Kehler On Hoops: PIAA-5A Boys’ Tournament Preview
Written by: Andy Herr on March 5, 2025
David Kehler, All-State voter and contributor to LLHoops.com, checks in to give us his preview of the upcoming 5A bracket which begins this weekend and will end with 5A’s state championship game, slated for an 8pm tip at the Giant Center in Hershey on Friday, March 28th. Enjoy
PIAA State Championship Tournament Preview
This is the fifth in a series of previews of this season’s PIAA state championship tournament. The previous articles in this series are in the “Kehler on Hoops” section of this website and preview Classes 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A. The final installment of the series, covering Class 6A, will be posted tonight here on LLhoops.com.
Class 5A
Three Lancaster-Lebanon League teams are participating in the Class 5A state championship tournament this season: Octorara, Lampeter-Strasburg, and Cocalico. The first round of Class 5A games is on Friday evening, and all three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League teams will face very stiff opposition in the opening round on the road.
Octorara will play at District 1 champion Upper Dublin, one of the favorites to win the state title. Upper Dublin lost their first game of the season—to perennial power Lower Merion—but won all 24 of their games after that. Upper Dublin has the longest current winning streak in the state. The Suburban One League champion is very well coached, skilled, and deep, and they have diverse offensive threats. 6’ 3” senior Ryan Mulroy has scored over 1000 points in his career, and he is a clever player who passes exceptionally well, can shoot from distance, and is effective driving to the hoop. 6’ 5” senior Idris Rines is strong inside, but he also is an accurate shooter from beyond the arc. 6’ 5” sophomore Justin Ragsdale is a terrific transition player, and 5’ 9” junior Drew Altman is a long-range bomber who comes off of the bench. Upper Dublin typically varies their defense during the game shifting between zone schemes and man-to-man. Upper Dublin has the coaching, cohesion, blend of skills, height and strength, and talented players required to win a state championship. Octorara, which has demonstrated the determination and quickness to play from behind, will need to be at their best on Friday to advance in the tournament.
Lampeter-Strasburg will play Holy Ghost Prep at Bensalem’s large, beautiful gym on Friday night. It is Ghost’s home game, the gym at their school, which is located in Bensalem, is too small to host this playoff game. Holy Ghost Prep is a rarity in Pennsylvania high school basketball: they are not a member of a league. As a consequence, they schedule a diverse array of teams and their season focuses on the District 1 and state tournament playoffs. Another consequence of not belonging to a league is that Ghost does not get the press attention that they should. They are a team that wants to play at a very fast tempo and run at every opportunity, and they have numerous very good outside shooters. Because of their long-range firepower and deep bench, their offense is hard to contain. Adrien Varella, a 6’ 3” senior, was an All-State selection last season and remains the least publicized terrific player in the Philadelphia area. 6’ 8” senior Tommy Nahill may also be a key player vs. Lampeter-Strasburg. Both Octorara and Lampeter-Strasburg are in the tournament’s eastern bracket.
Cocalico will play at Chartiers Valley, the District 7 champs. Chartiers Valley is 23-3 this season and a top contender to win the Class 5A state championship. Two of their losses are to Montour, also one of the best Class 5A teams in the state, but Chartiers Valley defeated Montour in the semifinals of the District 7 playoffs. Chartiers Valley is averaging 70 points per game this season while surrendering an average of 52 points per game. Chartiers Valley has two wins over Moon, two wins vs. Mars, and two victories over Peters Township. All three of those teams are in the Class 5A state championship tournament. Cocalico has been on a magical run to keep their season alive, culminating in what is now their first state tournament appearance since 1983. Will the magic continue on Friday?
Getting back to the tournament’s eastern bracket, two Philadelphia Catholic League teams are major championship contenders: Neumann-Goretti and Bonner-Prendergast. The PIAA reclassified Neumann to 5A during the offseason. For a couple of decades, Neumann has been one of the top high school basketball programs in this part of the country, known particularly for outstanding guard play. Neumann is 14-11 this season, but they play in what is by far the top high school basketball league in Pennsylvania. They were 8-6 in Philadelphia Catholic League play. In an early season non-conference game, they had a narrow loss to defending Class 6A state champion Central York. Neumann has a favorable draw in this season’s tournament. They should win their first-round game vs. Marple Newtown. If they do, they will play the winner of the Lampeter-Strasburg vs. Holy Ghost Prep game in the second round.
Bonner-Prendergast was 16-7 this season, but they had some big Philadelphia Catholic League wins, defeating Father Judge, LaSalle College, and Archbishop Wood. They play Bangor in the first round. If they win that one, Bonner would face the winner of the Octorara-Upper Dublin game in the second round.
Two other teams of note in the eastern bracket are Penncrest and Pottsgrove, both from District 1. Penncrest began the season with a 13-game winning streak. They have a win over District 1 Class 6A champion Conestoga and were 1-1 vs. Lower Merion this campaign. They also have wins over two teams in the Class 5A state tournament field: Exeter Township and Marple Newtown. Penncrest defeated Marple Newtown four times this season. Holy Ghost Prep topped Penncrest by four points in the District 1 tournament.
Pottsgrove is 22-3 this season. They had an 11-game win streak during the campaign. Because this team did not play a particularly strong schedule it is difficult to evaluate their chances.
Pottsville Area is also in the eastern bracket. The District 11 champion is on a seven-game winning streak. Pottsville was 2-1 this campaign vs. top Coal Region rivals Mahanoy Area and Minersville Area. They also defeated a good Shamokin team. Penncrest plays at Pottsville on Friday, and this looks to be the best Class 5A first round game.
There are several outstanding squads in the western bracket in addition to Chartiers Valley. District 3 champion Hershey is 21-3 and looked terrific in the district title game vs. Exeter Township. Hershey has won nine of their last 10 games. They are 1-1 vs. a fine Mechanicsburg squad. Hershey also has wins over a couple of teams in the Class 5A tournament field: Lampeter-Strasburg and West York Area.
West York Area is in the western bracket, and they host Mars on Friday. West York is 20-6 this season, but one of those losses was by two points at defending Class 6A state champion Central York. West York has defeated Lampeter-Strasburg and is 2-1 vs. York Suburban, two teams in the Class 5A tourney field.
Montour, Uniontown, and Greater Johnstown are also in the western bracket, and all are outstanding clubs.
Montour has a tremendous player, 6’ 11” Ama Sow, an outstanding dunker who averages in the range of 20 points and 18 rebounds per game. Montour was unbeaten this season in WPIAL Class 5A Section 4 play and averages 67 points per game. They had a 59-50 win at Class 6A power Upper St. Clair. Montour is 24-2 with a loss to a team from Florida and a 47-44 loss to Chartiers Valley in the District 7 semifinals. The playoff loss to Chartiers Valley broke a 17-game winning streak, and Montour had beaten Chartiers Valley twice earlier in the season. Montour also has wins over three other teams in the Class 5A tournament field: Mars (three times), Moon (twice), and Greater Latrobe.
Uniontown, a school with a great basketball tradition, is 22-4. They were unbeaten in WPIAL Class 5A Section 1 play. They scored an average of 73 points per game this season, while surrendering an average of 57 points per game. They have three wins over Greater Latrobe, two wins over Penn-Trafford, and a win over Abington Heights this season, all teams that are in the Class 5A tournament field. Uniontown could face Hershey in the second round, and that would be a terrific game.
District 6 champion Greater Johnstown is 24-1, the lone loss by three points to Bishop Guilfoyle on Valentine’s Day. Greater Johnstown is paced by superb 6’ 3” senior Donte Tisinger, the school’s all-time leading scorer and an All-State selection last season.
Top teams: Upper Dublin, Penncrest, Neumann-Goretti, Hershey, Uniontown, Chartiers Valley, Montour, Greater Johnstown.
Dark Horse: Bonner-Prendergast
Projected final four: Upper Dublin, Neumann-Goretti, Hershey, and Montour.
Projected championship game: Upper Dublin over Montour
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