Times Herald, Reporter and Montgomery Friday night boys basketball preview
The District 1 Class-6A playoffs get started Friday night.
The top eight seeds — which include area teams Perkiomen Valley, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Abington, North Penn and Cheltenham — get a first-round bye in the 24-team tournament. That leaves eight win or go home matchups for Friday night with five of the games featuring area teams.
District 1 sends 10 teams to the PIAA Class-6A state playoffs. Teams that win Friday and win in the second-round Tuesday clinch a spot in the state playoffs. Teams that win Friday and lose Tuesday enter an eight-team playback bracket to play for two state berths. Teams that lose Friday are eliminated.
Methacton vs. Garnet Valley
No. 17 Methacton travels to No. 16 Garnet Valley Friday night at 7 p.m. The winner will face No. 1 Perkiomen Valley Tuesday.
The Warriors went 12-10 this season and finished fifth in the Pioneer Athletic Conference. They lost in the league’s playoff play-in game against Norristown in overtime.
David Duda and Jeff Woodward are both offensive threats for Methacton capable of putting up 20-point games.
Spring-Ford vs. Avon Grove
No. 9 Spring-Ford hosts No. 24 Avon Grove Friday night at 7 p.m. The winner will face No. 8 Cheltenham Tuesday.
The Rams went 16-6 this season and came up just short of winning back-to-back PAC titles. They led by seven with five minutes left in the championship game against Perk Valley before losing, 52-45, Tuesday night.
In that loss, Spring-Ford got all of its scoring from four players — Noah Baker, Nestor Diaz, Charles Drummond and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Drummond also had a big game in the PAC semifinals win against Upper Merion. The sixth man hit five threes in that game en route to a 24-point performance.
Pennridge vs. Downingtown West
No. 20 Pennridge travels to No. 13 Downingtown West Friday night at 7 p.m. The winner will face No. 4 Coatesville Tuesday.
The Rams went 11-11 this season and finished fifth in the Suburban One League Continental Conference. This season came after winning three straight Continental league titles and the graduation of three all-league players from a year ago.
The young Pennridge squad won two of its final three games to earn a playoff berth and go in with a little momentum.
Hatboro-Horsham vs. CB West
No. 21 Hatboro-Horsham travels to No. 12 Central Bucks West Friday night at 7 p.m. The winner faces No. 5 North Penn Tuesday.
The two schools were SOL Continental rivals before Hatboro moved to the SOL American Conference this season.
The Hatters finished 12-10 and placed fourth in the American Conference.
The Bucks went 15-7 and finished second in the Continental.
Although they are the lower seed, Hatboro always has a chance to win with senior forward Clifton Moore. The Indiana commit has the ability to dominate inside the paint and hit shots from beyond the arc. His teammate Jay Davis can also do plenty of damage under the basket.
Norristown vs. Downingtown East
No. 19 Norristown travels to No. 14 Downingtown East Friday night at 7 p.m. The winner faces No. 3 Abington Tuesday.
Norristown went 12-10 in its first season in the PAC and reached the semifinals of the league playoffs.
The Eagles have players at each level that can help them advance to the second round. Point guard Xavier Edwards, swing Mickeel Allen and center Marquise Greenwood can each take advantage of mismatches to make the opposition pay.
Philadelphia Catholic League
The Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs started Wednesday and the winners advanced to Friday night’s quarterfinals.
Archbishop Wood vs. Bonner Prendergast
Top-seeded Archbishop Wood faces No. 8 seed Bonner Prendergast Friday night at 7 p.m. at Bensalem High School.
Wood had a first-round bye in the league playoffs and Bonner defeated Conwell-Egan, 65-51, Wednesday night.
The Vikings are led by senior Collin Gillespie. The Catholic League MVP and Villanova commit led the league in scoring this season with more than 24 points per game. Tyree Pickron and Matt Cerruti also played major roles in Wood finishing the regular season with a 19-3 overall record and 12-1 mark in PCL play.
Bonner (16-7, 7-6) has three players scoring in double figures — Ajiri Johnson, Tymir Cooper and Christian Lane.
When the teams played earlier this year, Wood won, 62-44, at Bonner.
Archbishop Carroll vs. Neumann-Goretti
No. 7 seeded Archbishop Carroll (16-7, 7-6) travels to Neumann-Goretti (16-6, 12-1) Friday night for a 7 p.m. matchup with the No. 2 seeded Saints.
The Patriots cruised to a 59-37 win over La Salle in the first round of the playoffs and Goretti is coming off a bye.
When the two teams played earlier this season it was the first game of the Catholic League schedule on Jan. 3. Goretti won that matchup, at home, 83-71.
Carroll will hope to rely on its balanced scoring attack to pull off the upset and punch its ticket to the semifinals. AJ Hoggard, Khari Williams and Justin Anderson each scored in double figures in their opening-round win over La Salle and Colin Daly made three three-pointers.
The Saints feature arguably the toughest offense to defend in the area. Quade Green, a senior guard and Kentucky commit, is the second leading scorer in the PCL with more than 22 points per game. Inside, senior forward and Villanova commit Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree averages more than 15.
