Tidying up some odds and ends as districts get going

A few observations from the end of the regular season and the beginning of district play.

Coatesville, the No. 2 seed in Class 6A, will host Downingtown East in second round play after the Cougars took care of Garnet Valley in Friday’s opening round. Downingtown East played the Red Raiders tough in both regular season losses.

The Cougars had a lead on Coatesville in the second half of both games before the Red Raiders’ backcourt of Jhamir Brickus and Dapree Bryant took over the game. And you could have said that same thing for pretty much every Ches-Mont National squad that faced the Red Raiders this season.

The Ches-Mont League has five squads in the Class 5A bracket, with West Chester East being the No. 1 seed. (FYI: The Vikings’ first-round date with Harriton was bumped up a night and will be played on Tuesday).

I like a rematch between the Vikings and Unionville down at Temple University for the 5A crown.

For East, junior center Andrew Carr can get his shot whenever he wants. Tym Richardson is one of, if not the best, three-point shooter in the area.

Unionville showed me a lot in the Ches-Mont championship game. The game went pretty much as I thought it would, and early in the fourth quarter, it looked over, with Coatesville holding a double digit lead.

When Coatesville coach Fred Thompson took out his starters, Unionville kept shooting threes and they started to go in. All of a sudden, the Red Raider lead is down to two, and Thompson was scrambling to get his kids back in the game.

A game effort by Unionville, where many teams I have seen this season might have quit.

For the fifth straight season Conestoga will meet fellow Central League foe Lower Merion in District 1 play, with each team winning every other year. It is the Pioneers’ turn this season. Conestoga has improved by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the season, and I think this game with the Aces is a toss up.

Peter DiGiovanni covers boys basketball for the Daily Local News and Pa. Prep Live. You can reach him at pdigiovanni07@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteDLN.