg, the champ from District 3. Harrisburg has four players who average more than 10 points per game, including 6-3 senior Chris Whittaker, who drops 20 points per contest. Harrisburg will try to speed up the Whippets

and force turnovers, something Downingtown West has been prone to at times this season. THE PICK >> Harrisburg 70, Downingtown West 62.

••• District 1 Class 2A champion Church Farm takes on one of the favorites for the PIAA title, Constitution, the second seed out of District 12, at Bensalem High School at 5 p.m. Church Farm is led by 6-9 sophomore Jon Bol Ajak, who averages 12 points per game to go along with five blocks. Church Farm coach Marc Turner is very familiar with the Generals as Constitution has knocked the Griffins out of the state tournament twice in the last five years.

“Constitution is a typical Philadelphia Public League team,” Turner said. “They will guard you all the way up the floor and they like to get right in your face. We will have to take care of the basketball

against them. And they go 6-6, 6-6, 6-5 across the front, but we will have the tallest man on the floor in Jon Bol, who frankly has had some real good moments but also some bad moments too as a sophomore. We are going to have to shoot the ball well to come out with a win.”

The Generals’ Maurice Waters was an All-Public League pick at forward. Waters is a slasher and good rebounder. Point guard Tamir Green averages 13 points per game and is going to be a problem for the Church Farm guards. THE PICK >> Constitution 64, Church Farm 57