Conestoga boys, Boyertown girls are top seeds in district tourneys

Conestoga, Methacton, Pennridge, and Plymouth Whitemarsh are the top seeds in the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA boys' basketball tournament.

Conestoga, which is 20-2 and faces Ridley for the Central League title at 8 p.m. Monday at Harriton, is seeded No. 1 in the 32-team field for the second straight year. Last season, the Pioneers advanced to the district semifinals before losing to Pennsbury.

On the girls' side, Boyertown, which takes on Perkiomen Valley for top Pioneer Athletic Conference honors at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Phoenixville, is the top seed in the 32-team Class AAAA playoffs.

The 23-0 Bears, led by sophomore Abby Kapp, are followed by Central Bucks West, Mount St. Joseph, and Garnet Valley. North Penn, the No. 8 seed, is the defending champion.

The boys' Class AAAA tournament (No. 11 seed Chester is the defending titlist) is scheduled to begin Friday, with the girls' Class AAAA action set to start Saturday.

When a school has both a boys' and a girls' team hosting a first-round game, it may elect to combine the two into a doubleheader, either Friday or Saturday.

In the eight-team boys' Class AAA tournament, slated to start Feb. 21, Octorara, Lower Moreland, Glen Mills, and Pottsgrove are the top seeds. Pottsgrove will open against No. 5 Holy Ghost Prep, the defending champ.

In the girls' Class AAA tournament, which begins Feb. 21 and includes 11 teams, Gwynedd-Mercy, Pope John Paul II, Merion Mercy, and Sun Valley are the top seeds. As of Sunday, Upper Moreland, with one win, planned to participate.

The tournament pairings for all classes are not official until noon Monday.

Tournament pairings

Here are the pairings for the PIAA District 1 boys' and girls' basketball playoffs (seeding is in parentheses):

Class AAAA (10 teams advance to the state tournament):

Wissahickon (32) at Conestoga (1); Academy Park (17) at Oxford (16); Great Valley (25) at Central Bucks West (8); West Chester Rustin (24) at Ridley (9); Cheltenham (29) at Plymouth Whitemarsh (4); Springfield-Delco (20) at West Chester Henderson (13); Penncrest (28) at Penn Wood (5); Council Rock North (21) at Lower Merion (12); Marple Newtown (31) at Methacton (2); Souderton (18) at Phoenixville (15); Central Bucks South (26) at Pennsbury (7); Upper Dublin (23) at Downingtown West (10); Spring-Ford (20) at Pennridge (3); Boyertown (19) at Coatesville (14); North Penn (27) at Abington (6); Hatboro-Horsham (22) at Chester (11).

Class AAA (two teams advance to the state tournament):

Upper Moreland (8) at Octorara (1); Holy Ghost Prep (5) at Pottsgrove (4); Pope John Paul II (7) at Lower Moreland (2); Bishop Shanahan (6) at Glen Mills (3).

Class AA (one team advances to the state tournament):

Semifinals

Bristol (4) vs. Calvary Christian (1) at Cheltenham; Devon Prep (3) vs. Church Farm (2) at Cheltenham.

Class A (two teams advance to the state tournament): Friends Select (8) at Phil-Mont Christian (1); Jenkintown (5) at Calvary Baptist (4); Christopher Dock (7) at Plumstead Christian (2); Faith Christian (6) at Delco Christian (3).

Class AAAA (10 teams advance to the state tournament):

Central Bucks East (32) at Boyertown (1); Marple Newtown (17) at Spring-Ford (16); Downingtown West (25) at North Penn (8); William Tennent (24) at Bishop Shanahan (9); Upper Merion (29) at Garnet Valley (4); Penn Wood (20) at Cheltenham (13); Conestoga (28) at Abington (5); Coatesville (21) at Central Bucks South (12); Owen J. Roberts (31) at Central Bucks West (2); Unionville (18) at Council Rock North (15); Pennridge (26) at Upper Dublin (7); Neshaminy (23) at Perkiomen Valley (10); Methacton (30) at Mount St. Joseph (3); Radnor (19) at Strath Haven (14); Council Rock South (27) at West Chester Rustin (6); Haverford High (22) at Downingtown East (11).

Class AAA (three teams advance to the state tournament):

First Round

Upper Moreland (11) vs. Villa Maria (6); Chichester (10) vs. Springfield-Montco (7); Villa Joseph Marie (9) vs. Nazareth (8).

Quarterfinals

Upper Moreland-Villa Maria winner at Gwynedd-Mercy (1); Sun Valley (5) at Merion Mercy (4); Chichester-Springfield winner at Pope John Paul II (2); Villa Joseph Marie-Nazareth winner vs. Lower Moreland (3).

Class AA (one team advances to the state tournament):

Semifinal

Calvary Christian (3) vs New Hope-Solebury (2) at Upper Dublin.

Final

Calvary-New Hope winner vs. St. Basil (1) at Upper Dublin.

Class A (two teams advance to the state tournament):

Plumstead Christian (8) at Phil-Mont Christian (1); Delco Christian (5) at Christopher Dock (4); Sacred Heart (7) at Faith Christian (2); Morrisville (6) at Jenkintown (3).