Brackets are announced

District Three has just released its brackets for the upcoming playoffs.
As expected, the Columbia boys drew the top seed in the Class AA field. The Tide girls are the 10th seed in the AA field.

Here are the Boys AA brackets
First Round, Wednesday, Feb. 13
(1) Columbia vs. Hanover (16), Hempfield, 7:30 p.m.
(8) Upper Dauphin vs. (9) Pequea Valley, East Pennsboro, 7:30 p.m.
(4) York Catholic vs. (13) Annville-Cleona, New Oxford, 6 p.m.
(5) Trinity vs. (12) Kutztown, Carlisle, 7:30 p.m.
(2) Delone Catholic vs. (15) Tulpehocken, Dover, 7:30 p.m.
(7) Wyomissing vs. (10) Halifax, Wilson, 6 p.m.
(3) Milton Hershey vs. (14) Fairfield, Cedar Crest, 6 p.m.
(6) Schuylkill Valley vs. (11) Newport, Hamburg, 7:30 p.m.
Second Round, Saturday, Feb. 16
Columbia/Hanover winner vs. UDA/PV winner, Middletown, noon
YC/AC winner vs. Trinity/Kutztown winner, Dover, 1:30 p.m.
Delone/Tulpehocken winner vs. Wyomissing/Halifax winner, Central Dauphin, noon.
MH/Fairfield winner vs. SV/Newport winner, Wilson, 3 p.m.
Semi-finals, Wednesday, Feb. 20
Both games at Giant Center, times to be announced.
Consolation, Friday, Feb. 22, site and time to be announced.
Championship, Friday, Feb. 22, 6:45 p.m., Giant Center.

Here are the Girls AA brackets
First Round, Tuesday, Feb. 12
(1) Trinity vs. Pequea Valley (16), Red Land, 7:30 p.m.
(8) Bishop McDevitt vs. (9) Camp Hill, Middletown, 6 p.m.
(4) Newport vs. (13) Upper Dauphin, Susquenita, 6 p.m.
(5) Milton Hershey vs. (12) Hanover, Warwick, 6 p.m.
(2) York Catholic vs. (15) Oley Valley, Dallastown, 6 p.m.
(7) Wyomissing vs. (10) Columbia, Garden Spot, 6 p.m.
(3) Schuylkill Valley vs. (14) Brandywine Heights, Muhlenberg, 6:30 p.m.
(6) Holy Name vs. (11) Antietam, Conrad Weiser, 6 p.m.
Second Round, Friday, Feb. 15
Trinity/PV winner vs. BM/CH winner, East Pennsboro, 6 p.m.
Newport/UDA winner vs. Trinity/Kutztown winner, Carlisle, 7:30 p.m.
YC/OV winner vs. Wyomissing/Columbia winner, Garden Spot, 6:30 p.m.
SV/BH winner vs. HN/Antietam winner, Wilson, 6 p.m.
Semi-finals, Monday, Feb. 18
Top half of bracket at Cumberland Valley, 6 p.m. Bottom half of bracket, 6 p.m., at Manheim Township, 6 p.m.
Consolation and finals, Thursday, Feb. 21
Consolation game and site to be announced.
Championship is at the Giant Center, 6:45 p.m.

Ticket costs are $5 for adults and $3 for students in advance. At the door, all tickets are $5.

For other brackets, www.piaa.org/district3

Hats off to the fans

You never know how special a game is until you walk into a gym.

Saturday was one of those games. I didn't have the opportunity to wait in line with the fans and went in the back door down at Penn Manor on Saturday with the team, so I wasn't aware of what was waiting for the Tide inside the confines of Penn Manor's new gym.

By the way, how many CHS basketball fans can remember the old days of the program having to wait in line at Penn Manor to get into games? I remember as a youngster going down to Penn Manor early standing in line waiting to see Wally Walker play. There were probably a lot of memories for the old time fans yesterday.

Enough from the memory bank.

It was about 50 minutes or so before game time when the Tide arrived at Penn Manor. I was kind of wondering what happened to the line because there was none outside. While someone not understanding what type of game this was would think that was kind of odd, but the first time you peaked your heads out into the gym, you could easily see this was going to be a special afternoon.

The Tide side of the gym was almost packed. The student section was over flowing and the crowd was still coming into the gym. That was the first sign it was going to be a special afternoon. The second time was when members of the Tide's junior varsity team and traveling party walked into the gym; there was a loud ovation. This doesn't happen at every game.

It just took off from there. The old timers in the stands were loud, but not as loud and together as the CHS students were. I told a couple of them at halftime, they weren't loud enough. As the Tide extended it lead and Catholic make a couple of runs, the gym just got louder and louder. As the Tide started to pull away toward the end, you could easily feel the championship atmosphere in the gym.

For those who weren't sitting on the Columbia side of the gym, it made a few people tear up when the CHS student body, took off their Crimson-colored shirts, to display white t-shirts with the words SECTION CHAMPS spelled out.

At that point, you knew one of the goals that the players and coaches had worked for years had become a fact.

Now, we move into the second season -- the playoffs. The fans need to continue to pack gyms across Lancaster County and District 3 and hopefully the state. The students need to continue to be out in force and loud and proud.

The energy that the fans gave our team on Saturday just helped them bring home the trophy.

Let's keep it going!

SECTION CHAMPS

It has a nice ring to it, Section 4 champions, Lancaster-Lebanon League.

That's what the Columbia boys' basketball team was crowned Saturday afternoon around 2:30 at packed house at Penn Manor High School.

The Crimson Tide won its first Section 4 title with a dramatic 78-60 win over Lancaster Catholic in a one-game playoff to decide the Section 4 title.

The game happened because Catholic, with their backs to the wall, was able to stop the Tide's 20-game winning streak on Monday night.

Mike "Ice Man" Seibert was a cool 12-for-12 from the foul line, including 10-for-10 in the fourth quarter when the game went from a close game to a one-sided affair.

Adam Pittman, or Puttman, as said by the PA Announcer at Penn Manor, added 17 big points.
Another factor on offense, the boards and rebounding was Yahya McIntyre, who scored 10 points and hounded Catholic's big man Simon O'Leary. O'Leary led the Crusaders with 20 points, but had to take 25 shots to get those 20 points.

The "Super 7," the Tide's top seven players all had big roles in the game. Colby Tuell, despite fouling out, managed the point well. Ryan Hess took some nice passes from Tuell and Pittman, for eight points. Off the bench, Derrick Smith hit his only bucket at the end of the third quarter, which was huge and Ben Guiles added nine.

The section title, the first for Columbia in boys' basketball since 1991, was well deserved because of the hard work the players and coaches have put in this season.

Next up, the opening round of the L-L League playoffs on Tuesday night at CV against E-town. Check back tomorrow for a preview of that game from Chris McCarthy, the editor of the Elizabethtown Chronicle, who will report on how the Bears got to the playoffs.