Penncrest assistant coach Jason Ritter is an algebra teacher, which means he fiddles with numbers for fun. (Crazy, right?) Curious where his Lions would be seeded in the upcoming District One Class AAAA playoff bracket - if the season ended today - Ritter went to work.

He volunteered his time and effort to assemble the top 20 seeds of the district-playoff field. He utilized various Web sites to piece together a points system that, while it's highly unofficial, should provoke some water-cooler talk among the types who enjoy that sort of thing. Will Brown and Penn Wood and Del Val League rival Chester, and Robert Pittman (pictured above), will factor in somewhere.

Here's what we're Ritter found, based on teams' records through Sunday:
1 Plymouth-Whitemarsh (14.4697 points)
2 Penn Wood (13.0*)
3 Neshaminy (12.79215)
4 Souderton (12.6101)
5 WC Rustin (12.3706)
6 Council Rock North (12.0545)
7 Coatesville (11.609)
8 Lower Merion (11.5519)
9 Bensalem (11.3967)
10 Penncrest (11.3747)
11 Central Bucks South (11.265)
12 Chester (11.207)
13 Norristown (10.9497)
14 Upper Dublin (10.6237)
15 Downingtown West (10.319)
16 Spring-Ford (9.9997)
17 Pennsbury (9.9008)
18 Owen J. Roberts (9.8868)
19 Wissahickon (9.8465)
20 WC Henderson (8.1725)

And here's what we can disseminate from all of this:
*** Penncrest would have the 10 seed for the second straight year. Despite the Lions' gaudy record, their only win against a team on this points table is No. 20 West Chester Henderson.
***Chester, at No. 12, would have its lowest seed in recent memory. However, who among us would want to face the Clippers in March? No takers? Didn't think so.
***Plymouth-Whitemarsh is good. Quite good. The Colonials' only loss is to perennial national power St. Benedict's (N.J.) And Penn Wood, well, let's just say it wouldn't surprise anyone to see an all PW district final.
***Neshaminy is kind of a surprise. The Redskins have a couple senior leaders who provide nice balance. But they primarily lean on Ryan Arcidiacano, a sharp-shooting sophomore. Sorry, but you can never count on an underclassman in the playoffs.

For dates and bracket specifics, visit District One's Web site.

Welcome to Schwartz Gymnasium at Widener University, the site of Monday's installment of the Jameer Nelson Classic.

I'll be on hand for a couple of the games. Stay close to Gettin' Schooled for odds and ends on each of them and check back regularly for results.

NESHAMINY 63, LOWER MERION 58: Without leading scorer Alon Seltzer, the Aces did everything they could do to stay competitive, before suffering their first loss. Lower Merion, on first glance, has a really well-balanced team. But the Redskins' Ryan Arcidiacano is better. The sophomore guard had a game-best 21 points and could be on his way to reaching 1,000 points before his junior year. Seltzer has been out since dislocating his knee cap in a game against Upper Darby.

ST. JOSEPH'S PREP 62, MARPLE NEWTOWN 42: Defending the 3 isn't a recommendation. In this game, it was. The Hawks made 2 of 19 3-point attempts before giving way to their bench. Senior Joe Nardi knocked down seven of them on his way to 23 points. For Marple Ryan Hanley and Soutiri Sapnas had 15 and 11 points, respectively. Check out Tuesday's Daily Times for a full report.

ALSO ON THE SCENE: Archbishop Carroll All-Delco D.J. Irving, wearing a red Boston University hat ... Penncrest senior guard Rodney Duncan ... Ridley coach Keith Heinerichs, doing some advanced scouting, as were dozens of other District One coaches ... Widener guard Chris White. A member of Penn Wood's state-title team a year ago, White was wearing his letter jacket - and getting hassled by Widener athletic personnel for doing so. "Don't you have any Widener gear?" one asked.