Kehler On Hoops: PIAA-4A Boys’ Tournament Preview
Written by: Andy Herr on March 4, 2025
(Cover photo credit to Mark Palczewski)
David Kehler, All-State voter and contributor to LLHoops.com, checks in to give us his preview of the upcoming 4A bracket which begins this weekend and will end with 4A’s state championship game, slated for an 8pm tip at the Giant Center in Hershey on Thursday, March 27th. Enjoy
PIAA State Championship Tournament Preview
This is the fourth in a series of six articles on LLhoops.com previewing this season’s PIAA state championship tournament. The first three articles previewed Class 1A, Class 2A, and Class 3A and can be found in the Kehler on Hoops section of the website. For an overview of the entire tournament, please see the first article in this series. Projections of this sort are meant to be fun for the reader. The intent is to highlight some of the top teams in the tournament.
CLASS 4A
Devon Prep is the clear favorite to win this season’s Class 4A state championship. A member of the Philadelphia Catholic League, the state’s top loop, Devon Prep won the Class 3A state championship last season. Subsequently, they were reclassified to 4A. With excellent coaching and five senior starters, Devon Prep is the District 12 champion. In league play, they advanced to the semifinals of the Catholic League playoffs. They have wins this season over Catholic League powers Father Judge, Neumann-Goretti, Archbishop Wood, and LaSalle College. They also have wins over three teams that are in the PIAA Class 4A tournament: Archbishop Carroll, Bishop Shanahan, and Murell Dobbins Tech. Devon Prep is in the eastern bracket.
Archbishop Carroll is in the tournament, and they are an enigma. They have abundant talent, but they have a losing record in 2024-25 and did not qualify for the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs. Yet, they had some big wins, including victories over Catholic League champion Father Judge, outstanding New Jersey squad Gill St. Bernard’s, and Los Angeles power Westchester. Carroll’s first round opponent is District 1 champion Bishop Shanahan, winner of seven of their last eight games.
Also in the eastern bracket is Allentown Central Catholic, which has the potential to win the state championship. ACC is 22-4 and has won 17 of their last 19 games. One of the losses in that long stretch was by two points to District 11 Class 6A champion Parkland. ACC had defeated Parkland earlier in the season. ACC has wins over a couple of teams in the Class 4A state championship field: Saucon Valley and Northwestern Lehigh.
Three Coal Region rivals are in the eastern bracket: Mount Carmel Area, Danville Area, and Shamokin Area. These are good teams. Mount Carmel has a win over Shamokin and is 1-2 vs Danville this season. Shamokin defeated Danville twice by large margins in the regular season but lost to that rival by a point in the District 4 title game. Shamokin was unbeaten in conference play and had an outstanding non-conference schedule with wins over Abington Heights, Williamsport Area, Crestwood, and Wilkes-Barre Area.
Eastern York plays Mount Carmel Area in the first round, and it ought to be an interesting game. Eastern York was soundly defeated in the District 3 championship game by Berks Catholic, but they had won 12 of their prior 13 games. Eastern York vs. Mount Carmel could be the top Class 4A first round matchup.
Another nice first round game in the eastern bracket pits District 2 champion Valley View against Big Spring. After a rough patch in the beginning of the season, Big Spring won 10 in a row until falling to Eastern York in the District 3 tournament. Big Spring has an outstanding player in Aidan Sallie, a 6’ 4” senior.
There are some title contenders in the western bracket, as well. Very well coached District 3 champion Berks Catholic has been good all season. They have a December win over Cumberland Valley, were 2-0 vs. Muhlenburg, 2-0 vs. Wilson West Lawn, and 2-1 vs. Reading. They also have wins over three teams in the Class 4A state championship field: Cathedral Prep, Bishop McDevitt, and Eastern York.
24-3 Northwestern Lehigh is in the western bracket and is matched with Scranton Prep in the first round. Northwestern Lehigh was defeated by Allentown Central Catholic by 11 points in the District 11 championship game. This could be a very good game to watch.
Central Martinsburg is also in the western bracket. They are the District 6 champion and have eight consecutive wins. They have an impressive loss on their resume, having lost by just six points at 24-1 Class 5A Greater Johnstown on January 17.
The two teams that played for the District 7 championship are in the western bracket. Belle Vernon Area won that game over North Catholic 54-49 at the University of Pittsburgh. Belle Vernon has won their last 15 games. On the season, they have outscored their opponents by an average score of 68 to 54. In addition to the win over North Catholic, Belle Vernon has defeated two other teams in the Class 4A tournament field, Avonworth and Knoch. North Catholic has won 17 of their last 19 games. They have scored an average of 68 points per game while surrendering an average of 53 points per game. Of these two teams, North Catholic has the more favorable draw. The view from here is an expectation that Belle Vernon will face the strong Berks Catholic squad in the quarterfinals.
Top Teams: Devon Prep, Eastern York, Archbishop Carroll, Allentown Central Catholic, Big Spring, Berks Catholic, Belle Vernon Area, and North Catholic.
Dark horse: Shamokin Area.
Projected final four: Devon Prep, Allentown Central Catholic, Berks Catholic, and North Catholic.
Projected championship game: Devon Prep over Berks Catholic.
On X (formerly Twitter): @david_kehler
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