Banner postseason gets better for YAIAA
It's been a rather remarkable District 3 playoff season for YAIAA teams. Just how remarkable? When all is said and done, this may end up being the league's best district playoff showing ever. Over the next three nights, seven York-Adams teams will take part in five different championship games in three different classifications. The action gets started Thursday, as a pair of local teams try to defend their district gold at the Giant Center. The York Catholic girls will take on rival Delone Catholic in the Class AA final at 6:15 p.m., followed by the Eastern York boys' Class AAA title tilt against Lancaster Catholic at 8 p.m. (Quick plug: We'll be tweeting updates from both games on our GameTimePA twitter account. We'll also be hosting a special live chat to preview all the games at 3 p.m., so be sure to join us for that.) I tried to do a little research, to see if the YAIAA has ever had a district season to rival this one. The answer: Probably not. The closest is probably 2007, when the league produced four District 3 champions: West York (AAA) and York Catholic (AA) won boys' titles, while Eastern York (AAA) and York Catholic won girls' crowns. But even in that season, the YAIAA only had four district finalists, three fewer than this year's total. The league also had three district champions in 1987 and 1979. Other than that, it hasn't had more than two title winners in a single season. Remember, the area is guaranteed at least two champions, with the York Catholic and Delone Catholic girls and the Hanover and Delone Catholic boys squaring off the Class AA finals. Besides those teams, the William Penn boys (AAAA), Eastern York (AAA) and Red Lion girls (AAAA) will also try to win gold in the next few days. In addition, a total of 10 local teams have already qualified for the state playoffs (the Dallastown boys' could make it 11, with a win against Lebanon on Thursday). Just more good news for the league, which has had plenty of it in the last week. DISTRICT 3 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULETHURSDAY Girls' A: No. 1 Steel-High (21-4) vs. No. 2 Reading C.C. (20-5), 4:30 p.m. Girls' AA: No. 1 York Catholic (27-0) vs. No. 2 Delone Catholic (20-6), 6:15 p.m. Boys: AAA: No. 1 Lancaster Catholic (25-1) vs. No. 3 Eastern York (24-3), 8 p.m. FRIDAY Boys' A: No. 1 Greenwood (23-0) vs. No. 2 Reading C.C. (24-3), 5 p.m. Boys' AA: No. 1 Hanover (20-5) vs. No. 2 Delone Catholic (17-8), 6:45 p.m. Girls' AAAA: No. 1 Red Lion (25-1) vs. No. 7 Wilson (20-7), 8:30 p.m. SATURDAY Girls' AAA: No. 2 Lancaster Catholic (24-3) vs. No. 4 Oley Valley (22-4), 11:15 a.m. Boys' AAAA: No. 1 William Penn (26-2) vs. No. 6 Red Land (20-5), 1 p.m.