BASKETBALL: Predicting the L-L boys' bracket
The L-L Basketball Tournament is drawing near, which automatically makes me think of brackets. I absolutely love filling out brackets; predicting winners, staging upsets, anticipating matchups, etc.
So without any further ado, here is my 2015 L-L boy’ bracket, breaking down each game in each round.
QUARTERFINALS:
THE GAME: Lancaster Catholic at Cedar Crest
THE WINNER: Cedar Crest
THE REASON: Right out of the gates we start with a great matchup with the Crusaders traveling to Lebanon County to take on the Falcons. I must go with the Section One champs in this one simply because of Crest’s size advantage inside along with having more offensive firepower.
THE GAME: Lebanon at Manheim Central
THE WINNER: Manheim Central
THE REASON: The Barons have too much talent inside and out for the Cedars to stick around for 32 minutes. Even if Central is missing from outside, they have shown that they are able to use their defense to create transition points.
THE GAME: Cocalico at Conestoga Valley
THE WINNER: Cocalico
THE REASON: The young CV squad should be very proud of their Section Two title this year but I’m rolling with the Eagles in this opening round matchup. Cocalico has shown that they can crash the boards well enough to create second chance points and if Tucker Lescoe comes out firing, the Eagles should soar.
THE GAME: McCaskey at Lancaster Mennonite
THE WINNER: McCaskey
THE REASON: This is a game I can’t quite figure out. I’ve seen Lancaster Mennonite play some superb basketball this year but it’s hard to imagine out how they’ll deal with the athleticism of McCaskey, who was on the losing end of a Section One tiebreaker game with Cedar Crest. While Mennonite’s duo of Julian Collazo and Marc Hall can certainly take over a game, McCaskey has an excellent slasher in Kobe Gantz and a hot hand from beyond the arc in Randolph Speller. I can see this game coming down to which role players step up in a big moment.
SEMIFINALS:
THE GAME: Manheim Central vs Cedar Crest
THE WINNER: Cedar Crest
THE REASON: What a game this should be with two of the higher ranking teams in Classes AAA and AAAA. While I think 6’7 Central sophomore Taylor Funk creates a matchup issue, the Barons won’t be able to go on any dry spells in this game.
THE GAME: Cocalico vs McCaskey
THE WINNER: McCaskey
THE REASON: The Red Tornado should be able to handle anything Cocalico throws at them barring and big lulls in scoring. Tyler Owens could have a big game under the basket if this is indeed the semifinals matchup.
FINALS:
THE GAME: McCaskey vs Cedar Crest
THE WINNER: Cedar Crest
THE REASON: I’m predicting a fourth meeting between the Section One rivals this season. I’m pushing my chips in on Crest because they have apparently figured out how to shut down the Red Tornado; looking back at their 22-point victory in the section tiebreaker game. Crest and McCaskey split their regular season series but it looks like the Falcons have the mental edge at this point.
There’s my bracket, what does yours look like?