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Professor's Proverbs -- February 23, 2012
The District 10 basketball playoffs began two days earlier than expected this week with three play-in games on the boys' side. I must admit it was a bit surprising to see those play-in games but the District 10 committee should be praised for erring on the side of the student-athletes. Approximately three dozen more players got to experience the 2012 playoffs, which I don't think anyone would consider to be a negative.
Now that the quarterfinals have been set, it's time for Professor Briggs to bring back (for the first time in a few years) District 10 Playoff Predictions.
I have had some success in predictions over the years. In 2008, Bob Greenburg and I were the only ones who publicly predicted Wilmington would defeat West Catholic for the Class AA state championship in football. In 1997, back when I was simply "Adjunct," I predicted District 10 Class AA boys basketball runner-up Cambridge Springs would advance to the state semifinals (they did).
That being said, I've had some real stinkers over the years too but for some reason, I don't remember them ... Without further delay, here are Professor Briggs' predictions for the quarterfinal round of the District 10 tournaments.
GIRLS
Class A
Linesville (16-6) vs. Commodore Perry (8-14) -- Saturday, 1 p.m. -- Kennedy Catholic High School (Winner faces Kennedy Catholic in semifinals): This is a rematch of a February 7 game in which Linesville earned a 62-31 win at Commodore Perry ... Linesville played eight games against teams with "Conneaut" in its name (three vs. Conneaut Lake, three vs. Conneaut Valley, two vs. Conneaut, Ohio) and went 6-2 in those games ... Linesville made it to the D-10 semifinals last year and has a lot back from last year.
Professor's Pick: Linesville, 55-43
Farrell (15-6) vs. Saegertown (15-7) -- Saturday, 1 p.m. -- Meadville High School (Winner faces Conneaut Valley in semifinals): A great quarterfinal-round matchup between two perennial playoff teams ... Saegertown has won eight of its last nine games overall while Farrell is 8-2 in its last 10 ... Professor Briggs feels Farrell has two things really working in its favor: more offensive firepower and the experience of a rugged non-conference schedule that featured games with Slippery Rock, Greenville, General McLane and Hickory ... Saegertown's season-high in points is 48.
Professor's Pick: Farrell, 56-46
Class AA
Villa Maria (18-2) vs. Wilmington (12-10) -- Saturday, 1 p.m. -- Fairview High School (Winner faces Sharpsville-Seneca winner in semifinals): A relatively young Wilmington squad has put together a very nice 2011-12 season, somewhat under the radar ... Alanna Elliott has emerged as one of our area's premier scoring threats for Wilmington ... Villa Maria spent much of the season ranked No. 1 in the state in Class AA ... Villa Maria is the defending district and state champion.
Professor's Pick: Villa Maria, 75-50
Sharpsville (16-6) vs. Seneca (15-7) -- Saturday, 2:30 p.m. -- Kennedy Catholic High School (Winner faces Villa Maria-Wilmington winner in semifinals): Sharpsville enters the tournament on a 10-game win streak ... This is a rematch from a regular-season game, won by Seneca December 17, 56-38, in Wattsburg ... That was Sharpsville's fourth game in six days ... All six of Sharpsville's losses came to District 10 playoff teams ... All seven of Seneca's losses came to D-10 playoff teams ... Seneca went 2-4 in its last six games.
Professor's Pick: Sharpsville 46-41
Girard (18-3) vs. Sharon (15-7) -- Saturday, 5:30 p.m. -- Fairview High School (Winner faces Greenville-Cambridge Springs winner in semifinals): The final game of a quadrupleheader at Fairview should be a very interesting clash between two perennial playoff teams ... Girard defeated visiting Sharon 46-30 January 16 in a non-league encounter ... Girard's three losses this year are to Kennedy Catholic and Villa Maria (0-2) ... Sharon went 4-7 against playoff teams while Girard went 7-3 ... Professor Briggs has a hunch about this one.
Professor's Upset Special: Sharon, 42-39
Greenville (19-3) vs. Cambridge Springs (13-8) -- Saturday, 4:00 p.m. -- Kennedy Catholic High School (Winner faces Girard-Sharon winner in semifinals): Year in and year out, Cambridge Springs seemingly always manages to make its way into the District 10 playoffs ... And each year, the Blue Devils are a real handful ... Professor Briggs expects that to be the case again this weekend ... The Spa went 2-7 against playoff teams while Greenville went 9-3 ... Greenville has been pretty consistent throughout the season.
Professor's Pick: Greenville, 49-40
Class AAA
Mercyhurst Prep (22-0) vs. Grove City (14-8) -- Saturday, 4 p.m. -- Fairview High School (Winner faces Franklin-North East winner in semifinals): Grove City has put together a fine season under head coach T.L. Eller, who has done a great job of rebuilding the GCHS program ... Unfortunately for the Eagles, they must face undefeated Mercyhurst Prep in the quarterfinals ... Mercyhurst is the only team to have defeated Villa Maria this year ... It will be a supreme test for Grove City, which features numerous freshmen and sophomores in the rotation and has only two seniors on the roster.
Professor's Pick: Mercyhurst Prep, 75-53
Franklin (20-2) vs. North East (15-7) -- Saturday, 2:30 p.m. -- Meadville High School (Winner faces Mercyhurst-Grove City winner in semifinals): Franklin finished in a tie for first place in Region 5-AAA but lost a tiebreaker with Hickory ... Franklin won the first meeting, January 18, 78-57 at "The Castle" ... North East has won four straight entering the playoffs.
Professor's Pick: Franklin, 68-58
General McLane (16-6) vs. Slippery Rock (14-8) -- Saturday, 2:30 p.m. -- Fairview High School (Winner faces Hickory-Warren winner in semifinals): A very interesting and even matchup, at least on paper ... Both teams have played tough non-conference schedules ... Slippery Rock went 5-6 over its last 11 games while McLane won 11 of 13 ... Definitely a coin flip game; the fact that McLane finished strong and is playing close to home tips the scale slightly that way.
Professor's Pick: General McLane, 59-55
Hickory (20-2) vs. Warren (15-7) -- Saturday, 5:30 p.m. -- Kennedy Catholic High School (Winner faces General McLane-Slippery Rock winner in semifinals): Hickory's run to the region title this year has been nothing short of impressive ... The Hornets have won 20 of 21 ... Hickory has not been in a game decided by less than 10 points since a season-opening 45-42 loss to Clarion (19-3) ... Warren is 1-2 in games decided by five points or less ... Professor Briggs has been quite impressed with Hickory's cohesion, execution and talent ... There's a reason Hickory hasn't been in many close games this year.
Professor's Pick: Hickory, 62-51
BOYS
Class A
Eisenhower (13-9) vs. Vision Quest (11-8) -- Friday, 6:30 p.m. -- Meadville High School (Winner faces West Middlesex in semifinals): Eisenhower and Vision Quest could both be considered the "road warriors" of District 10 Class A ... Eisenhower logged plenty of miles traveling to Crawford County, including two-hour rides to Linesville and Conneaut Valley in league play ... Vision Quest had to make two trips to West Middlesex and also two journeys to Kennedy Catholic ... VQ closed with four straight wins while Ike won at Linesville to clinch a playoff berth ... Professor Briggs thinks Vision Quest is a dark horse contender in this draw.
Professor's Pick: Vision Quest, 62-55
Kennedy Catholic (13-8) vs. Linesville (11-11) -- Friday, 6:30 p.m. -- Farrell High School (Winner faces Cochranton in semifinals): Both teams have been up and down throughout the 2011-12 season ... Kennedy surged at the start of 2012 by winning seven straight ... Linesville has been quite streaky, starting out 0-3, then going to 3-3, 3-5, 7-5, 7-7, 10-8 and ultimately 11-11 ... Kennedy played Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) Tuesday night in a playoff tuneup for both teams ... Professor Briggs likes the fact that the Golden Eagles stayed sharp for the playoffs with that game.
Professor's Pick: Kennedy Catholic, 60-49
Class AA
Mercyhurst Prep (20-2) vs. Wilmington (9-13) -- Friday, 6:30 p.m. -- Edinboro University (Winner faces Sharpsville-Saegertown winner in semifinals): Mercyhurst Prep posted an impressive regular season, earning wins over Warren, Central Tech, McDowell, WPIAL playoff teams Shenango and Neshannock and a win over Pigeon Force (Tenn.) over the holidays ... Wilmington lost to Shenango twice as well as Neshannock ... Wilmington is 4-0 in games decided by three points or less.
Professor's Pick: Mercyhurst Prep, 52-40
Sharpsville (14-8) vs. Saegertown (11-11) -- Friday, 8:00 p.m. -- Meadville High School (Winner faces Mercyhurst Prep-Wilmington winner in semifinals): Saegertown started out 3-10 but finished hotter than Alabama asphalt in August, winning eight of nine ... That being said, Saegertown profited from playing Youngsville (0-18), Union City (3-18) and Maplewood (7-15) twice each during that stretch ... Sharpsville closed with seven straight wins, including two in overtime ... Professor Briggs likes the makeup of the Sharpsville team.
Professor's Pick: Sharpsville, 65-54
North East (17-5) vs. Cambridge Springs (15-7) -- Friday, 8:00 p.m. -- Edinboro University (Winner faces Lakeview-Fairview winner in semifinals): This is a rematch of a December 22 game that Spa won on its home floor, 66-61 ... Cambridge Springs went 6-5 against playoff teams while North East went 9-4 ... This looks like a game that the higher the score, the more that favors Cambridge Springs.
Professor's Pick: North East, 41-38
Lakeview (17-5) vs. Fairview (12-11) -- Friday, 8:00 p.m. -- Farrell High School (Winner faces North East-Cambridge Springs winner in semifinals): Lakeview has put together another strong season and went 9-1 in winning the league title ... The Sailors won nine of their last 10 to close the regular season ... Fairview won a pigtail game with Northwestern Tuesday night to advance into the quarterfinals ... Fairview has some very nice road wins and some puzzling home setbacks ... Fairview always seems to work its way into the mix in the District 10 playoffs and will no doubt give Lakeview all it can handle.
Professor's Pick: Lakeview, 50-48
Class AAA
General McLane (21-0) vs. Franklin (18-5) -- Thursday, 8:00 p.m. -- Edinboro University (Winner faces Hickory-Central Tech winner in semifinals): In one of the great shockers, General McLane gets to play a quarterfinal game at Edinboro University's McComb Field House ... That being said, the Lancers are 21-0 and probably should get some advantage over a team that had to win a pigtail game to get into the quarterfinals ... Franklin will be no picnic for McLane, however, after having gone through the rugged Region 6-AAA schedule ... The Knights are a different team away from home, however, having gone 4-4 on the road in league play.
Professor's Pick: General McLane, 67-61
Hickory (14-8) vs. Central Tech (11-11) -- Thursday, 6:30 p.m. -- Slippery Rock University (Winner faces General McLane-Franklin winner in semifinals): Both teams struggled at the end of the season ... Central Tech lost six of eight while Hickory dropped three of its last four ... Hickory has been somewhat of a surprise this year and has been a classic case of the Whole being greater than the Sum of the Parts ... You can make a very strong case for Nick Cannone to be our area's Coach of the Year on the boys side, considering the team's relative youth.
Professor's Pick: Hickory, 54-50
Warren (17-5) vs. Sharon (14-8) -- Thursday, 6:30 p.m. -- Edinboro University (Winner faces Grove City-Girard winner in semifinals): Warren enters the tournament 9-2 in its last 11 games with the losses coming in OT against McDowell (52-50) and a 68-63 home loss to General McLane ... The Dragons are averaging 71 points per game over their last seven games ... For the season, Warren is averaging 68 points per game and taking out two 38-point efforts in a season sweep of Girard (38-35 and 38-32), the season average is 71 per game ... Sharon is 12-1 when scoring 69 points or more; the lone loss was 80-70 against undefeated New Castle ... The best way to beat Sharon is to slow down the pace ... That goes against Warren's obvious strength ... The scoreboard operator at EUP better be ready.
Professor's Pick: Sharon, 85-79
Grove City (17-5) vs. Girard (15-8) -- Thursday, 8:00 p.m. -- Slippery Rock University (Winner faces Warren-Sharon winner in semifinals): While Warren and Sharon will try to both reach triple-digits, Grove City and Girard may embark on a march to 40 points ... Girard has held 16 of 23 foes to 40 points or less ... Girard has only broken the 50-point barrier four times offensively, however ... Grove City has held 12 teams to under 50 points and has scored over 50 in 19 of 22 games ... Girard's slowdown style often frustrates opponents ... Like Girard, Grove City is a very disciplined team and has no qualms about digging in for a defensive struggle ... Look for head coach Don Fee to earn win No. 400 in a white-knuckler.
Professor's Pick: Grove City, 39-35
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