The semifinals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state basketball tournament are scheduled to be played Monday and Tuesday.
NEPASportsNation.com editor Tom Robinson, who covers and writes about District 2 basketball for the website, is once again predicting the outcomes of games throughout the state tournament after also picking all the games in the District 2 tournament.
Robinson’s predictions for games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday are below.
PIAA PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
By Tom Robinson
CLASS 2A SEMIFINAL BOYS GAME
Holy Cross by 5 over Lancaster Mennonite
CLASS 4A SEMIFINAL GIRLS GAME
Lansdale Catholic by 9 over Scranton Prep
CLASS 3A SEMIFINAL GIRLS GAME
Lancaster Catholic by 4 over Dunmore
CLASS 2A SEMFINAL GIRLS GAME
Homer Center by 2 over Montrose
CLASS A SEMIFINAL GIRLS GAME
Mountain View by 1 over Shamokin Lourdes Regional
WHAT TO EXPECT
District 2 teams have posted a combined winning record in each round of this year’s state tournament, going 13-8 (.619 winning percentage) in the first round, 7-6 (.538) in the second round, then 4-1 (.800) when not going against each other in the quarterfinals.
Continuing that winning record for one more round will not be easy. Monday and Tuesday’s winners advance to the state finals, something only 6 District 2 teams have managed in the last 15 years. The district has not sent two teams to Hershey in the same year since 2000 when the Bishop Hannan boys and Bishop Hoban girls made it.
The Holy Cross boys have already beaten the No. 1 team in the state in their class, according to TribHSSN.TribLive.com. The Abington Heights boys lost when facing the same challenge.
Now District 2’s best girls teams – Scranton Prep and Dunmore – each face the No. 1 teams in their class. Scranton Prep’s challenge could be the greatest. Lansdale Catholic may be one of the best teams in the state of any size. It holds two wins over current Class 5A semifinalist Archbishop Wood, the team that eliminated the Classics on the way to the state Class 4A titles each of the past two seasons.
RECAP
The only incorrect pick in the quarterfinals was in Class A girls where Mountain View, predicted here to lose, won in overtime.
PIAA quarterfinal boys picks: 2-0 (83.3 percent)
PIAA quarterfinal girls picks: 3-1 (75.0 percent)
Total PIAA quarterfinal picks: 5-1 (83.3 percent)
Total PIAA boys picks: 16-2 (88.9 percent)
Total PIAA girls picks: 18-4 (77.8 percent)
Total PIAA picks: 34-6 (85.0 percent)
Total postseason boys picks: 45-8 (84.9 percent)
Total postseason girls picks: 45-9 (83.3 percent)
Total postseason picks: 90-17 (84.2 percent)
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE: Semifinal PIAA games for teams from District 2: Monday semifinal sites announced – NEPA Sports Nation and PIAA sets Tuesday sites, times – NEPA Sports Nation.
