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Playoff parade (District 5)

The Mirror’s Philip Cmor presents his annual District 5 basketball tournament preview and analysis

3A boys

THE SCOOP: By any measure, the Everett Area and Chestnut Ridge boys basketball teams have enjoyed great seasons. Chestnut Ridge won the Sideling Hill League championship. Everett defeated the Lions last week to secure the No. 1 seed in District 5 Class 3A over Ridge.

Whichever team wins their rubber match is going to be a quality squad, and one that would produce entertaining basketball in the PIAA tournament.

The problem is making it that far, because the winner has to show it can size up with Westinghouse and the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-11 center, James Ellis.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Westinghouse

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Chestnut Ridge sr. F Noah Dillow, Chestnut Ridge sr. F Elohim Jackson, Everett sr. G Jared College, Everett jr. G Elijah Treece, Westinghouse sr. C James Ellis, Westinghouse jr. G Rodkeem Byrd

MOST INTRIGUING POSSIBLE MATCHUPS: Chestnut Ridge vs. Everett in the semifinals; Chestnut Ridge vs. Westinghouse in the championship

SLEEPERS: Chestnut Ridge

MIRROR’S TEAM TO BEAT: Westinghouse

NUMBER OF TEAMS ADVANCING: One

WHO THEY’LL PLAY IN INTERDISTRICTS: 5/8-1 vs. 7-5

ANALYSIS: It really appeared the way Chestnut Ridge was playing that the Lions were all geared to beat Everett for the third time and then test themselves against Westinghouse in the subregional final. That thought, however, was thrown into the circular file when the Warriors stunned Ridge by 17 last week, as Colledge poured in 26 points.

Both teams won on their home floor, and Everett, in particular, is a big home-court advantage. The third encounter will be on a neutral floor; Ridge, for the record, won by 28 in New Paris.

Everett was in this position last year, getting the right to meet Westinghouse and falling by 11. The Warriors are much the similar team, pushing the pace with its quickness but perhaps might be an even better team at shooting the 3-pointer this year. Ability to turn defense into offense and to hit from deep makes Everett formidable if it is anywhere near close on the scoreboard.

Ridge is athletic and physical. Dillow is as good as any player in the region and has become a threat to score 30 any night without forgetting his teammates. Jackson gives the Lions a couple of post-up options.

If Ridge can take care of the basketball and get some perimeter production and defense, it should win the third meeting between these teams. From a District 5 perspective, that probably would be best, too, as Ridge seems to match up a little better with Westinghouse’s size, because the Lions forwards can play in and out and are very active around the glass. However, whichever team makes it to the subregional final will be facing a tall order.

2A boys

THE SCOOP: The shadow of Dave Bailey still hovers over Saxton. For decades with Bailey as coach, the Tussey Mountain boys basketball program could be counted upon to contend for District 5 titles with regularity. Since he stepped down, it’s been a hard road for the Titans to continue that kind of success.

Tussey locked up the fourth seed in this year’s Class 2A tournament, which is a positive sign. However, the reward for that is a tough quarterfinal-round encounter with North Star just to get the opportunity to face Berlin Brothersvalley, which has been a dominant opponent this season.

The Titans have had semi-competitive moments against good competition this year but need to step it up to meet these challenges.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Berlin Brothersvalley

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Berlin Brothersvalley sr. G Nick Gooden, Berlin Brothersvalley jr. F Gideon Snyder, Conemaugh Township jr. G Jordan Poznanski, Conemaugh Township jr. F Ethan Leasure, Rockwood jr. G Troy Emert, Tussey Mountain soph. G Devin Swope, North Star soph. G Andy Zuchelli, Windber sr. F Zane Piscitella

MOST INTRIGUING POSSIBLE MATCHUPS: North Star at Tussey Mountain and Windber at Rockwood in the quarterfinals; Tussey Mountain at Berlin Brothersvalley and Windber at Conemaugh Township in the semifinals; Windber or Conemaugh Township vs. Berlin Brothersvalley in the championship

SLEEPERS: Windber

MIRROR’S TEAM TO BEAT: Berlin Brothersvalley

NUMBER OF TEAMS ADVANCING: Three

WHO THEY’LL PLAY IN

INTERDISTRICTS: 5-1 vs. 6-3; 9-2 vs. 5-3;

5-2 vs. 7-3

ANALYSIS: Tussey just needs to win its first game against North Star. If the Titans can do that, they’re guaranteed at least two more games and only need to win one of them to qualify for the PIAA tournament. Tussey Mountain will have the home-court advantage — a big deal, in the Titans’ case — but winning as the higher seed definitely will be easier said than done. Zuchelli typically is worth 20 points per contest, and he had 24 in a loss to Laurel Highlands Conference power Forest Hills.

Should the Titans reach the semis, they’d be a big underdog at Berlin. The Mountaineers have stumbled a couple of times this year, but, in general, they’ve been pretty consistent and winning games by double figures.

As mentioned, though, a loss there wouldn’t do in the Titans’ state hopes. There is a reasonable chance they even could be the higher seed in a consolation game, because Windber, which came on late, is ranked sixth. The Ramblers got a bit of a late start in basketball because of a run to the district finals in football.

Conemaugh Township would be the favorite to oppose Berlin in the finals, but the Indians only beat Windber by three late in the season. An upset in the semifinals in that side of the bracket is not out of the question, although Tussey would probably be better suited if the seeding was to hold true.

1A boys

THE SCOOP: If you go back over District 5 Class 1A playoff basketball the past couple of decades, the Southern Fulton, Shade and Shanksville-Stonycreek programs stand out. It’s very seldom that one of those teams isn’t playing for gold medals at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

It’d be a big upset if two of them aren’t squaring off for the D5-1A trophy next week.

In what has been a pretty good year for District 5 boys basketball, these three programs once again have risen to near the top. Shade looks capable of competing with just about anyone, and the other two aren’t far off the Panthers’ pace.

Adding to the intrigue this year is that Southern Fulton’s final game will be the farewell of legendary Indians coach Kent Hendershot.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Shanksville-Stonycreek

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Shade jr. F Brady Fyfe, Shade fr. G Vince Fyock, Southern Fulton soph. F Gabe Stotler, Southern Fulton soph. G Justin Morris, Shanksville-Stonycreek soph. F Dawson Snyder, Shanksville-Stonycreek jr. F Matthew Addleman, Turkeyfoot Valley sr. G Craig Lytle, Forbes Road sr. G Brycen Hohman, HOPE for Hyndman jr. F Banks Stouffer

MOST INTRIGUING POSSIBLE MATCHUPS: HOPE for Hyndman at Shanksville-Stonycreek in the quarterfinals; Turkeyfoot Valley at Shade and Shanksville-Stonycreek at Southern Fulton in the semifinals; Southern Fulton vs. Shade in the championship

SLEEPERS: Turkeyfoot Valley

MIRROR’S TEAM TO BEAT: Shade

NUMBER OF TEAMS ADVANCING: Two

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

ANALYSIS: Hendershot is going out with a young team, and one that therefore can be a little bit unpredictable. The Indians struggled with Southern Huntingdon late in the season and Forbes Road early, but they also took D5-2A top seed Berlin Brothersvalley to overtime a couple of weeks ago and hold a win over Everett.

Perimeter play is Southern Fulton’s stock and trade, and if the young guards are performing well, Hendershot will have them playing hard enough to give anyone in the bracket their hands full.

The Indians, who get a first-round bye, might actually be playing better than likely semifinal opponent Shanksville right now, and that’s saying something. The Trojans lost by one to Shade in late January and easily handled Heritage Conference power Ligonier Valley earlier in the season. The Trojans are very good on the paint, on the boards and along the baseline.

Their quarterfinal game with HOPE for Hyndman will be of interest more for the fact that the Hornets really don’t play many common opponents, so it’s hard to know what to make of them.

Shade still is the team to beat. The Panthers, as usual, can get a lot of points and they can get them from a lot of different players. Juniata Valley, Homer-Center and Berlin Brothersvalley are among the teams they’ve beaten this year, and they even gave Johnstown a test.

Shade put up 105 points against probable semifinal opponent Turkeyfoot Valley late in the season, and they could score high in the 80s in a playoff rematch. Turkeyfoot’s high-octane offense and ability to shoot the 3 could make that an interesting game, though.

2A girls

THE SCOOP: After a couple of down years, Todd Gates’ Tussey Mountain girls program has risen back to a level that it can compete with top teams and hold legitimate District 5 title aspirations.

The Lady Titans are young and lack size beyond Sophie Brumbaugh, but they play excellent defense, especially on the perimeter, and can really attack the basket with their guards when they are on their game.

At the same time, with a young team, nothing is a given. Tussey still has to keep its poise at times and has moments where its inexperience shows. However, Tussey has a good draw if it hopes to make it back to the finals.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: McConnellsburg

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Windber jr. F Makaela Cominsky, Windber jr. G Marideth Tokarsky, North Star jr. G Kyrsten Joseph, North Star sr. F Maggie Friedline, Tussey Mountain soph. G Lexi Weimert, Tussey Mountain soph. F Sophie Brumbaugh, Meyersdale sr. F Katie Kretchman, Conemaugh Township sr. F Haley Curry, Northern Bedford jr. G Kaity Corle, Westinghouse soph. C Khamile Andrews

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

SLEEPERS: Northern Bedford, Meyersdale

MIRROR’S TEAM TO BEAT: Windber

NUMBER OF TEAMS ADVANCING: Two

WHO THEY’LL PLAY IN INTERDISTRICTS: 5-1 vs. 7-5; 6-2 vs. 5-2/8-1

ANALYSIS: Tussey’s road starts out in an interesting place: at home against Northern Bedford. Northern actually came on and posted a couple of upset wins toward the end of the year, one of them over the Lady Titans.

Unless the Lady Panthers have Tussey’s number, it would be a major surprise to see them springing a second straight upset on the bracket’s No. 3 seed, although stranger things have happened.

Figuring Tussey advances, it will have to travel to perennial power North Star to face a Lady Cougars team with Friedline being a force on the inside and Joseph capable of putting up close to 20 per game from the guard position. That will be a significant challenge.

Should the Lady Titans make the finals, they’d be assured two games, because, as part of a subregional agreement with District 8, the District 5 runner-up will play Westinghouse for a berth in the state tournament. Westinghouse’s calling card is its intimidating size and inside play.

Windber is a heavy favorite to win the tournament and has beaten second-ranked North Star twice by double digits. The Ramblers are fairly athletic and offer a strong one-two punch in Cominsky and Tokarsky.

1A girls

THE SCOOP: Spearheaded by sophomore all-state candidate Kiera Booth, Berlin Brothersvalley has been a girls basketball juggernaut this season.

Heading into the WestPAC championship, the Lady Mountaineers have outscored the opposition this season by an average of 30.6 points per contest. That’s with a schedule that’s included Southern Fulton, Portage twice, Forest Hills, Windber twice and Hagerstown, Md. Goretti. Sure, there were some mismatches on the slate, but this is still an impressive run for a program that’s had a few of them over the years.

It’s going to take a special effort to keep Berlin from claiming the District 5 Class 1A trophy again, and it doesn’t look like there’s a team in this field that has a good chance to offer that outside of perhaps a more seasoned Southern Fulton squad than the one Berlin trounced at the beginning of the season. It seems like everyone else is just playing for a spot in the finals.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Berlin Brothersvalley

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Berlin Brothersvalley soph. F Kiera Booth, Berlin Brothersvalley jr. F Zoie Smith, Southern Fulton jr. F Drew Gordon, Southern Fulton soph. G Lindsey Hollenshead, Shanksville-Stonycreek sr. G Sidney Stutzman, Shade soph. F Morgan Zimmerman, Fannett-Metal jr. F Kate Johns, HOPE for Hyndman sr. G Kyler Cosgrove

MOST INTRIGUING POSSIBLE MATCHUPS: Fannett-Metal at Shade and HOPE for Hyndman at Shanksville-Stonycreek in the quarterfinals; Fannett-Metal at Berlin Brothersvalley and Shanksville-Stonycreek at Southern Fulton in the semifinals; Southern Fulton vs. Berlin Brothersvalley in the championship

SLEEPERS: Shanksville-Stonycreek

MIRROR’S TEAM TO BEAT: Berlin Brothersvalley

NUMBER OF TEAMS ADVANCING: Two

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

ANALYSIS: The tough thing if one is playing just to make it in the top two is if you have to play Berlin just to get to the top two. That’s the dilemma facing Fannett-Metal and Shade; the winner of their game is going to have to try to beat Berlin — at Berlin — in the semifinals.

Shade’s already lost twice to Berlin this season by a total of around 70 points.

Shade probably is the favorite over Fannett-Metal in their quarterfinal meeting, but Fannett-Metal would be a better matchup with Berlin in the semifinals simply because the Lady Mountaineers haven’t played the Lady Tigers yet, and Johns provides an interior counter to Booth, a player who can score, rebound and attract her attention to some extent.

Southern Fulton is a very interesting team coming through the other side of the bracket. The Lady Indians are extremely young, but they’ve exceeded the expectations of most everyone the last six weeks, even going on a 10-game winning streak. This would not be the same team Berlin throttled early in the year.

To get another shot at Berlin, Southern Fulton will have to hold home-court advantage and oust Shanksville-Stonycreek, not an easy task because the Lady Vikings have a number of players back who contributed to a team that made it to states in 2017. They gave Berlin one of their more competitive games this season — on the road, no less — beat Meyersdale and took North Star to overtime. Southern might be a better team, but Shanksville’s grit and poise shouldn’t be underestimated.

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