CENTRE COUNTY — The 2026 District 6 Basketball playoffs are set to begin on Monday, Feb. 16 and extend until Feb. 28.
The sites for this year’s championships will be Mount Aloysius College, St. Francis University, Penn State Altoona or other sites if necessary.
Of local Centre County teams, State College, Penns Valley and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy will all qualify for the tournament, but their final seedings and matchups will not be available until Feb. 12 which is too late to be included in this issue of The Gazette.
State College sliding into D6-6A playoffs
The State College Little Lion boys basketball team, 11-8 heading into the final week of the regular season, hit a speed bump and lost its final three games of the regular season.
The losses at Central York, Central Dauphin and Erie McDowell did not knock the team out of the No. 1 position in the D6-6A playoff rankings ahead of Mifflin County and Altoona.
The Lions’ slide began with a close, 62-54 loss on Feb. 2 at Central York after the Panthers rallied in the fourth quarter to take the victory, their 17th of the season.
Micah James led SC in the game with 20 points, and Spencer Neilson scored 15, but the Lions could not hold on down the stretch.
Three days later at 19-2 Central Dauphin, the Lions started the game ice cold and paid the price in an 83-55 loss to the Rams.
SC was down 36-28 at halftime, and then CD went on a 27-12 run after the break and rode that to the victory.
At Erie McDowell on Saturday, the Lions again fell back early and could not recover in the second half in what eventually turned into a 68-47 loss.
McDowell battled to a 10-point lead at the half, 31-21, and then kept the Lions at bay from there to take their 16th win of the season.
James was the only Lion in double figures with 10 points.
SC retained the No. 1 position in the district rankings with a final record of 11-11, just ahead of 11-10 Mifflin County.
Mifflin could tie or overtake State College with a win in its final game.
If No. 3 Altoona, at 5-15, enters the tournament, the No. 2 team would meet the Mountain Lions in the District 5 semifinal with the winner advancing to play the No. 1 seed.
From there, the D6 Champions will enter the Regional Tournament, with possibly an important playoff game at McDowell.
St. Joseph’s is No. 3 in D6-1A playoff rankings
Ethan Bowen scored 31 points and Isaiah Crispin threw in 28 as the St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy boys’ basketball team completed a rousing comeback to defeat Neumann Regional Academy, 75-74, on Feb. 7 at Neumann.
Down 62-51 heading into the final eight minutes of the game, the WolfPack staged a 24-12 rally down the stretch that saved the one-point victory.
Bowen and Crispin, beyond the 59 points they scored, added a total of 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals to their game stats as SJCA took its 14th win of the season against 8 losses.
The win for the ‘Pack was their second in a row and sixth in their last seven games.
It also solidified the team’s D6 playoff standing at the No. 3 position in the 1-A rankings.
With six teams qualifying for the tournament, SJCA would likely be matched up in the First Round at home against either Harmony Area, 12-8, or Bishop Carroll Catholic, 10-11, depending upon how both finish their seasons.
Williamsburg, 18-4, is the No. 1 seed and Conemaugh Valley is presently seeded No. 2. Earlier in the season, SJCA suffered a close loss to Williamsburg, 52-48, on Dec. 5.
Penns Valley seeks win over Juniata in season finale
Penns Valley Rams finished their LHAC regular season with a 10-8 conference record and a 13-8 overall record.
Much will be riding on their final game against Juniata at home on Feb. 12.
A win in that game will likely secure the No. 5 seed in the D6-3A bracket, but a loss would overturn the tables and give Penn Cambria (14-7), Tyrone (11-8), Southern Huntingdon (13-8) and Marion Center (12-8) all chances to move up.
With 11 teams qualifying, the Rams will qualify but play-in games or a first-round bye could come into play as well as a possible home game.
On Monday night in Clearfield, the Rams completed their LHAC season with a 75-61 loss to the Bison.
Clearfield’s Braison Patrick scored 27 points for the Bison, and EV Maines scored 26, including his career 1,000th, as the Bison steadily pulled away in the second half for their 19th win of the season against just 2 losses.
The loss put the Rams, who were led by Fletcher Ironside with 18 points and Noah Patel with 16, at 13-8 for the season overall with that important seeding game coming up against Juniata.
Other Scores:
Feb. 9
BEA 48, Bellefonte 40
Central 65, Philipsburg-Osceola 28
