D6 BOYS SEMIFINALS PREVIEWS

[lhacbigfan]

AAA
#1 Central Cambria Red Devils vs #4 Indian Valley Warriors at State College High School Tuesday at 7:30
Key players: CC- PG Jordan Miller PF Mike Gowen IV- PG Jay Hartman PF Austin Long
This game is a rematch of last years AAA championship in which the Warriors defeated the Red Devils. However, CC has its whole starting team back while IV lost a couple key starters from last year. Miller and Hartman will be a great matchup to watch with both being quick and good ball handlers as will the matchup between Gowen and Long. This game will probably go right down to the wire and come down to the last couple minutes. In my opinion these are the best 2 teams in the field and the atmosphere will be like a championship game tomorrow night. Miller will hit some clutch shots in the end and CC will be on their way to their first District championship under Coach Traino..... PREDICTION: CENTRAL CAMBRIA 68 INDIAN VALLEY 64

#2 Somerset Golden Eagles vs #6 Johnstown Trojans at Richland High School Tuesday at 6:00
Key Players: SOM- G Anthony Papini C Austin Ankney JTOWN- F Paul Weatherly G Nijan Joiner
Johnstown has played Somerset tough both times this year but has come up empty both times. However the third time will be all that matters and Johnstown is coming in fresh off an upset win over Huntingdon, while the Eagles haven't played yet in the playoffs. I think that if Johnstown plays their game, they will be able to pull off another upset. Weatherly dominates and carries the Trojans to a victory over the higher seeded Eagles....PREDICTION: JOHNSTOWN 56 SOMERSET 51

AA
#1 Tyrone Golden Eagles vs #5 Penns Valley Rams at Hollidaysburg Senior High School Wednesday at 6:00
Key Players: TY- G/F Steve Catich F Nate Dane PV- G Jesse Deloof G Taylor Wingard
This will be the 3rd matchup of the season between these two MAC rivals. Tyrone won handily in both previous meetings and I don't see anything different happening here. The Rams like to slow the game down and usually only win if the game is a low scoring affair. Tyrone will try to run and keep the game at a fast pace and wear down the Rams. Deloof will try to keep the Rams in the game, but in the end Catich and the Eagles will score too many points and run all over the Rams en route to a berth in the championship game on Saturday....PREDICTION: TYRONE 63 PENNS VALLEY 47

#2 Bishop McCort Crushers vs #11 Central Scarlet Dragons at Hollidaysburg Junior High School Wednesday at 6:00
Key Players: BM- F Mike Cruz G Matt Varga CEN- F Shane Cafferty G/F Jace Keller
The Crushers and Dragons met last year in the playoffs and BM came out with a close victory. However this year Central has a whole new starting lineup led by 3 underclassmen while the Crushers return 3 starters and have the addition of Mike Cruz. Don't count the Dragons out yet though because they have already upset 2 higher seeded teams to get to this game and will not roll over for BM. However, this seems to be the Crushers year and their playoff experience and game management by Varga will lead the Crushers to victory in a much closer game than people will expect....PREDICTION: BISHOP MCCORT 58 CENTRAL 50

A
#5 Homer Center Wildcats vs #8 Bishop Carroll Huskies at Johnstown High School Tuesday at 7:30
Key Players: (HC) G Mike Walker (BC) G Victor Tranquillo
Both teams are coming off big wins over higher seeds in the quarterfinals. BC will look to keep their unexpected run going after beating the top seed Saltsburg in the previous round. The game will be in the hands of Tranquillo and he will have to lead the Huskies if they want to win over the Wildcats. Walker didnt play the whole game against Williamsburg but look for him to be back and ready to go. In a close game, I'm going to go with BC because they already proved they can beat the best in the Heritage (Saltsburg) and an average LHAC team is better than a top Heritage team...PREDICTION: BISHOP CARROLL 47 HOMER CENTER 40

#2 Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders vs #3 Harmony Owls at Central Cambria High School Tuesday at 7:30
Key Players: (BG) F Logan McDannell G Matt Barroner (HAR) G Jeremy Preister G/F Joey Schneider
Rematch of last year's championship game where the Owls came in unbeaten but were knocked off by BG. The Owls like to run and gun but the pressure defense of BG will be tough for them to handle. Also I dont see Harmony being able to stop McDannell down low. Look for the Maruaders to win convincingly and make it an all LHAC title game....PREDICTION: BG 65 HARMONY 52

[pats39]

good stuff lh fan keep it up, I'd agree with every pick except I am going with a McCort letdown to Central by 1

[WPIAL~Titan]

Excellent previews...Good read.

I agree with your poredictions, except Somerset will beat Jtown going away, and BG will lay a 20+ point beating on Harmony.

WT

[Coach]

best post in a while.. I love these types of posts!

I'm thining CHS can hang with McCort also depending on which CHS team shows up. I hope they pull it out and make their way to St. Francis!

[lhacbigfan]

The more I think about it, I should have given Central more of a chance. BM didnt play all that well against Westmont, while Central is playing their best ball of the year after a 9-15 regular season. The playoffs have been filled with upsets so far (most notable being Altoona girls over Hollidaysburg) so why not this one too? If Central plays as good as they have been and BM plays like they did against WH, then it could be Central's night. If the slipper fits....

[Primetime22]

good stuff lh fan keep it up, I'd agree with every pick except I am going with a McCort letdown to Central by 1

i disagree, i personally think the leadership and experience on the BM squad will just be too much to handle.

[sc32]

it should be a very good game...but i gotta go with central pullin out the upset

[Coach]

Does Central have a good shooting team...as in anyone from the outside?

[lhacbigfan]

Keller is a pretty good shooter especially at 6'4, I think I saw on Maxpreps he has around 40 3's for the year. In the games I've seen and looked at in the paper, Forshey is the only other threat from outside, some games he makes 3 or 4 3's and some games none so you never know but overall they probably shoot better from the outside than McCort does with Schrey being the best for them. The big matchup will be inside between Cruz and Cafferty. Cafferty has been on fire lately but Cruz will provide a tougher matchup for him. I am actually looking forward to seeing this game, hopefully it's a good one!

[packers4]

Good post fan but I'll differ on one pick:

Johnstown has been playing well lately but I'm going to take Somerset in that one. It should be a close one though but I think the Eagles have a few more weapons than the Trojans, though I will be pulling for a Johnstown W.

I like all your other picks and agree with Tyrone and BG winning big and CC, McCort and Carroll in close ones.

Coach,

As for the run to St. Francis, I heard the D6 championship games are at he War Memorial this year. Can anybody confirm?