Random thoughts on state hoops brackets, Pt. 2
Before we get going on the girls, I'll let my colleague Steve Navaroli speak for me. He broke down the matchups for the four local girls' teams in this week's edition of GameTimePA TV.
Really, I'd echo a lot of what Steve said. I'd also echo the thoughts in our state playoff preview capsules, which you can read here.
In any event, I'll add a few brief observations after the jump.
I love York Catholic's matchup. Not that I'm really going out on a limb in saying that. This will be the fourth-straight year the Irish have played Bodine. And as Steve so eloquently stated on GameTime TV, this will York Catholic's fourth-straight victory against Bodine. With or without Brittany Hicks.
Delone Catholic also know Freire Charter a bit. The schools played in states last year, with the Squirettes winning. Freire has great size down low, but luckily Delone has Stormie Hibshman to counter-act that a bit. And Sierra Moore should be able to help out on the boards as well, in addition to her typically hefty scoring duties.
I like West York and Red Lion's matchups significantly less. The Bulldogs opponent, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, boasts plenty of pedigree, having won the state title two years ago. This is not uncharted territory by any means for them. I also think West York just hasn't seemed the same since that loss to Red Lion in the YAIAA championship game. Maybe they peaked a bit too early this year? Food for thought...
The Lions, meanwhile, get a Hazleton team that can score points. That might not bother Red Lion much -- Don Dimoff's team thrives on shutting teams down defensively. But Hazleton starts four seniors -- a factor that might help it better withstand the Lions all-out, pressing style. Like West York-Mount Saint Joseph, I think this is a interesting matchup. Really tough to call.
A quick reminder, we're planning on having a live blog up-and-running tomorrow from Dallastown High School, where the York Catholic girls and Eastern York boys will take part in a double-header starting at 6 p.m. That's in addition to our wrestling live blog from Hershey, which we'll get going a bit earlier in the day. Next thing you know, we'll be live blogging the YDR office basketball games.
In any event, hopefully you'll check back in tomorrow. See you then.