PIAA Class 6A State Championship Tournament Preview (Kehler On Hoops)
Written by: Andy Herr on March 5, 2026
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 concludes with the Class 6A title game on Saturday night, March 21. The format is single elimination, and champions will be crowned in six classifications that are largely enrollment based. Generally, the smallest schools are in Class 1A and the largest in Class 6A. Unlike the NCAA’s March Madness, seeding is not based on power rankings. As such, key games can—and will—occur in early rounds in the PIAA tournament. Just for fun, and to spark discussion, here are some predictions:
Cedar Crest is the lone Lancaster-Lebanon League entry in the Class 6A state championship tournament. The 8th seeded team from District 3, Cedar Crest’s opponent in the opening round of the tournament is the top team in western Pennsylvania, Upper St. Clair, of Pittsburgh, the District 7 champion. Cedar Crest will play at USC on Saturday at 1 pm. Despite returning only one starter from last season’s outstanding squad, USC is 24-1. Their only loss this season was by two points at league foe Central Catholic, and they have won 20 consecutive games, including a one-point victory in a rematch at home over Central Catholic. USC has played western Pennsylvania opponents exclusively except for a trip to Florida in mid-December, where they blew through Sunshine State foes on three consecutive days. Having seen four Upper St. Clair games this season, it is clear that they have a unique player who poses a difficult matchup for almost any team in the state. 6’ 7” junior Ryan Robbins is a tremendous force. Noted more for being an outstanding offensive lineman on the USC football team, on the court, Robbins is almost unstoppable when he gets the ball down low. He has quick feet and quick hands, pivots well, catches everything that is thrown to him, and is exceptionally accurate from the field. On defense, he clogs the middle and is a ball hawk. He’s strong on both boards. In the District 7 championship game, New Castle tried to beat Robbins down the court in transitions, but he finished with 16 points and 12 boards. Additionally, USC has some effective long-range shooters, and they rarely commit turnovers.
The western side of the 6A bracket is loaded. Two other teams from District 7 are very close to Upper St. Clair’s level of quality: New Castle and Central Catholic.
New Castle is quick, and they are tremendous ballhandlers. In Marino Graham, they have a terrific all-around player who is a notably outstanding outside shooter. Graham passes well and is a good defender, if foul prone. New Castle is 23-2. They lost at Pine-Richland by two points and lost to Upper St. Clair by a point in a game (in which Graham fouled out) that had six ties and 10 lead changes. They have played western Pennsylvania opposition exclusively this season.
Central Catholic, from Pittsburgh, is 22-3. They lost 39-34 at home to Class 5A Moon Area, by a point at Upper St. Clair, and by three points in the district semifinals at New Castle. They have played only western Pennsylvania opponents save for a 56-50 win versus Class 2A District 12 champion Constitution and a 48-26 defeat of Williamsport Area. Central Catholic’s team leader is 6’ 2” senior combo guard Enzo Khalil, who averages about 20 points per game, is clever with the ball, can shoot from a distance, and is a rugged defender.
Coatesville Area, the District 1 runner-up, is also in the western bracket. Coatesville lost to Plymouth-Whitemarsh in the district title game on Sunday, tiring in the second half after building a big early lead. In 6’ 5” sophomore Colton Hiller, probably the best pure shooter in the state and an exceptional offensive player, Coatesville has real firepower, and 6’ 7” Larry Brown provides a solid inside presence. Hiller has scored over 1000 points in his career, is widely regarded as one of the five best sophomores in the nation, and was a 3rd team All-State selection last season. They have played an excellent non-conference schedule with mixed results. Coatesville has not always played up to their potential this season, but, at their best, they could make a deep run in the tourney.
Central Dauphin, champion of the Mid Penn conference and of District 3, is in the western side of the bracket. They are 24-4 and have won 17 consecutive games. CD is an up-tempo, very athletic, high scoring team that can deploy disruptive pressure defense. They have wins over six teams in the Class 6A state championship tournament: Wilson, Wilkes-Barre Area, Chambersburg Area (twice), York William Penn, Central York (twice), and Cedar Cliff. The non-conference schedule included a couple of very strong teams, non-PIAA Haverford and Class 5A Bonner-Prendergast, both of which defeated CD on neutral floors (Bonner in overtime). The team has excellent balance, with 1000+ points career scorer Jelani Easter, high octane slasher Shakur Starling, and versatile and steady Jared Dolimpio. CD’s game with Bonner proved that the team can hang with the Philadelphia Catholic League elite; two Central Dauphin starters did not play in the contest against Bonner.
Philadelphia Catholic League power Archbishop Wood is also in the western side of the bracket. They were 12-1 in regular season Catholic League games and 19-7 overall. Their only league loss was an upset at Cardinal O’Hara. Like every other top Catholic League team, they played a very high-quality non-conference schedule with wins over Georgetown Prep (Washington, DC), Elizabeth (Elizabeth, NJ), and District 1 Class 6A champion Plymouth-Whitemarsh. They suffered early season losses to District 12 and Philadelphia city champion Imhotep Charter, Sidwell Friends (Washington, DC), and Archbishop Carroll (Washington, DC). Wood clearly played a championship level schedule. They won seven of their last eight games, the loss being to Father Judge in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs. Two Wood players—Brady McAdams and Caleb Lundy–are 1st team Philadelphia Catholic league All-Stars, and their 6’ 10” teammate, Jaydn Jenkins was named to the 2nd team. Wood and Central Dauphin are highly likely to meet in the 2nd round of the state championship tournament, and this is a key game. The view from here is that the winner of the Wood-Central Dauphin game should advance to the Class 6A state championship contest.
Three teams stand out in the eastern side of the bracket: Philadelphia Catholic League champion Father Judge; District 1 champion Plymouth-Whitemarsh; and District 12, Philadelphia Public League, and Philadelphia city champion Imhotep Charter.
Defending PIAA Class 6A state champion Judge is 15-11, but that record is deceiving. Judge played an extremely challenging non-conference schedule. For example, they opened the season with a lopsided loss to Paul VI (Fairfax, VA) which is currently ranked the top team in the United States by MaxPreps. Judge played in two very high level out of state tournaments in December and faced the toughest schedule of any Pennsylvania boys high school basketball team this season. This was a crucial element in Judge achieving their primary goal: winning the Philadelphia Catholic League title. Judge has a veteran team led by 6’ 3” senior Derrick Morton-Rivera (a Temple commit) who is a terrific slasher, a wonderful outside shooter, and a hugely clutch player. He was a 1st team All-State selection last season, and he is a 1st team Catholic League All-Star this year. His teammates Rocco Westfield and Max Moshinski are also at their best when the chips are down. Both excel on the perimeter, and both are 2nd team Philadelphia Catholic League All-Stars
Plymouth-Whitemarsh has had a terrific season. They are 22-4 and have won 19 of their last 20 games. The only loss in that span was to District 1 Class 5A champion Upper Dublin in the Suburban One League playoffs. Notable wins include two over Coatesville Area, three victories in a tournament in San Diego, and a 42 point early season triumph over Upper Dublin. They have wins over Abington, Cheltenham, and Souderton Area, all of which are in the state tournament Class 6A bracket. In December, they lost by 2 points to Archbishop Wood, by 9 to Roman Catholic, and by 3 to defending Class 3A state champion West Catholic. Cohesive, well-coached, and well-conditioned, P-W is surging at the right time to make a deep run in the tournament. Key players include Towson commit Mani Sajid, a 6’ 5” senior who was a 3rd team All-State selection last season, and 6’ 10” Penn commit Michael Pereira.
Imhotep Charter is having another great season, winning the Philadelphia Public League, the District 12, and the Philadelphia city championships. In Andre Noble, Imhotep has one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in the country. Imhotep is 21-6. Four of the losses were against out of state teams. They also lost by a point at Samuel Fels in a league game in January and by two points at District 11 champion Parkland in a slowdown game on February 1. Against teams in the Class 6A state championship tourney, they defeated Father Judge (twice), Archbishop Wood, and Cheltenham. They are a high scoring, high octane, pressing squad. Key players are sophomore guard Ian Smith, junior Kevin Benson, senior Latief Lorenzano-White, and 6’ 7” junior Zaahir Muhammad-Gray, all of whom received all league honors. The latter two are 1st team league All-Stars. Benson was a 2nd team selection, and sparkplug Smith was honorable mention.
This season’s Class 6A championship tournament should be outstanding. The following predictions include a hedge on the projected 2nd round game between Archbishop Wood and Central Dauphin.
Top teams: Imhotep Charter, Father Judge, Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Archbishop Wood, Central Dauphin, Coatesville Area, Central Catholic, Upper St. Clair, and New Castle
Dark horse: Central York
Projected final four: Father Judge, Imhotep Charter, Archbishop Wood or Central Dauphin, and Upper St. Clair
Projected championship game: Imhotep Charter over Archbishop Wood or Central Dauphin
On X (formerly Twitter): @david_kehler
LLhoops.com contributor David Kehler chairs the Pennsylvania Sportswriters’ selection of the boys All-State basketball teams
Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops
