Kevin McCormick has gotten to know the dance well by now.
For a third straight year, McCormick’s Springfield boys basketball team finished with an 11-11 record. For the third straight year, it meant sweating out the match to see if they would get into the District 1 Class 6A tournament.
In 2022, a three-game losing streak to end the season landed them 28th, outside of the 24-team field. Last year, they were 27th, enduring the oddity that was qualifying for the Central League tournament but not districts, which allowed them another game while their playoff fate hung in the balance.
This year, finally, McCormick and company are on the correct side of the line.
Springfield earned the 24th and final seed in the District 1 tournament, which will open Friday night at No. 9 Abington. The winner gets No. 8 Bensalem, which received a bye to Tuesday’s second round.
“The kids are ecstatic,” McCormick said. “We’ve had some really good practices the last couple of days. They’re super excited. It certainly was an objective that they set out to achieve this year.”
McCormick credits his captains – Ryan Johnston, Colin Treude, Jake Adams and Denim Norman – with leading the way. Last year’s disappointment was acutely felt, and the resolve within the program was to rectify that. A three-game winning streak in mid-January that included a win at Garnet Valley got them over the top. It allowed the Cougars to withstand losses in three of their last five, including an unsightly home loss to six-win Haverford.
“It was repetitive, being in the same bubble as the last few years,” McCormick said. “We’ve been on this bubble the last three years. That’s what happens when you have a .500 record.”
It originally looked like Penn Wood would have a chance to jump over them. The Patriots (12-9) won their last two, but over five-win Interboro and four-win Academy Park, which limited the return of bonus points for strength of schedule. Even another win over Academy Park to finish the season wouldn’t have yielded enough points in the rankings to jump Springfield. But that game, scheduled for Thursday, was not played due to a heightened security situation in Lansdowne last week. Penn Wood finished 25th.
If there’s anyone less willing to discuss last year than Springfield, it’s Chester. The Clippers went 12-10, finishing 25th in the district standings to miss the tournament. For a team that had only missed states twice in the prior 30 years, the disappointment of missing districts needed no illustration.
Chester has rectified that this year with an 18-2 mark and earned the fourth seed in Class 6A, clinching its sixth unbeaten Del Val title in the last seven years. Chester earned a bye and will await the winner of Plymouth Whitemarsh and Council Rock South in the second round of the tournament on Tuesday. The Clippers’ only losses this year have come to Math, Civics and Sciences and Coatesville. The Red Raiders are the fifth seed and await Chester in a quarterfinal if the seeds hold.
It’s a tough run for Chester, with Plymouth Whitemarsh as the defending (albeit much changed) district champs.
The third Delco team in the 6A field is Garnet Valley. The Jaguars (15-8) drew the 14th seed and a visit from Central foe Harriton (14-9), the 19th seed. The Jags beat Harriton, 51-49, on Jan. 9 in Lower Merion. Garnet Valley is coming off a loss to Marple Newtown in double overtime in the Central League semifinals.
“I believe that helps us beyond how much we even know,” guard Brady Krautzel said. “I believe we’re going to run into games – we just did the other night against Conestoga, and we ended up toughing that one out. … It just sucks to come out on this end of it, but I know it’s going to help us out later this year, and I’m going to tell you right now, we’re going to make a run in districts and states.”
The winner would travel to No. 3 Spring-Ford Tuesday, a team with which Garnet Valley has copious recent history. Garnet Valley made states last year as the eighth seed in districts. It was routed by eventual District 1 runner-up Spring-Ford, 56-38, in the quarters.
Twelve teams make states in Class 6A, which means first-round winners will get a chance to play back for states.
Four Delco squads are in the Class 5A field. Radnor gets a bye to Wednesday’s second round, where it awaits a Delco team. No. 11 Marple Newtown (13-11) will take on No. 6 Sun Valley (15-9) in Friday’s opener.
Both teams won games in their respective league playoffs. They both enter harboring states dreams, which go to six teams in District 1, making Friday the primary eliminator.
The teams met in this game last year, Sun Valley as the eighth seed and Marple the ninth. Marple claimed a 53-50 win away from home before losing to Radnor in the quarters and being eliminated in playbacks. Radnor beat Sun Valley, as a No. 8 seed, in the district quarterfinals in 2021 on the way to states.
Radnor (19-3) lost almost everyone from last year’s district championship team but has still authored what before 2019 would’ve been the most successful season in a half-century. Reserves last year have stepped into larger roles.
“I think the mindset of winning stayed with us,” forward Elijah Sellers said. “We have high expectations.”
Penncrest is back in districts after a one-year hiatus. The 10th-seeded Lions (13-9) travel to No. 7 Rustin. The winner of that game gets a trip to No. 2 Upper Dublin and at least a chance to play back into states. The Lions dropped their last three games and five of their last six to miss a home playoff game.
Both Delco Christian and Chester Charter Scholars Academy will have to win road games to get back to states. The third-seeded Knights travel to No. 2 Faith Christian next Tuesday. DC beat Faith, 71-57, at home on Jan. 10. Delco Christian was the District 1 runner-up last year and lost in the first round of states to Constitution.
Chester Charter (12-10) is the reigning District 1 champ and reached the state quarterfinals a season ago. It ventures to second seed Jenkintown on Tuesday. CCSA beat Jenkintown on Jan. 6, 62-57.
