Kehler on Hoops

Article by David Kehler A third quarter surge by homestanding Upper St. Clair on Saturday afternoon carried them to a 66-52 win over Cedar Crest in a PIAA Class 6A state championship tournament 1st round game in Pittsburgh.  Cedar Crest battled the western Pennsylvania power on even terms in the first half, but the District […]

Article by David Kehler Cocalico built a huge lead then repelled a furious Hampton rally for an exciting 61-58 1st round victory in the PIAA Class 5A state championship tournament.  The game was played in Hampton’s very loud gym a few miles north of Pittsburgh.   In the 2nd round, Cocalico will face District 7 champion […]

Article by David Kehler (Cover photo: Cedar Crest at L-L League Media Day, Delaware Valley after this year’s District 2 6A Championship Game) This is the sixth and final article in a series of PIAA tournament previews.  Brackets, schedules, and updates can be found at piaa.org. The PIAA state championship tournament begins on Friday and […]

Article by David Kehler This is the fifth in a series of tournament previews.  For schedules and updated results, see piaa.com.   The PIAA state championship tournament begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday, March 21.  Champions will be crowned in a single elimination format in six classifications largely based on enrollment.  The smallest schools […]

Article by David Kehler This is the fourth in a series of tournament previews.  The complete schedule for the tournament, with updates, is at piaa.org. The PIAA state championship tournament begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday, March 21.  Champions will be crowned in a single elimination format in six, largely enrollment based, classifications.  The […]

Article by David Kehler This is the third in a series of tournament previews.  The tourney brackets are posted and updated at piaa.org. The PIAA state championship tournament begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday, March 21.  Champions will be crowned in six classifications which are largely enrollment based.  Class 1A includes the smallest schools, […]

Article by David Kehler This is the second in a series of tournament previews on this website.  See piaa.org for the entire tournament schedule. The PIAA state championship tournament begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday, March 21. In a single elimination format, champions will be crowned in six classes, which are largely based on […]

Article by David Kehler This is the first in a series of tournament previews. The PIAA state championship tournament begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday, March 21.  Overall, 192 teams will contest for championships in a single elimination format.  Champions will be crowned in six classifications which are mostly based on the number of […]

List compiled by David Kehler To date, the following 156 teams have qualified for this season’s PIAA state championship tournament.  Each listed team’s PIAA District number is in parentheses.  The five Lancaster-Lebanon League teams that have qualified are listed in bold type.   A total of 192 teams will participate in the PIAA tournament.  As […]

Article by David Kehler   Cocalico led for the entire game and defeated visiting Solanco 67-51 in the first round of the PIAA District 3 Class 5A playoffs.  By virtue of the win, Cocalico has qualified for the PIAA Class 5A state championship tournament, to be played next month.   Some early first quarter Solanco […]

(Cover photo of Kate Levato)   Article by David Kehler   Lancaster Mennonite advanced to the Lancaster-Lebanon League championship game by defeating Hempfield 49-47 in overtime in a playoff semifinal at Conestoga Valley on Tuesday evening before a capacity, enthusiastic crowd.  In the championship game on Thursday at Manheim Township, Mennonite will face once-defeated Octorara, […]

Article by David Kehler Hempfield led wire-to-wire on Saturday afternoon to defeat visiting Lancaster Catholic 45-34, in a game that was more competitive than the final score suggests, in a Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff quarterfinal.  Hempfield will play Lancaster Mennonite in the semifinal round on Tuesday at Conestoga Valley. Both Hempfield and Lancaster Catholic were deliberate […]

(Article by David Kehler)   The view from here is that a team with championship aspirations should play a championship level non-conference schedule to prepare for difficult post-season matchups in the league, PIAA district, and PIAA state championship playoffs.  Non-conference games should be scheduled thoughtfully and strategically to face well-coached opponents, opponents with various styles […]

In recognition of his recent All-State accolades, LLHoops contributor, David Kehler, recently awarded Lampeter-Strasburg’s Chase Smucker with a plaque to mark the accomplishment. We thank David for his graciousness in presenting this physical memento.     Smucker, the all-time leader in L-S program history in terms of points scored, became the fifth Pioneer in program history […]

LLhoops.com contributor David Kehler is co-chairman of the Pennsylvania Boys Basketball All-State Selection Committee.  These are his end of the season rankings for 2024-25.   6A Father Judge (State Champion) Roman Catholic (State Runner-Up) Imhotep Charter St. Joseph’s Prep Coatesville Area Central York LaSalle College Parkland Archbishop Ryan Archbishop Wood   5A Neumann-Goretti (State Champion) […]