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Area squads facing each other

THE SCOOP: Tussey Mountain and Northern Bedford have had many great hardwood tussles over the years, mostly on the boys side. However, as fate would have it, this season the playoffs begin with a clash between the Lady Titans and Lady Panthers.

The team surviving will have a tough but not unpassable road to District 5 Class 2A gold that would have to get through Windber and then probably star-laden McConnellsburg.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: North Star

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Windber sr. G Sam Pcola, Windber so. F Makaela Cominsky, McConnellsburg sr. F Bronwyne Mellott, McConnellsburg sr. G McKenzie Gelvin, Tussey Mountain sr. F McKenna Sitch, Northern Bedford sr. G Sydney Snyder, North Star so. G Kyrsten Joseph

MOST INTRIGUING POSSIBLE MATCHUPS: Northern Bedford at Tussey Mountain and North Star at Meyersdale in the quarterfinals; Northern Bedford or Tussey Mountain at Windber and Meyersdale at McConnellsburg in the semifinals; Northern Bedford, Tussey Mountain or Windber vs. McConnellsburg in the championship

SLEEPERS: Tussey Mountain, Northern Bedford

MIRROR’S TEAM TO BEAT: McConnellsburg

NUMBER OF TEAMS ADVANCING: Two

WHO THEY’LL PLAY IN INTERDISTRICTS: 5-1 vs. 7-4; 5-2 vs. 6-2

ANALYSIS: This bracket is one that seems destined to be broken, maybe multiple times. It’s hard to deny McConnellsburg, with Mellott and Gelvin a threat to combine for 40-50 points any game, has the most upside. And yet, the Lady Spartans are 15-7 and have split with both Tussey and Northern in the regular season — something to keep in mind should we wind up with an all-Sideling Hill D5-2A championship game.

Top-seeded Windber’s resume, meanwhile, is filled with tight wins that could have turned out differently but for a play or two. Plus, sixth-seeded North Star already almost won at third-seeded Meyersdale earlier this season and has two eye-opening wins since, against Windber and Portage.

Tussey has won both meetings with Northern this year, by three in Loysburg and by 12 at home. Since the second win, though, the Lady Titans have struggled a bit, while the Lady Panthers have been clicking. With a trio of double-figure scorers (Snyder, Emma Eckenroad and Paige Leidy), NBC has more offensive firepower. Tussey relies on defense, balance and grit to win games.

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