Focus to turn to tournaments
It’s the final week of the regular season in local boys basketball and it’s time for area teams to rev it up.
Who are the favorites in the upcoming league and district tournaments?
The latest “Beasts of the East” rankings compiled by high school basketball gurus Jason Hackman and Toomey Anderson provide a good idea.
The rankings gauge the top teams in districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 11 and 12, and Emmaus, Pocono Mountain West, Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Executive Education and Notre Dame-Green Pond are among the teams getting top-10 attention in their respective classes as the regular-season grind ends and the postseason begins.
The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament will begin Friday with four games and the Colonial league tourney starts Saturday with two contests.
Here’s a complete look at the latest rankings with records through Sunday:
Class 6A
Rank, School, District, Record, Last time
1. Roman Catholic (12) 18-2, 1
2. Reading High (3) 20-1, 2
3. Archbishop Wood (12) 12-6, 3
4. St. Joe’s Prep 15-4 (12), 4
5. Plymouth-Whitemarsh 19-2 (1), 7
6. Downingtown West 16-5 (1), 8
7. Garnet Valley 15-6 (1), 9
8. Lower Merion 18-3, (1) 6
9. Emmaus 17-4 (11), 10
10. Cumberland Valley 19-2 (3), 19-2 Dropped Out: Spring-Ford (1) 20-2, 5th last time
Honorable Mention: Central Bucks East (1) 18-3; Coatesville (1) 13-8; Methacton (1) 15-7; North Penn (1) 17-4; Penn Wood (1) 14-5; Perkiomen Valley (1) 15-7; Spring-Ford (1) 20-2; Upper Darby (1) 15-6; Hazleton (2) 10-7; Central York (3) 16-6; Hempfield (3) 18-2; Waynesboro (3) 19-1; William Penn (3) 17-4; Wilson (3) 14-6; Williamsport (4) 13-4; Freedom (11) 14-7; Liberty (11) 13-8; Parkland (11) 13-8; Father Judge (12) 9-10; LaSalle (12) 9-11; Northeast (12) 14-6; Olney (12) 17-3.
Class 5A
11. Imhotep (12) 19-3, 1
12. Radnor (1), 21-0, 2
13. Archbishop Ryan (12) 13-7, 3
14. Exeter Township (3), 15-5, 6
15. Abington Heights (2), 17-2, 4
16. West Chester East (1), 16-6, 5
17. Dallas (2), 18-2, 8
18. Dobbins (12), 21-1, 9
19. Pocono Mt. West (11), 17-4 (10
20. Bonner-Prendergast (12), 10-8, HM
Dropped Out: (7) Muhlenberg (3) 14-7 Honorable Mention: Chichester (1) 17-3; Unionville (1) 18-3; Upper Dublin (1) 16-5; Pittston (2) 14-5; Lampeter-Strasburg (3) 15-4; Manheim Central (3) 17-4; Mechanicsburg (3) 14-5; Milton Hershey (3) 14-5; Muhlenberg (3) 14-7; Warwick (3) 14-5; West York (3) 15-6; Selinsgrove (4) 13-8; East Stroudsburg North (11) 9-10; East Stroudsburg South (11) 16-5; Whitehall (11) 11-10; Ben Franklin (12) 15-3; Boys Latin (12) 15-6; Samuel Fels (12) 19-2.
Class 4A
21. Neumann Goretti (12) 16-2, 1 22.Cardinal O’Hara (12) 13-6, 3
23. Archbishop Carroll (12) 13-6, 4
24. Valley View (2) 16-2, 5
25. Berks Catholic (3) 17-3, 2
26.Allentown Central Catholic (11) 14-7, 6
27. Fleetwood (3) 20-1, 7
28.Scranton Prep (2) 12-7, 9
29. Bethlehem Catholic (11) 14-6, 10 30.Shamokin (4) 14-6, HM
Dropped Out: (8) Bishop McDevitt (3) 14-4, 8th last time.
Honorable Mention: Collegium (1) 9-9; Pope John Paul II (1) 10-10; Greater Nanticoke Area (2) 15-6; Tunkhannock (2) 10-10; Bishop McDevitt (3) 14-4; Eastern York (3) 15-6; Littlestown (3) 18-4; Octorara (3) 13-6; Schuylkill Valley (3) 14-5; Athens (4) 14-6; Danville (4) 14-4; Lewisburg (4) 13-6; Blue Mountain (11) 16-5; North Schuylkill (11) 17-3; Wilson (11) 13-8; FLC (12) 14-6; Overbrook (12) 11-11.
Class 3A
31. West Catholic (12) 10-9, 1
32. Columbia (3) 16-1, 3
33. Holy Redeemer (2) 17-2, 4
34.Math, Civics and Sciences (12) 14-7, 5
35. Trinity (3) 17-2, 7
36.Devon Prep (12) 10-11, 2
37. Executive Education (11) 16-3, 6
38. Mid Valley (2) 15-3, 8
39. Notre Dame-Green Pond (11) 18-3, 9
40. North Penn-Mansfield (4) 19-1, 10 Honorable Mention: MaST (1) 12-9; Carbondale (2) 11-7; Old Forge (2) 12-5; Riverside (2) 12-6; Delone Catholic (3) 14-7; Oley Valley (3) 17-4; York Catholic (3) 15-6; Southern Columbia (4) 12-8; Loyalsock (4) 12-7; Troy (4) 12-7; Wellsboro (4) 13-5; Palmerton (11) 16-5; Saucon Valley (11) 16-5; MaST II (12) 12-5; SLA-Beeber (12) 17-5; Vaux (12) 16-6.
Class 2A
41. Constitution (12) 13-7, 1
42. Dock Mennonite (1) 19-2, 2
43.St. John Neumann Regional (4), 14-4, 4
44. Church Farm (1) 16-3, 7
45.Holy Cross (2) 12-5, 3
46. Sankofa (12) 11-11, 6
47. Maritime (12) 18-4, 5
48. Marian Catholic (11) 14-7, 8
49. Schuylkill Haven (11) 17-4, 9 50.Mahanoy Area (11) 17-4, 10
Honorable Mention: Delco Christian (1) 11-9; Antietam (3) 12-9; Halifax (3) 14-6; Lancaster Mennonite (3) 13-7; Steelton Highspire (3) 7-11; East Juniata (4) 14-6; Muncy (4) 14-6; Northwest Area (4) 17-3; South Williamsport (4) 12-8; Lincoln Leadership (11) 11-8; Minersville (11) 14-7; Nativity BVM (11) 7-12; Tri-Valley (11) 16-3; Paul Robeson (12) 11-11; Strawberry Mansion (12) 10-7.
Class 1A
51. The City School (12) 19-3, 1
52.Chester Charter (1) 16-3, 3
53. Linville Hill Christian (3) 15-0, 2 54.Greenwood (3) 19-1, 19-1
55. LaAcademia (3), 10-9, 7
56.Mount Calvary Christian (3), 14-6, 5
57. Northumberland Christian (4), 14-3, 9 58.GAMP (12), 10-3, 10
59. Lancaster Country Day (3), 12-8, 8
60. Forest City Regional (2), 11-6, HM Dropped out: Phil-Mont Christian (1) 14-6, 6th last time.
Honorable Mention: Phil-Mont Christian (1) 14-6; Plumstead Christian (1) 10-9; Forest City Regional (2) 11-6; Conestoga Christian (3) 13-7; Coventry Christian (3) 8-10; Dayspring Christian (3) 17-3; High Point Baptist (3) 9-5; West Shore Christian (3) 12-10; Lourdes Regional (4) 4-16; North Penn-Liberty (4) 10-9; Sullivan County(4) 12-8; Bethlehem Christian (11) 10-7; Notre Dame E-S (11) 12-8.