14 District XI Basketball Teams Still Standing in States

Politicians must have been barred from playing any role in drawing up the PIAA district map that governs high school sports. The Lehigh Valley is part of District 11 and includes Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Carboin and Schuylkill Counties. Over the weekend, the first round of games in the state championship basketball tournaments was played. After the last buzzer sounded, 14 of them are still standing and will participate in the "sweet sixteen" of their respective divisions.

I am listing them below with their state rank. This is determined by MaxPreps, and is based on wins and quality wins.  District XI can boast two boys' teams and six girls' teams included in the top ten of their respective divisions 

Boys' Basketball:

2A: Moravian Academy (#21) will face Northwest (Shickshinny) (#44) on Wednesday night.

3A: Notre Dame Green Pond (#33) will play Bishop McDevitt (#16) Wednesday night.

4A: Bethlehem Catholic (#3) will face Conwell-Egan (#29) Tuesday night

5A: Allentown Central Catholic High School (#7) will play Dallas High School (not the Cowboys) (#21) Tuesday night @ Hazleton High School, 8 pm. .

(Bangor was sadly eliminated by Lampeter-Strasburg, 54-42, on Friday night.)

6A: Pocono Mtn West (#48), after beating Chambersburg by just 1 point, will play Hazleton (#8) on Wednesday night.

(The three other District XI teams were eliminated. East Stroudsburg South fell to Neshaminy, 62-47;  Northampton lost a heartbreaker to St. Joe's Prep, 62-57); and Emmaus was dominated by Central Bucks West, 53-35.)

Girls' Basketball:

2A: Mahanoy Area (#1) will play Sacred Heart Academy (#24) Tuesday night

Minersville (#3) will play Old Forge (#26) Tuesday night.

3A: North Schuylkill (#1) will play Imhotep Charter (#9) Tuesday night.

4A: Allentown Central Catholic (#14), which defeated Lewisburg with a 3-point buzzer beater by freshman Emily Vaughan, will play Lancaster Catholic (#1) Wednesday night.

Bethlehem Catholic (#2) will play Bonner-Prendergast (#16) on Wednesday night.  .

5A: Southern Lehigh (#6) will play Lampeter-Strasburg (#13) Wednesday night.

6A: Easton (#12) will play Souderton (#2) Tuesday night. (I had the privilege of watching Leeana Deegan play on Friday night. What struck me about her and the entire Easton team is that they are really having fun.

Freedom (#5) faces Abington (#9) Tuesday night.

William Allen (#33) will play Central Dauphin (#13) Tuesday night.

(Nazareth was eliminated by Council Rock North, 47-34.)