By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
District 2 has finalized the schedule for its eighth season of conducting basketball championship games at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Twp.
The district released the schedule, along with the complete playoff format, on its website Wednesday.
The district will conduct between 10 and 12 games at the arena March 2-4.
There will be eight District 2 championships, covering boys and girls in Classes 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A.
The District 2-4 Class 6A Subregionals in which Williamsport joins a field otherwise made up of District 2 teams will also conduct its championship at the arena.
The uncertainty of a possible 11th and/or 12th game is because of the District 2-11 Class A Subregionals where District 2’s three teams join a larger group from District 11 for a tournament.
District 2 has discontinued the practice of having a Class A championship game separate from the District 2-11 Subregional, which is going on in the same general timeframe.
The arena, however, could host a District 2-11 Subregional final for the first time ever if a District 2 team makes the final and is the higher seed.
As of the time of the announcement of the formats, the Forest City boys have a slight lead in the race for the top seed and the Mountain View girls have a significant lead at No. 1.
Districts 2 and 11 have not yet settled the details for the full schedule of the Class A tournaments.
The District 2 quarterfinals will be held Feb. 21 for Class 5A and 3A boys as well as Class 6A, 4A and 2A girls. The quarterfinals in Class 6A, 4A and 2A boys and Class 5A and 3A girls will be Feb. 22.
The semifinals are set for Feb. 24 and 25 in the same order.
District 2 has a third Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state qualifier in Class 5A and 3A girls, along with Class 4A boys. Those third-place games will be played Feb. 28.
All quarterfinal, semifinal and third-place games will be played at the home court of the higher seed.
Tournaments are limited to eight teams unless a team that is ninth or lower in the power ratings has a winning record, which does not appear likely to occur this season.
In classifications with eight or fewer teams, all teams make the playoffs.
The full schedule of championship games at the arena is listed below, with the top two seeds in each class given simply as a guideline for possible championship game matchups:
DISTRICT 2 BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
| Date | Time | Game | Current top two seeds |
| Thursday, 3/2 | 4 p.m. | Possible Class A girls District 2-11 Subregional | Mountain View (11-5), Pottsville Nativity (5-9) |
| Thursday, 3/2 | 4 p.m. | Possible Class A boys District 2-11 Subregional | Forest City (10-6), East Stroudsburg Notre Dame (11-8) |
| Thursday, 3/2 | 6 p.m. | Class 4A girls | Scranton Prep (15-2), Valley View (10-8) |
| Thursday, 3/2 | 8 p.m. | Class 3A boys | Holy Redeemer (17-2), Mid Valley (14-3) |
| Friday, 3/3 | 2 p.m. | Possible Class A girls District 2-11 Subregional | Forest City (10-6), East Stroudsburg Notre Dame (11-8) |
| Friday, 3/3 | 4 p.m. | Class 2A girls | Montrose (14-3), Lackawanna Trail (9-7) |
| Friday, 3/3 | 6 p.m. | Class 6A girls District 2-4 Subregional | Wilkes-Barre Area (16-3), Hazleton Area (14-5) |
| Friday, 3/3 | 8 p.m. | Class 5A boys | Abington Heights (17-1), Dallas (16-2)8 |
| Saturday, 3/4 | Noon | Class 3A girls | Lake-Lehman (15-4), Dunmore (14-3) |
| Saturday, 3/4 | 2 p.m. | Class 2A boys | Holy Cross (12-4), Blue Ridge (13-3) |
| Saturday, 3/4 | 4 p.m. | Class 4A boys | Valley View (15-2), Scranton Prep (11-7) |
| Saturday, 3/4 | 6 p.m. | Class 5A girls | Pittston Area (18-1), Wallenpaupack (12-6) |
| Saturday, 3/4 | 8 p.m. | Class 6A boys District 2-4 Subregional | Williamsport (11-4), Hazleton Area (10-8) |
