The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament opens Tuesday, including 10 games involving District 2 teams.
The first day of PIAA action includes games in Class 5A, 4A and A boys as well as Class 6A, 3A and 2A girls. All but Class A boys include at least one District 2 team.
The PIAA is using home courts in most cases for first-round games this season. The Mid Valley boys, however, are playing their game at Lackawanna College.
NEPABasketball.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.
His predictions for the Tuesday games is below.
PIAA PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
By Tom Robinson
(Home team in CAPS)
CLASS 5A FIRST-ROUND BOYS GAMES
PITTSTON AREA by 11 over Lower Dauphin
EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH by 9 over North Pocono
CLASS 4A FIRST-ROUND BOYS GAMES
DALLAS by 21 over Shamokin
Mid Valley by 8 over Athens
MIDDLETOWN by 5 over Scranton Prep
CLASS 6A FIRST-ROUND GIRLS GAME
Methacton by 13 over WILKES-BARRE AREA
CLASS 3A FIRST-ROUND GIRLS GAMES
RIVERSIDE by 10 over Towanda
LOYALSOCK TWP. by 7 over Western Wayne
CLASS 2A FIRST-ROUND GIRLS GAMES
Mount Carmel by 3 over HOLY CROSS
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA by 25 over Elk Lake
WHAT TO EXPECT
The tournament returns to its usual format of 32 teams per class, but also continues last year’s policy of allowing higher-seeded teams – often district champions – to host first-round games. District champions, playing on their home courts, should dominate much of the first round before the closer games start in the next round. After a tough opening round in last year’s champions-only format, expect District 2 to return to its previous position of routinely having a winning cumulative record in the first round. It may, however, take Wednesday’s games to put District 2 teams over the top. For the second straight year, one of the closest and most impactful first-round games in terms of title pursuits figures to be Mount Carmel against Holy Cross in Class 2A girls. Last year, they battled to the final second with Holy Cross giving eventual champion Mount Carmel its toughest game of the state tournament.
RECAP
The only incorrect pick of the final round – championships and third-place games – came when Pittston Area pounded North Pocono in Class 5A boys.
Third-place boys pick: 1-0 (100.0 percent)
Third-place girls pick: 1-0 (100.0 percent)
Third-place total picks: 2-0 (100.0 percent)
Championship boys picks: 4-1 (80.0 percent)
Championship girls picks: 6-0 (100.0 percent)
Championship total picks: 10-1 (90.9 percent)
District/subregional boys picks: 27-4 (87.1 percent)
District/subregional girls picks: 30-2 (93.8 percent)
District/subregional total picks: 57-6 (90.5 percent)
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE: First-round PIAA games for teams from District 2. https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/Playoffs/PIAAFirstRoundSked.
