Tide is Third

With a 56-38 win over Milton Hershey, the Tide placed third in the District 3 AA playoffs.

At Dallastown High School, Milton Hershey led 29-25 with six minutes left in the third quarter.

All the sudden, the Tide got hot, allowing the Spartans just two points the rest of the third quarter and going on a 19-2 run to break the game wide open. Adam Pittman drained two big treys and Mike Seibert one during the run.

After three quarters on a buzzer beating basket by Derrick Smith, the Tide led 44-31.

The run reached 25-3 into the fourth quarter.

Seibert and Pittman both scored 13. Colby Tuell added nine.

With the win, the Tide will now play District 12 champ Strawberry Mansion in the first round of the state playoffs on Saturday, at a time and site to be announced.

NO GAME

Tonight's playoff game between the Tide and Milton Hershey is off.

It will be played tomorrow at 2:30 at Dallastown.

If...

If the weather postpones tonight's District 3 Class AA consolation between the Tide and Milton Hershey, it will be played tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., back at Dallastown.

The call as to who postpones the game is up to the District 3 committee.

Cold night

It was cold and snowy outside last night.

Inside the mammoth Giant Center, it was just cold. No, not because of the ice under the floor, but cold in terms of shooting the basketball for the Columbia Crimson Tide. Or could it have been the tightness of the rims at the Giant Center?

A cold shooting derailed the top-seeded Tide in the District Three Class AA semi-finals at the Giant Center. Columbia lost to Trinity, 60-50.

Had the Crimson Tide shot the ball well, we’d be talking about a return trip to the Giant Center for a shot at a District 3 championship tomorrow night.

Instead the Tide now plays Milton Hershey in a consolation game for third place, tomorrow at Dallastown. Tip is at 7:30 p.m.

Last night, the Tide couldn’t buy a basket, whether it was from beyond the arc, or in the paint. Perhaps, it was the affects of playing at the Giant Center, where the backgrounds are far away and it throws shooters off; perhaps, it was the first time playing on the big floor; perhaps, it was Trinity’s inside game (The ‘Rocks were much larger in the paint), or, it was just one of those nights that good shooting teams have.

Mike Seibert brought his ‘A’ game last night. He had his hand in all 15 first quarter points for the Tide. Columbia led the game 15-13 after eight minutes. Seibert had 10 and two dishes that led to buckets for Ben Guiles and Yahya McIntyre.

At the other end of the floor, sophomore Eric Kindler was playing like a senior. He had eight in the first quarter and finished with 27.

A Seibert three-pointer and a Colby Tuell steal and basket gave the Tide a 20-17 lead with 4:46 left in the first half.

But that’s when it got a little cold at the offensive end for the Tide. They finished the first half with just three points, all foul shots. The four-minute plus cold spell saw the Tide fall behind 29-23 at the break.

The cold spell continued into the third quarter. Adam Pittman’s three with 4:52 left in the quarter was the Tide’s first field goal in about eight minutes. Despite getting unleashed a little offensively, the Tide still trailed 42-34 after three.

But here came the boys wearing the crimson and gold to open the fourth quarter.

Seibert drained back-to—back treys and all the sudden, the Tide trailed 43-40 with 6:26 left.

As valiantly as the Tide tried, they were unable to come up with that big shot. Trinity on the other hand was not exactly putting the Tide away. Another three from Pittman with 53.4 seconds left pulled the Tide within six, 56-50, but the Rocks hit four foul shots in the final 20 seconds to pull out the win.

The Rocks will now Delone Catholic, who beat Milton Hershey, 58-46 in the other semi-final.

Trip to Dallastown is next

Once I get back from a visit to the high school this morning to talk with Brian Groff about his walk-on chance to play at Penn State, I'll post a story on last night's tough loss to Trinity.

Next up for the Tide will be the District 3 consolation game tomorrow night.

The Tide will play an athletic, yet, undisciplined Milton Hershey team, at Dallastown, tip off is 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are for sale today and tomorrow at the high school office.

Shamrock information

Here is some information on the Trinity Shamrocks, the Tide's opponent in Wednesday's District 3 Class AA semi-finals.

The Shamrocks are 16-8 and play in the Keystone Division of the Mid-Penn Conference. The Shamrocks were fourth in the division. Other teams in the division are Susquehanna Township, Red Land, Mechanicsburg, Hershey, Gettysburg, Lower Dauphin and Middletown. Trinity is the only Class AA team in the division. In addition to the 'Rocks, teams that made the playoffs are Susquehanna Township, Red Land, Mechanicsburg, Hershey and Gettysburg. Against those teams, Trinity was 8-6.

There is just one common opponent with Columbia, that being Lancaster Catholic. The Shamrocks beat the Crusaders 61-43 back on Dec. 6.

Against the other two semi-finalists in Class AA: Trinity did not play Milton Hershey, but opened the season with a 65-63 win over Delone.

They are averaging 59.6 points per game on offense, while giving up 49.1 points. Their highest offensive output was 77 in a 77-53 win over Palmyra, Jan. 14. Their lowest output was 38 in a 49-38 loss to York Catholic on Jan. 12. On defense, the most points they gave up in one game was 67 in a 67-66 loss to Mechanicsburg on Jan. 29. The least points given up in a game was 30 in a 53-30 win over Gettysburg, Dec. 21.

They are coached by Larry Kostelac, who has been guiding the Shamrocks since the 1980s and is a graduate of Shippensburg.

They have scored playoff wins over Kutztown by a 68-49 score and over York Catholic by a 55-52 score.

They won District Three titles in 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1998, 1997, 1992 and 1991.

The Shamrocks beat the Tide in the semi-finals in 2005 and also in the finals in 2001. The last time Columbia beat the Shamrocks was in the 1994 district semi-finals, 65-36. That year, the Tide won the district championship.

Everyone remembers the magical season of 1987. In the district semi-finals, Trinity crushed the Tide 69-57. Columbia got its revenge in the Eastern finals as Bo Draper's buzzer beater sent the Tide into the state finals with a 43-42 win at Mechanicsburg.

More on Saturday's game

One of the dangers when you get into the post-season is the possibility of playing a team that you have already played and beaten badly a couple of times and getting officials who are very inconsistent in how they call a game.

Before a large crowd of local fans at Middletown High School, the Tide overcame both to advance to the District 3 Class AA semi-finals, with a 72-43 win over L-L League Section 4 foe Pequea Valley.

The Tide will now play Trinity in the semi-finals on Wednesday at the Giant Center at a tip-off time still not announced. The winner will play for a District 3 championship on Friday night, back at the Giant Center at 6:45 against either Delone Catholic or Milton Hershey.

The win also qualified the Tide for the PIAA playoffs as well.

First, the playing of an opponent that you hae already beaten badly twice. That's what the Tide did during the regular season against Pequea Valley. On Dec. 19, Columbia crushed the Braves at home, 76-38. About a month later in front of the "Red Zone," the Tide was an 83-60 winner.

So there was the danger of a letdown, already having beaten a team badly twice.

After one quarter, thanks to a 6-0 spurt at the beginning of the game, Columbia led 19-13.

PV stayed in the game in the second quarter. At one point, the Braves were behind 30-27 late in the half, but the Tide closed on a 6-0 run to take a 36-27 at the break.

Now, the other factor. The officials, who were from Berks County (remember, the Tide had its hands full with Berks officials in the finals of the Tulpehocken Tournament against Milton). They did again on Saturday. Why? Well, as I'd said before, each chapter calls games differently. You know when you gets Berks and York officials, they basically don't let teams play. At one point in the second quarter, Columbia had eight fouls call against them to one for Pequea Valley.

Adam Pittman had three and four others players had two fouls each.

But as much as the whistles were blowing from the officials in the first half, they must have put them in their pockets at break. There were no fouls called in the third quarter until there was 1:31 left. In fact, there were only about a half dozen foul called in the second half.

Now, let's get back to the game.

Mike Seibert quickly opened the second half scoring for the Tide to push the lead up to 11 and after Matt Schatzmann drained a lone three-pointer, PV was back within eight with 6:46 left in the quarter.

It would be as close as PV would get the rest of the wy. Pittman and Seibert combined for the next nine Columbia points and when Yahya McIntyre went over the top for a steal and lay-up, Columbia was ahead 47-34 with 4:34 left in the quarter.

A buzzer beater from Seibert gave the Tide a 55-36 lead after three quarters.

The difference, Columbia made some adjustments on defense.

Basically the game was in the win column with eight minutes left.

In the fourth quarter, the Tide milked the clock for minutes at a time. Among the points during the "milking session" was a slam by Ryan Hess with three minutes left that put the Tide ahead 66-43.

Hershey bound

For the first time in about seven or eight years, the Columbia boys' basketball team will be playing in the big floor in Hershey.

Columbia advanced to the District 3 Class AA semi-finls with a 72-43 win over Pequea Valley, in a game played at a smallish Middletown gym.

We will have more on this game later.

Tickets for the Wednesday semi-final will be sold at the school Tuesday and Wednesday.

Oh yeah, the game will be at the Giant Center.

Opening round notes

As I sat courtside at Hempfield last night, I started looking up some stats for upcoming opponents Columbia might play. Well, I picked the wrong time to spend about 30 minutes researching Upper Dauphin. UDA was beaten by Pequea Valley, 57-51 in overtime.

So tomorrow at a rather small venue called Middletown High School (noon is tip, get there early), I think the place will be rocking. And it might be the students who will be front and center. Over the last few weeks, the Tide has developed quite a student fan base. I think its great that the students have come out in mass to support their fellow students. Pequea Valley also has a good student fan base as well. If their entire "Red Zone" shows up and our students are there, it could be a rather loud afternoon.

There is another game after that -- Lebanon Catholic girls play Halifax. Might be interesting in terms of the crowd. District 3 always said that after the first round, all sites (with the exception of the Giant Center) are tentative, but I guess they feel Middletown can hold the crowd. I hope that proves me wrong, but, I've been there and done that.

I know in talking with coach Wisler, he really wanted to play UDA, playing someone different. Although the Tide hasn't beaten PV badly twice this year, its always though to beat a team three times. Columbia needs to be ready for a challenge.

Here are some other thoughts from the first round, after scanning the papers, the internet, etc.

• When Hanover took the floor last night, I thought they looked rather young.
• Surprised to see two L-L officials working the game -- Mel Newcomer and Denny Kinloch. Most times in playoffs, just like the gyms, the officials are suppose to be neutral.
• Just a note to the Columbia students. I know we all tend to get excited with the possibility of playing on the big floor in Hershey, but please don't liter the floor at Middletown with Hershey Kisses, if Columbia wins. Wouldn't want to see a game forfeited.
• There will be some scoreboard watching tomorrow -- Trinity and York Catholic play at Dover High School. The Irish already have one win over the Shamrocks.
• A lot has been made about some of the mistmatches in round one. There was none worse than the Scotland/York Country Day. Scotland won the game 74-5. According to the box score, YCD had just two field goals -- one in the second quarter (a three) and a two-pointer in the third.
• Not surprised that Harrisburg beat McCaskey in Boys AAAA.
• Do you realize the two finalists (Hempfield being the other) in the L-L boys' championship lost in the first round!
• Looking at the brackets, going by seedings, other than the 8-9 games, which are toss ups in my mind, here were the upsets by Class: Girls 4-A, 2; Girls 3-A, 3; Girls 2-A, 1; Girls A, one. Halifax is the only public school left in that class. Boys 4A: 4, including E-town dumping 4th seed Cedar Crest; Boys 3-A, 4, including Eastern's OT win over YAIAA champ West York; Boys 2-A, none really; Boys 1-A, 1.
• Teams that played play-in games that are still alive: Delone Catholic and Lancaster Catholic, Girls 3-A; E-town, Harrisburg, Boys 4-A.
• League by league on boys' side: Mid-Penn: 11-5; L-L League, 5-7; York-Adams, 4-7; Berks, 6-4, Tri-Valley, 2-3, Other, 2-9.
• League by league on girls' side: Berks, 5-5; Mid-Penn, 8-9; L-L, 6-6; York-Adams, 5-4; Tri-Valley, 2-1; Other, 2-3.

Tide girls fall

The first round losing streak of the Columbia girls in the District 3 playoffs continued last night.

The Tide saw its season end with a 45-33 loss to Wyomissing at Garden Spot High School.

The Tide dominated the first half in this one, leading 13-6 after one quarter and 20-15 at the half. Columbia was outscored 30-13 in the second half.

Senior Tori Aston led the Tide with 11 points.

Columbia finishes the season with a 7-17 record.

A sad day

Heard this morning and just saw it on Penn Live. Tim was one of the top officials in the L-L League. Got to know Tim not only as an official, but as a youth baseball coach in the Ephrata area.

Veteran ref Timothy M. Bartholomew, 50, of Akron, died last night after suffering an apparent heart attack after he officiated the overtime playoff boys game between Hershey and Boiling Springs held at Red Land High School, officials said.

Rich Czarnecki, men's officials' representative for District 3, said Bartholomew was seated on a chair in a locker room after the 6 p.m. game when he slumped over and was unresponsive.

Czarnecki said Bartholomew's fellow officials called for Red Land Athletic Director Brian McNamara who summoned an ambulance and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Bartholomew was taken to Harrisburg Hospital, Czarnecki said.

Czarnecki was shocked. He said he met with Bartholomew at halftime of the game when the two shook hands and embraced before Czarnecki left to attend another game.

"It's not the exercise and the cardio, it's the stress,'' Czarnecki said. "And you're talking about a playoff situation. Being an official is very stressful.''

"He was one of my veteran guys and he worked all the time,'' Czarnecki said.

Not much of a game

The Columbia boys' basketball team opened what they open will be a long run in the District 3 and state playoffs last night with an easy 84-36 thrashing of Hanover at the "Big House," otherwise known as Hempfield High School.

The win did two things for the Tide. Put them into the second round of the Class AA playoffs and got them back on the court for a good workout.

The next test is a familar foe -- Pequea Valley, tomorrow at high noon, at Middletown's smallish gym. Tickets are on sale today through 3 p.m. at the high school office. Best bet is to get to the game early. I can't understand why Middletown continues to be used as a game site. Our fans could probably fill the gym by themselves.

Back to last night. When Hanover came out to warm-up, I thought they looked like a junior high team. Small and young. About two minutes into the game, the score was tied at 5-5. Six minutes later, there wsa no suspense in this one as the Tide led 33-9 after eight minutes.

Adam Pittman scored the first eight points of the game for the Tide. He had 13 in the first quarter. Ryan Hess also had six in the first quarter. By half, Columbia led 52-22 and the crowd on the Hanover side of the gym, many of whom where watched the girls' game between Lancaster Mennonite and Eastern (which was a thriller won by LMHS 47-45) had cleared out. Take away some of the Columbia fans and the junior varsity team from Columbia, there may have been 10 fans on that side of the gym.

The mercy rule finally kicked in with 1:55 left in the third quarter when Adam Pittman hit a conventional three-point play giving the Tie a 67-27.

Derrick Smithy dominated the fourth quarter for the Tide, scoring 13 points.

It was also kind of an odd twist to have two L-L officials do the game -- Mel Newcomer and Denny Kinloch. Only had two officials, probably because of the number of games last night.

Pittman, Seibert, Derrick Smith and Hess were all in double figures.

Weather impact

If you are a basketball coach, this time of the season is one that you really like. It's the playoffs, you get your team an extra game or two. But right now, if you are a basketball coach you're not liking the scenario.

The weather of the last two days has put the District 3 basketball playoffs into more of an NBA-like schedule. The games that were to be played on Tuesday, were moved to tonight and now moved to tomorrow. That means for the winners, its back-to-back games.

It's a little better right now for the teams that were scheduled to play tonight. Those games have been pushed back to tomorrow. The winners at least get a day of practice in, before taking to the courts again on Saturday.

So let me play the role of a coach here.

For the most part, the first round games shouldn't be that tough. In some cases the second round might be a breeze as well. Teams having to play back-to-back nights in the playoffs really get no chance to review scouting reports. They might be able to get a shoot around for a brief time after school, or review the report in say a study hall (if I were a coach, I'd be asking the administration for some time with my team), or on the bus going to the game. It's definitely not an ideal situation and could possibly lead to some upsets. It's not like the regular season when you are playing a familar foe, so scouting and prep time are key.

Just looking over the brackets for those forced to play back-to-back, there are a couple of games I'm not crazy about if I am coaching. There's also school rules, such as if school's close early, teams might not be able to practice, or if they didn't go to school at all, there might be a missed practice.

I was waiting for something like this to happen when the L-L League had those 3 games weeks. It didn't.

But on the bright side, at least Joe, Chuck and Doug may have finally got one right!

No games

District Three has decided to postpone it games for tonight.

All games will be played tomorrow night at same times and sites. If there are any changes, I wll post them accordingly.

Let's not forget wrestling

The Road to Hershey, the official start of wrestling's post-season begins Saturday with sectional tournaments throughout Central Pennsylvania.

The Class AA sectional tournament, which in previous years was held at Donegal, has been moved into the Mid-Penn Conference area. The one-day featuring teams from Section 3 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League and Mid-Penn Conference, will be held at Milton Hershey’s Spartan Center, starting at 9 a.m.

The top four finishers at each weight class will advance to next week’s District Three championships at the old Hersheypark Arena, next weekend.
From there, the Class AA wrestlers will compete in the regional tournament at Wilson, before moving to the state tournament the second weekend of March in Hershey.

Teams competing in the one-day tournament are Columbia, Donegal, Pequea Valley, Northern Lebanon, ELCO, Lancaster Catholic, Annville-Cleona, Milton Hershey and Palmyra.

Here are the returning district qualifiers that will compete in this weekend’s sectional tournament.

DONEGAL: Ross Bollinger, Josh Price, Ryan Wilson, Nick Herbert, Neal Sweigart, Derek Pietsch and Çody Tillman.

COLUMBIA: Joe Ronca, Garrett Mowrer and Dan Gerfin.

LANCASTER CATHOLIC: Jordan Ballentine, Chase Haberstroh and Mike Blaszczyk.

PALMYRA: Frank Landis and Dustin Saksek.

ELCO: Colin Edris, Tommy Simmons, Jason Weaver and Jake Walmer.

MILTON HERSHEY: Boyd Hardison.

NORTHERN LEBANON: Rob Dzwonchyk and Nick Dzwonchyk.

PEQUEA VALLEY: Nathan Good, Brock Suter, Adam Weaver, Alex Haberstroh, Jon Zeng and Isaac Zeng.

Boys A

Much like the Girls' A field, the Boys' A field is made up of just four public schools -- Greenwood, Millersburg, Camp Hill and Antietam. The rest are all Catholic or private schools or state-supported like Scotland.

While Scotland is the top seed and probably will win the title, other than Holy Name and Central Catholic, who I thought I read somewhere are merging next year, Lebanon Catholic and Camp Hill play tough schedules.

Greenwood and Millersburg rarely venture off the mountain of the Tri-Valley League.

Seeds are Scotland (1), Holy Name (2), High Point (3) and Millersburg (4).

A sleeper might be Mount Calvary from the E-town area.

Boys Class AA

Question: Who was the last public school team to win a District 3 title in this class?

Answer: Columbia, back in 1994 when they beat Reading Central Catholic, 54-53 in overtime. Since then, the Class AA title has gone to Trinity, York Catholic or RCC.

This year as the Harrisburg Patriot called them, Columbia is a mysterious top seed. Basically, they don't think the Tide is worthy of a top seed or playing for a district title next Friday next week at the Giant Center.

Although Columbia has adopted the "one game at a time" motto, they shouldn't have any trouble with their opening round game tomorrow at Hempfield against Hanover, who is 5-18.

In round two, Saturday at Middletown (hopefully the game will be moved), expect the Tide to face a familiar foe in Pequea Valley. The Braves meet Tri-Valley League finalist Upper Dauphin in the opener. Columbia has beaten the Braves twice this year, both times rather easily. They say its always tough to beat a team three times, so we will see.

That, again, we as writers and fans, can look ahead, would mean a trip to the Giant Center next Wednesday for the semi-finals. By the way, there are four games set for the Giant Center that day. No times have been set. In the semi-finals, the Tide will meet either Trinity or York Catholic and their scoring machine, Jacob Iati. YC already has a win over the Shamrocks. They would meet in round two on Saturday, if they both survive opening round games against Annville-Cleona and Kutztown.

You know what would be really nice, if the Tide plays at the Giant Center next Wednesday, is to have a Tide tailgate at the Parkside before the game. Best cheeseburgers in the world. But, Columbia has to get their first.

In the bottom part of the bracket resides Delone Catholic, the number two seed. After opening against Tulpehocken (remember how bad Columbia beat them at Christmas), they will meet Wyomissing, a Berks County team that isn't bad. They might not have the inside play to keep up with Delone, but they got the rest of the package. The DC-Tulpy game might be a measuring stick.

Also in the bottom bracket is an athletic Milton Hershey team and Schuylkill Valley.

The seeds are: Columbia (1), Delone (2), Milton Hershey (3) and York Catholic (4).

The finals are Friday, Feb. 22 at 6:45, back at the Giant Center.

By the way, winners of Saturday's games are guaranteed a spot in the state playoffs.

Boys AAA

The Steel-High football team had a big season, blazing its way to a Class A state title this past season.

So how about a double dip of state success? It's possible. The Rollers, who are the number two seed in the field, stunned or should I say crushed Susquehanna Township, the top seed in the field, to win the Mid-Penn Conference title.

It's expected that the District Three finals next week will be a re-match. Both teams have enough firepower to make for a long run in the state playoffs.

Susquehanna Township does have some potential land mines (tough games) in their half of the bracket. In the semi-finals, they will meet either Greencastle, a Franklin County team that played in the state finals last year or York-Adams champ West York.

West York also has a tough first round game with Eastern.

In the bottom of the bracket, the Rollers should roll until the semi-finals where they might meet third-seed Daniel Boone or even Lancaster Catholic, who is the 11th seed.

The top seven teams make the state playoffs.

Seeds aer: Susquehanna (1), Steel-High (2), Daniel Boone (3) and Greencastle (4).

Boys AAAA

This is one I can keep short.

The Boys 4-A title will reside in Berks County. Reading by far is the best team in the 4-A field. They are 26-0 and many are already talking about the Red Knights playing Chester and Pennsbury in the state playoffs.

I think the most interesting first round game is Harrisburg vs. McCaskey. Hard to believe that the 'Burg is an 18th seed and had to play a play-in game just to qualify. This one matches two programs with a lot of talent and some pretty good history. They also have a couple of proven coaches in Kurt Smallwood and Steve Powell. I can still see Smallwood's face back when he was at C.D. East, playing in the Columbia Tournament, watching Charlie Detz steal the ball and lumber in for a layup to win the game.

Other L-L teams in the field are Conestoga Valley, Cedar Crest and E-town,who actually play each other and Hempfield.

Of those teams, I see Hempfield and Cedar Crest advancing far. I do like the way E-town plays, but they just might be overmatched in the Class AAAA field.

By the way, whatever happened to Jim Gano, who use to coach at Reading. I remember the wars he use to have with Marty Benkovic, who was a legend at Steel-High.

Also saw recently where former Red Knight Stu Jackson was back in town. Now a suit for the NBA, he went out west to play college ball. Remember that afro?

Seeds are Reading (1), McCaskey (2), C.D. East (3) and Cedar Crest (4).

Girls AAAA, AAA and A

Okay, let's go with the other three classes in girls' basketball.
The L-L League representativesin the 4-A field are Hempfield, the league champions: Penn Manor, Warwick, Garden Spot, Cedar Crest and McCaskey.
The seeded teams are Wilson (1), Red Lion (2), Cedar Crest (3) and Hempfield (4).

One L-L team will be eliminated in the first round as coach Lenny Groft's team opens with Warwick.

Wilson has to face Hempfield in the semi-finals and that should be a whale of a game. Hempfield also has a tough second round game against Central Dauphin.

Red Lion is always battled tested when it comes to the playoffs and would probably have to play a tough Lower Dauphin team in the second round.

Hempfield and Cedar Crest could easily meet in the finals. But both have tough roads to get to that point.

In Class AAA, L-S is the top seed, but are they THAT good. A favorite to possibly play in the L-L League finals last week, the Pioneers were crushed in the first round by Hempfield. Hempfield was a team L-S beat to open the season.

Lancaster Mennonite is the fourth seed and I think they have a tough opener (before the Columbia game Wednesay) with Eastern, the defending Class AAA champs.

Also with a tough first round draw is Lancaster Catholic, who meets third-seeded Boiling Springs in the opener. Lancaster Catholic is the 14th seed and had to win a play-in to qualify for the playoffs. Wow!

Manheim Central is the other L-L representative in the Class AAA field.

In Class A, there are 12 teams. I still say its the Lebanon Catholic Invitational!

More playoff info

Fans should note that there will be no pre-sale of tickets for the opening round of the District Three playoffs.

After the first round, there will be a pre-sale of tickets at the schools. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. A reminder, tickets at the door will cost $5 and for the pre-sale of tickets, schools actually get some money back.

Watch this blog, or the Columbia School District web site for more information.

Class AA girls

It's been a busy few days, so I really haven't had a lot of time to write on this blog.

Today's weather has given me time to get some things done, such as playoff previews.

The Tide girls' game with Wyomissing, as previously noted has been postponed until tomorrow night, hopefully at the same place.
Wyomissing comes into the game with an 11-11 record and the seventh seed in the Class AA field. They are trying to avoid their first losing since since 1996. The Columbia girls are looking to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Columbia might only have six wins in 23 games, but they have lost to some of the top teams in District 3 -- like L-S, the number one seed in AAA; Lancaster Mennonite, the number four seed in AAA, along with Eastern (13th), Manheim Central (11th) and Lancaster Catholic (14th).

In the Class AA field, there are two obvious favorites -- Trinity, the top seed and York Catholic, the two-time state champs, whose only loss is to Trinity im the last two or three years.

The bad thing is that if the Tide girls lose, they draw York Catholic in round two on Friday night. That could be a good thing for the Tide girls as they will get to see what it will take to get back to the elite status the program once enjoyed in District 3.

By the way, 10 of the 16 teams in the Class AA field have .500 or losing records.

Barring any major upsets, which are unlikely, Trinity and York Catholci shouldmeet in the finals next Thursday. Yes, it will be different not seeing Harry DeFrank coaching the Shamrocks.

Schuylkill Valley, who is the third seed and has a Division I recruit, might be the only team to spoil the rematch. I doubt it.

Game is off

Tonight's Columbia girls' basketball playoff game at Garden Spot with Wyomissing has been postponed until tomorrow, at the same time and place.

First Round update

The first game at Hempfield on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. is a Girls AAA game between Lancaster Mennonite and Eastern.

I saw both teams earlier this year. Lancaster Mennonite is a very good team and comes into the game off a tough L-L League final loss to Hempfield. I thought Mennonite was extremely rough mainly because they play like guys.

Eastern wasn't bad when I saw them at the beginning of the season. They lost in the first round of the York-Adams playoffs.

I don't expect Hanover to bring many fans. But there could be some carry over from that first game.

First round vs. Hanover

The second season officially starts for the Columbia boys' basketball team on Wednesday night.

The top-seeded Tide will meet Hanover from the York-Adams League in the first round of the District 3 Class AA playoffs at Hempfield High School. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
There is a girls' game before that, so I don't think it will be that hard to get a seat.

Hanover comes into the game with a 5-16 record. They finished 3-10 in Division IV of the York-Adams League. Delone Catholic won the division with an 11-2 record. Bermudian was second at 6-7. Other teams in the division are Biglerville and Fairfield.

The Nighthawks scored wins over Pine Grove, 48-33; Lititz Christian, 74-33; Biglerville, 71-60 and 61-55; York Tech, 57-56.
They lost three times to Fairfield. As for how they did against Class AA heavyweights York Catholic and Delone, the answer would be not good.

Hanover lost to Delone, 79-38 and 67-32 and to York Catohlic, 85-52. They also lost to York-Adams champ West York, 80-55 and 78-28.

There are two common opponents-- Eastern and Northeastern. Hanover lost to Eastern 72-42 and Northeastern 62-35.

On paper, this looks like a "mercy rule" game. Columbia needs to come to play and not look ahead to playing the winner of the Pequea Valley-Upper Dauphin game in the second round.

I'll have more of a Class AA preview by Monday.

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

Updated power ratings

Here are the updated power rankings through last night:
CLASS AA Record PIAA Pts
1. Columbia 21-2 21-2 7.30
2. Delone Catholic 20-2 20-2 7.27
3. Milton Hershey 17-5 17-5 6.64
4. York Catholic 17-6 17-6 6.57
5. Schuylkill Valley 16-5 16-5 6.52
6. Trinity 13-8 13-8 6.38
7. Wyomissing 15-5 15-5 6.00
8. Upper Dauphin 17-4 16-4 5.80
9. Pequea Valley 13-10 13-10 5.52
10. Halifax 16-7 16-6 5.36
11. Newport 13-6 13-6 5.21
12. Kutztown 8-14 8-14 4.14
13. Fairfield 6-17 6-17 3.96
14. Annville-Cleona 6-16 6-16 3.86
14. Biglerville 6-16 6-16 3.86
16. Hanover 5-18 5-18 3.61
------------------------------------
Tulpehocken 5-16 5-16 3.52
Juniata 6-14 6-14 3.20

CODE: Overall record; record vs. PIAA teams and power ratings.

Power ratings

Here are the latest District 3 power ratings. The tournament brackets will be released next Sunday.
Boys Class AA
1. COLUMBIA, 20-1, 7.52
2. Delone Catholic, 19-2, 7.29
3. Milton Hershey, 17-2, 7.25
4. York Catholic, 16-6, 6.50
5. Schuylkill Valley, 15-5, 6.45
6. Trinity, 12-7, 6.42
7. Wyomissing, 14-4, 6.11
8. Upper Dauphin, 14-4, 5.67
9. Pequea Valley, 12-9, 5.52
10. Halifax, 15-7, 5.24
11. Newport, 12-6, 5.17
12. Kutztown, 8-12, 4.30
13. Fairfield, 6-16, 4.05
14. Annville-Cleona, 5-14, 3.89
15. Hanover, 5-16, 3.67
16. Biglerville, 5-16, 3.62
Girls Class AA
1. Trinity, 17-3, 7.60
2. York Catholic, 21-1, 7.59
3. Schuylkill Valley, 17-3, 6.90
4. Newport, 13-7, 5.20
5. Holy Name, 13-8, 5.39
6. Milton Hershey, 10-10, 5.15
7. Wyomissing, 10-10, 4.90
8. Camp Hill, 7-14, 4.24
9. Upper Dauphin, 9-10, 4.16
10. COLUMBIA, 6-15, 4.10
11. Bishop McDevitt, 3-18, 4.10
12. Antietam, 8-10, 4.00
13. Hanover, 6-14, 4.00
14. Brandywine Heights, 5-15, 3.70
15. Biglerville, 5-16, 3.62
16. Pequea Valley, 4-17, 3.33

District 3 power ratings

Here are the Boys' Class AA power ratings
1. Columbia, 18-1 (7.58)
2. Delone Catholic, 17-1 (7.50)
3. Milton Hershey, 15-2 (7.12)
4. York Catholic, 15-5 (6.60)
5. Trinity, 11-6 (6.41)
6. Schuylkill Valley, 13-5 (6.33)
7. Upper Dauphin, 13-2 (6.07)
8. Wyomissing, 12-4 (6.00)
9. Pequea Valley, 10-9 (5.42)
10. Halifax, 13-6 (5.28)
11. Newport, 10-6 (4.94)
12. Kutztown, 7-11 (4.33)
13. Fairfield, 6-13 (4.32)
14. Anville-Cleona, 5-12 (4.06)
15. Tulpehocken, 5-13 (3.72)
16. Hanover, 4-15 (3.58)
Girls Class AA
1. Triniy, 16-2, 7.72
2. York Catholic, 20-1, 7.57
3. Schuylkill Valley, 14-3, 6.88
4. Newport, 11-7, 5.06
5. Holy Name, 11-8, 5.00
6. Milton Hershey, 8-10, 4.83
7. Wyomissing, 8-9, 4.76
8. Columbia, 6-13, 4.32
9. Upper Dauphin, 8-9, 4.24
10. Camp Hill, 6-13, 4.21
11. Bishop McDevitt, 3-16, 4.11
12. Brandywine Heights, 5-12, 4.06
13. Hanover, 5-13, 3.89
14. Antietam, 6-9, 3.73
15. Biglerville, 4-15, 3.53
16. Pequea Valley, 3-16, 3.26.