Kehler On Hoops: PIAA-2A Boys’ Tournament Preview
Written by: Andy Herr on March 3, 2025
David Kehler, All-State voter and contributor to LLHoops.com, checks in to give us his preview of the upcoming 2A bracket which begins this weekend and will end with 2A’s state championship game, slated for a 2pm tip at the Giant Center in Hershey on Friday, March 28th. Enjoy
PIAA State Championship Tournament Preview
Article by David Kehler
The PIAA state championship tournament begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday, March 29. 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 boys in the high school. Class 1A contains the smallest schools, and Class 6A the largest. Between Friday and March 29, a total of 186 tournament games will be played. The PIAA.org website updates the schedule and results of the tournament. Unlike the NCAA’s March Madness, seeding is not based on any sort of team performance or power ranking. As such, key games can—and will—occur in the early rounds of the PIAA tournament. Here are some predictions:
CLASS 2A
There is no clear favorite to win the Class 2A state championship. Linville Hill Christian plays in Tamaqua at Marian Catholic in the first round on Saturday. In spite of their 48-46 loss to York Catholic last week at the Giant Center in the District 3 championship game, Linville Hill has a real chance of winning the state championship. Disciplined and unselfish, Linville Hill has the sort of cohesiveness needed to win a championship. The loss to York Catholic broke Linville Hill’s nine game winning streak. Linville Hill had defeated York Catholic 60-50 on December 5. Their other major wins were at home over Berks Catholic 63-61 on February 5 and 50-48 against Lancaster Mennonite at the Avon Grove Holiday Tournament final on December 28.
District 3 champion York Catholic also has a good chance to win the state tournament. Their defense in the District 3 championship game was the deciding factor, and they came back after being down early. Both York Catholic and Linville Hill are in the eastern bracket.
The top Class 2A first round game in the eastern bracket is Dock Mennonite playing perennial power Constitution at Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia, which is Constitution’s home floor. As always, Constitution is athletic and comfortable with quick tempos and transition situations. Dock Mennonite has had a solid season but fell just short in the Bicentennial Athletic League playoffs and in the District 1 tournament. Still, it’s conceivable that they could upset Constitution.
Also in the eastern bracket is District 2 champion Old Forge, winners of six of their last seven games. They should defeat Sayre in the first round then face Delaware County Christian, 22-2, the champions of both the Bicentennial Athletic League and of District 1. Delco Christian has won their last 11 games. Their only losses this season were to Class 6A Whitehall and to Class 5A Marple Newtown.
Another top team is the eastern bracket is District 4 champion Northwest Area, 23-3, who have won 15 straight games. They lost to Class 5A Pittston in their opening game and also were defeated by Old Forge, but they have momentum coming into the state championship tournament.
There is a super first round matchup in the western bracket: 23-2 Greensburg Central Catholic at 23-1 McConnelsburg. McConnelsburg has two wins vs. Shalom Christian Academy, and their only loss this season is to 27-2 Maryland School for the Deaf. Greensburg Central Catholic has two convincing wins over Jeannette but were upset by Union Area in a two-point loss in the District 7 tournament.
Jeannette is on a six-game winning streak and defeated Union for the District 7 title. The other stop contenders in the Western black are Lakeview and Rocky Grove. Lakeview defeated Rocky Grove 71-46 in the District 10 championship game, but Rocky Grove had beaten Lakeview by two points on December 10. Lakeview is on a 17-game winning streak.
Top teams: Linville Hill, York Catholic, Constitution, Northwest Area, Old Forge, Delco Christian, Jeannette, McConnelsburg, Greensburg Central Catholic, Rocky Grove, and Lakeview.
Dark horse: Dock Mennonite
Projected final four: Linville Hill, York Catholic, Jeannette, and Lakeview.
Projected championship game: Linville Hill over Jeannette.
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