Who would have thought it possible?

Lower Merion, winners of 15 straight and 19 of 20, did the impossible Saturday night. The Aces knocked off the heavy favorite Conestoga, 46-41, to claim the Central League championship.

Lower Merion thwarted Conestoga's bid for consecutive league championships. The Pioneers shared the 2007-08 title with Ridley a year ago.

The usual suspects - Richmond signee Greg Robbins (pictured) and Harley Williamson - combined to score 19 points and were largely outshined by teammate Alon Seltzer's 18 for the Aces (20-4). The Pioneers (22-2) were done in by the 2-spot they put up in the third quarter.

It's safe to say everyone expected Conestoga, which won its first 20 games of the year, to claim the title. But now the Pioneers back into the District One Class AAAA playoffs having lost two of their last four games --- both to the Aces.

Bad news for Penncrest fans: According to Lions coach Mike Doyle, the first-round matchup Friday in the Central League championship tournament between Penncrest and Lower Merion has been sold out.

I know what you're thinking: "Already?"

Yep, it's true. This should come as no surprise, as the site of the game (Bala Cynwyd Middle School) is considerably smaller than almost all high school gymnasiums. It sold out in a hurry earlier this winter, too, when the girls teams from Lower Merion and Upper Darby played there to determine first place in the league standings.

There are two things Penncrest fans can do:
1. Hope the Lions advance to Saturday's title game, at Ridley.
2. Stay close to the Daily Times for the latest hoops results.

OK, so Conestoga losing to Lower Merion assured us that there will be - for the first time in the league's history - a playoff to determine the Central League champion. Here's what I know so far:

TEAMS INVOLVED: Conestoga, Lower Merion, Penncrest and Upper Darby.

SEEDS: Conestoga is the No. 1 seed and Lower Merion is No. 2. Those cannot change. Penncrest is third in the standings, followed by Upper Darby. The Royals (14-8, 12-4) put pressure on the Lions (17-4, 11-4), who were inactive Tuesday, by defeating Ridley in their season finale. Penncrest plays Marple Newtown Wednesday night to determine final seeding.

LOCATIONS: Friday night's games will be held at the gyms of the higher seeds, so Conestoga and Lower Merion will host. Lower Merion's game will be played at Bala Cynwyd Middle School. Saturday's championship will be at Ridley.

TIMES: Conestoga's first-round game is set for 7 p.m. Lower Merion's opener will tip off at 7:30 p.m. And the title game will start at 7 p.m. Saturday.

PRE-SALE TICKETS: Only Lower Merion will sell tickets beforehand, as Bala Cynwyd Middle School does not have as many seats as normal high school gyms.

QUESTIONS: Springfield athletic director and Central League boys basketball chair Glenn Mallon asks that all further questions be addressed by the respective schools' athletic departments.

David has slain Goliath.

OK, that's a little extreme ... but Lower Merion knocked off previously unbeaten Conestoga Monday night, 46-44, to force the first-ever Central League playoff tournament.

Greg Robbins and Harley Williamson scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Aces (17-4, 14-2), who have won 12 in a row after losing uncharacteristically three of their first four games of the season. Jake Cohen was held to nine points as the Pioneers (20-1, 14-1) lost for the first time all year.

What does this mean?

Well, now the Central League will hold a four-team playoff tournament to determine its league champion. The first-round games will be held Thursday night at the sites of the higher seeds and the title game will be held Saturday night at Ridley High School.

At this moment, this is how the semifinal matchups shake out:

• No. 3 Penncrest (17-4, 12-4) at No. 2 Lower Merion (17-4, 14-2)
• No. 4 Upper Darby (13-6, 11-4) at No. 1 Conestoga (20-1, 14-1)

Stay close to the Daily Times for more on the Central League tournament.

The tentative schedule for this year's Primetime Shootout fell into my lap recently, so I figured I'd toss this up. There are some local games of interest:

Friday, Jan. 23 – Rutgers University
5:00 PM – Immaculata (NJ) vs. St. Joseph’s (NJ)
6:30 PM – Duncanville (TX) vs. LeFlore (Mobile, ALA)
8:00 PM - Paterson Catholic (NJ) vs. Lincoln (Brooklyn,NY)
9:30 PM – Plainfield (NJ) vs. Piscataway (NJ)

Friday, Jan. 30 – Villanova University
6:00 PM – ANC (PA) vs. Bishop McNamara (MD)
7:30 PM – Penn Wood (PA) vs. Neumann-Goretti (PA)
9:00 PM - Chester (PA) vs. Roman Catholic (PA)

Saturday, Jan. 31 – Villanova University
12:30 PM – Our Savior New American (NY) vs. N. Guilford (NC)
2:00 PM – Pennsbury (PA) vs. Norristown (PA)
3:30 PM – Lower Merion (PA) vs. Coatesville (PA)
5:00 PM - Camden Catholic (NJ) vs. Malvern Prep (PA)
6:30 PM - Plymouth-Whitemarsh (PA) vs. Holy Ghost Prep (PA)
8:00 PM - North Catholic (PA) vs. Jamesville-DeWitt (NY)

The obvious dates to keep an eye on are Jan. 30 and 31, with Penn Wood and Chester playing the traditional Catholic League powers. And Lower Merion and Coatesville, two teams that fell one win shy of the Class AAAA state playoffs in 2007-08, seems like a decent matchup. And Holy Ghost, my alma mater, is a team to watch out for in the Class AAA playoffs.

The team Chester will face in the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals closely resembles the Clippers.

That's partly because Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said he used the Clippers' scheduling process as a model for his own team.

"We've always tried to overschedule," he said over the phone. "When we did that in the beginning, we lost some and won some. The last couple years, we've been able to win more than we're losing. ...We're not at the level where Chester is where they can play any team in the country on any given night, but we're getting there."

The Falcons (30-2) have beaten the likes of Lower Merion, Penn Wood (twice) and Ridley (twice). They beat New Jersey Section IV champ Linden and narrowly lost to Oklahoma's Putnam City, which is home to four Division I players.

Most of that can be credited to junior Dalton Pepper (pictured), a 6-6 guard-forward who is receiving plenty of recruiting attention. Word has it when West Virginia was in town to play Villanova, Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins skipped out on his team's walkthrough to see one of Pepper's district-playoff games.

For more of the Chester-Pennsbury match-up, check back to Gettin' Schooled leading up to the game. Wednesday's edition of the Daily Times will have plenty of coverage as well.

The opening round of the District One Class AAAA playoffs is through and the field of 11 Delaware County teams has narrowed to five, which will play second-round games on Wednesday:

Three of the advancing teams were from the Del Val League. Click the link for a recap.
No. 1 Chester took down No. 32 Methacton in a game that wasn't as close as the final score, 68-56, would indicate.
No. 5 Penn Wood, led by junior guard Duane Johnson (pictured), beat No. 28 Central Bucks South 55-42.
No. 18 Glen Mills needed the final seconds (and a couple free throws) to secure a win over No. 15 Plymouth Whitemarsh.

Two teams from the Central League kept their seasons alive. Click the link for a recap.
No. 6 Ridley routed No. 27 Owen J. Roberts, 69-43.
No. 8 Lower Merion handled No. 25 Academy Park, 91-58. But the game was more about coach Rick Pergolini's return to the Knights' bench than a playoff win. Pergolini said he is days away from a full comeback, which would include returning to his guidance counselor role at the school. Click the link above for a full story on the game.

Ushering in the playoffs is like celebrating two birthdays in the same year. It's that much fun. I'm sure there are plenty of over-prepared coaches, nervous parents and anxious players who'd contest that statement.

The District One Class AAAA playoffs begin tonight, with nine Delaware County teams trying to keep their seasons alive. For a full schedule of the games, check out the print edition of the Daily Times. I'll be at the Lower Merion/Academy Park game, so pick up Saturday's paper for more on that.

In terms of playoff previews, I wrote one for each of tonight's games in addition to a feature on Ridley senior Dan Robinson, who carries the offensive load for the Green Raiders. There's also a story recapping readers on the District One Class AAA playoff field, which was announced Thursday.

Enjoy tonight's games. It's the time of year for good basketball.

The Primetime Shootout proved to be quite entertaining. In the first night of the four-night, two-weekend extravaganza, there were plenty of reasons for basketball fans to buy a ticket:

1. Jeannette forward Terrelle Pryor (pictured), the No. 1 football recruit in the country, scored 21 points and was named team MVP in their 80-70 loss to Chester.
2. Clippers guard Karon Burton never ceases to amaze me. Fighting the flu last week, he turned in a solid effort. Tonight, he won team MVP with a team-high 32 points.
3. American Christian's Tyreke Evans & Co. traveled from Aston to Villanova, drawing crowds and defensive attention against the formerly-top-ranked St. Benedict's.

For more on the Primetime Shootout, be sure to check out Saturday's Daily Times. Columnist extraordinaire Jack McCaffery and I tag-teamed the event, so pick up a copy today.

American Christian is back in action here Saturday against Academy of the New Church in the Kobe Bryant Classic. Also participating in that event are Lower Merion and Ridley, who go to battle with the Central League title on the line. Hold onto your seats.

The big news Thursday night was Lower Merion getting one step closer toward clinching the regular-season title in the Central League. The Aces' win over Radnor coupled with Haverford completing a season-sweep over Ridley puts Lower Merion in the driver's seat. Lower Merion and Ridley play one another Saturday, which could determine whether the teams share the crown or LM gets it outright.

Of course, there were some other goings-on from the hardwood:

• Springfield, behind 20 points from Lou Meindl, snapped an 11-game losing streak and knocked off Upper Darby.
• Glen Mills took a 30-24 lead against Chester into halftime before the Clippers snapped out of it and stifled the Bulls. The win solidifies a perfect 10-0 season in Del Val League play for Chester.
• Cardinal O'Hara got thumped by Neumann-Goretti, 85-49. If the Lions had any inkling of sneaking into the Catholic League playoffs, that's out the window now.

More to come Friday night, when I'll be blogging live (wireless Internet permitting) from Villanova's Pavilion and the Primetime Shootout. Don't miss it.

Something interesting is brewing in the Central League. No, Kobe Bryant is not coming back to play with Lower Merion for the stretch run, but his Aces and two other teams entered the week in contention for the regular-season title (and another just out of reach). Here's how it all shakes out:

1. Ridley (13-2 in league play) is 2-0 vs. Conestoga, 1-0 vs. Upper Darby and 0-1 vs. Lower Merion. Games remaining: 3. Key game: Saturday vs. Lower Merion. If the Green Raiders lose the game, they also lose the title.

2. Conestoga (12-3 in league play) is 2-0 vs. Lower Merion, 1-1 vs. Upper Darby and 0-2 vs. Ridley. Games remaining: 3. Key game: None. All three are against sub-.500 squads, but the Pioneers own the second-place tiebreaker over Lower Merion.

3. Lower Merion (12-3 in league play) is 1-0 vs. Ridley, 1-1 vs. Upper Darby and 0-2 vs. Conestoga. Games remaining: 3. Key game: Saturday vs. Ridley. The Aces will ascend to No. 1 with a win. Lose, and they're mired in third place.

4. Upper Darby is 9-6 in league play and worth mentioning because of its respectable record against all three of these teams. The Royals are 1-1 vs. Lower Merion, 1-1 vs. Conestoga and 0-1 vs. Ridley.

Now we play the waiting game.

Any boxing fans out there? You know those long, drawn-out heavyweight bouts in which every round gets more intense than the next? We're going to see some parallels between those fights and the fights for first place in the next couple weeks.

Take a look at the top two teams in each Delaware County league and the late-season matchups that will have postseason implications:

DEL VAL LEAGUE
1. Chester 16-1, 6-0
2. Penn Wood 14-4, 5-1
The Clippers beat the Patriots by 36 points on Dec. 11, but they square off Tuesday with first place on the line.

CENTRAL LEAGUE
1. Lower Merion 14-4, 11-2
2. Ridley 16-3, 11-2
The Aces hold the tiebreaker, having beaten the Green Raiders, 47-44, on Jan. 8. They play again at Villanova on Feb. 2.

CATHOLIC LEAGUE SOUTH
1. Roman Catholic 10-2, 7-0
2. Monsignor Bonner 13-4, 5-2
The Friars have a chance for revenge on Feb. 5, when they will play the Cahillites at their cramped gym in North Philadelphia.

INTER-AC
1. Germantown Academy 12-7, 4-0
2. Chestnut Hill 14-5, 3-1

OTHER SCHOOLS
Christian Academy 12-8
Delco Christian 9-6
Garnet Valley 9-7

For complete league standings, be sure to pick up Tuesday's edition of the Daily Times.