Eagles, Warriors and Rockets making moves toward playoffs
With two weeks left before the District 3 power rankings deadline, we take a look at where our 10 Hanover-Adams area teams sit. Some are comfortably in playoff spots, while others are fighting for their postseason life. The rankings are broken down by classification.
Biggest fall this week: Three teams tied (one spot)
Biggest jump: Bermudian Springs (seven spots), South Western (four spots)
Class AAAA -- Top 20 qualify for postseason
On the bubble: Spring Grove (9-5, 5-3, 17th out of 42, .674 rating)
The Rockets have bounced all over the rankings from 13th, to 20th to 17th. They finished the sweep over their biggest rival, South Western, and added a win over Lower Dauphin (23rd in Class AAAA) since the last rankings were released.
The good news: Spring Grove is 5-1 at home, went 3-3 in a recent stretch where they played five of six on the road, is holding opponents under 50 points per game, and there is a good buzz around the program. The bad news: They're only three spots from being on the outside looking in, two blowout losses to York High and Central York were a concern, and the Rockets are 2-5 against teams with a winning record. Coach Brooks' squad has a chance to solidify their resume with four of their last eight games coming against teams with winning records.
Work left to do: South Western (4-10, 2-6, 33rd out of 42, .506 rating) and New Oxford (4-13, 0-8, 39th out of 42, .428 rating)
Two of the Mustangs' four wins have come against New Oxford (4-13). Junior Brock Geiman is top 10 in 3-point shooting in the league and top 20 in scoring, while Darius Rowlette has added 11.5 points per game. South Western would need a big run here late in the season to get back into the playoff picture.
The Colonials are young. They're out of it this season, but keep an eye on them in 2015-2016. Freshman John Wessel is fifth in the league in 3-pointers made (29).
Class AAA -- Top 18 teams qualify for postseason
On the bubble: Gettysburg (9-6, 5-4, 14th out of 36, .591 rating), Bermudian Springs (8-6, 6-2, 21st out of 36, .518 rating)
Both of these two squads have been on a roll and the district took notice. The Warriors bumped up three spots with a six-game winning streak that was finally snapped on Jan. 17 against Hollidaysburg. They get undefeated Northeastern this week before hosting the YAIAA/Mid-Penn Showcase on Saturday. Gettysburg was outscored by 27 points total while going 0-4 against the top four teams in Division II the first time around. Now, they're on their second go round and already knocked off West York, 51-34.
The Eagles have won three in a row (all on the road) and now get to play four of their next five back at home. They're just three spots out of the playoffs now, but there's not a win against a team with a winning record yet on their resume. Can the Eagles sneak in and return to the playoffs?
Work left to do: Littlestown (0-17, 0-9, 36th out of 36, .237 rating)
The Bolts' offense has been better in recent games, but still no wins. Coach Motter's squad is at the bottom of the district rankings. There's always next year.
Class AA -- Top 10 teams qualify for the postseason
In: Hanover (14-1, 8-0, 3rd out of 17, .682 rating)
The Nighthawks keep rolling along and lead the league in point differential (+26.8). Dylan Krieger leads the league in scoring (26.9) and is two points shy of breaking Hanover's all-time scoring record (1,194), which has stood for 48 years. Unfortunately, the Nighthawks' weak opponents' winning percentage is keeping them from passing Lancaster Mennonite or Camp Hill. They get Camp Hill and York Catholic in the next two weeks.
On the bubble: Delone Catholic (7-9, 6-3, 10th out of 17, .469 rating), Fairfield (6-9, 3-6, 12th out of 17, .406 rating)
The Squires have lost three of four and are hanging on to the final playoff spot by tenths of a percentage point. Luckily, they have just five opponents left and went 4-1 against those teams combined earlier this season. If they repeat that, or even get three wins in there, they should be fine.
Kudos to Fairfield. With their 43-29 win over Big Spring, the Green Knights eclipsed last seasons win total (5). It's officially an improvement season, but why not be greedy now and go for a playoff spot? Of the seven remaining opponents on Fairfield's schedule, the Green Knights have played five of them already and won three. There's only two spots to climb to get in. It's plausible.
Work left to do: Biglerville (6-10, 2-7, 14th out of 17, .356 rating)
The Canners' six wins come against: Littlestown (0-17, twice), Christian School of York (3-11), Covenant Christian (3-10), Lititz Christian (7-7) and Hershey Christian (0-11).
Still, they're just four spots out of the playoffs, Noah Ayers is among the top 10 in the league in scoring (17.9) and only seven teams in the league have drained more 3-pointers than the Canners (67). Oh, and five of their last six games come at home.