Garnet Valley, Springfield earn top seeds

Garnet Valley and Springfield, who will play for the Central League championship Monday night, earned the highest seeds in their respective District

1 girls basketball tournaments. The District 1 tournament pairings remain subject to change as all match-ups are considered unofficial until Monday.

Garnet Valley (21-1) is the No.

1 team in the Class 6A tournament and will receive a firstround bye. The Jaguars play the winner of No. 17 Central Bucks East (13-9) and 16th-seeded Kennett (15-7) in the second round on Wed., Feb. 20.

Upper Darby (13-9) is set to return to the district playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign. The Royals are the

19th seed and will travel to No.

14 Central Bucks West (14-8). Haverford (16-7) is the No.

13 seed in the Class 6A tournament and will host No. 20 North Penn (10-12). The Fords are coming off a loss to Springfield in the Central League semifinals for the second year in a row.

Garnet Valley, Haverford and Upper Darby are the only Delco teams to qualify for the Class

6A tourney, which begins Friday. Six of the 24 district qualifiers own losing records. Eleven teams advance to the PIAA tournament.

Springfield (21-2) captured the District 1 Class 5A tournament two years ago when senior captains Jordan D’Ambrosio and Belle Mastropietro were sophomore starters. The Cougars are slated to host 16thseeded Wissahickon (8-14), which edged Del Val League cochampion Academy Park (11-11) for the final slot, despite having three fewer wins.

There is one all-Delaware County pairing in the opening round. No. 4 Radnor (17-5), which claimed fourth place in the Central League, takes on Del Val League co-champion and 13th-seeded Penn Wood

(12-9).

Strath Haven returns to the district playoffs for the first time since 2014-15. The eighthseeded Panthers (14-8) hosts No. 9 West Chester East (148). Haven defeated W.C. East,

60-48, last month. The winner will play either Wissahickon or Springfield in the quarterfinals.

The Class 5A tournament begins Tuesday, Feb. 19. Three of the 16 participants have losing records. Six teams qualify for the PIAA tournament.

In the Class 2A bracket, No. 1 seed Sacred Heart (13-8) is aiming for a second straight district title. The Lions will play a in the semifinal round Wednesday, Feb. 20. All four Class 2A teams qualified for the playoffs. Only one team, the district champion, will advance to states.

In only its third season as a varsity program, third-seeded Chester Charter School for the Arts (18-2) gets a first-round bye in the District 1/12 Class A tournament. The Sabers are scheduled to play secondseeded The Christian Academy Sat., Feb. 23. The Crusaders (17-4) will compete in the Bicentennial League playoffs this week.

Jenkintown, the reigning district and state champion in Class A, earned the top seed following a 21-1 regular season.

Three District 1/12 Class A programs move on to the state tournament.