The District 6 high school boys basketball playoffs have begun, and three local teams qualified for this year’s tournament.
Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley will compete in the AA bracket, while State College will enter the 6A bracket.
Here is a look at Bald Eagle Area’s opening game at Richland as well as a preview of the Rams and Little Lions games coming up this weekend:
No. 6 Penns Valley (11-11) at No. 3 Tyrone (16-6)
D6, AA First Round
Friday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.
Tyrone
At 11-11 for the season, the Penns Valley Rams qualified as the No. 6 seed in the D6, AA rankings and will match up with LHAC foe Tyrone in the first round of the tournament on Friday, Feb. 23, in Tyrone.
Penns Valley comes into the game after completing a 3-3 record in its last six games that included conference wins over Somerset and Juniata along with a non-league win over Juniata.
The Rams began the season with six straight losses and steadily improved throughout their regular season. They finished with an 11-5 record over their last 16 games and climbed to an 8-10 record in the LHAC.
Fletcher Ironside, Jackson Romig, Spencer Althouse and Dontae Mast were standouts all year for the Rams as they qualified above Penn Cambria, Richland and Bald Eagle Area in the D6 standings.
That win-loss record, however, includes two conference losses to Tyrone.
On Dec. 5, in the opening game of the season at Spring Mills, Tyrone pulled away for a 70-55 victory over Penns Valley in the first game for both teams in the new Laurel Highlands Conference.
Then on Jan. 31, in Tyrone, the Golden Eagles prevailed again with a 67-60 victory in what was a much closer contest.
Tyrone finished 16-6 for the season in 2023-24 with impressive victories over Greater Johnstown, Philipsburg Osceola (twice), Bellefonte (twice) and Clearfield (twice).
The Eagles finished fourth in the LHAC East with a 9-4 record, two games behind Hollidaysburg. Bishop Guilfoyle and Central Martinsburg finished 1-2 in the league.
The winner of the game will advance to the semifinals against either No. 2 Forest Hills or No. 7 Penn Cambria on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Three teams from AA will play in the PIAA tournament.
No. 2 Mifflin County (10-12) vs No. 1 State College (9-12)
District 6, 6A Championship
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2 p.m.
Mt. Aloysius College, Cresson
The State College Little Lions clinched the No. 1 seed in the District 6, 6A championships and will meet Mifflin County on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Mt. Aloysius College for the D6 title.
The two teams usually met each other in the regular season, but with Mifflin’s move to the Mid Penn Keystone Conference, they did not meet this season.
State College, playing in the Commonwealth Division, finished with a 9-12 record overall and a 6-8 record in the conference.
The Little Lions had solid wins over teams like Harrisburg, Notre Dame Green Pond, CD East and Williamsport. However, the team lost three of its last four games coming into the playoffs and will have to reset against the Huskies.
The Lions are led by Luke Torbic and Ty Salazer in scoring and field goal percentage, by Charlie Yartz in rebounding and by Aidan Angus in assists.
Mifflin comes in with a 10-12 record and on a three-game winning streak.
The Huskies have wins over Mechanicsburg, Milton Hershey, Midd-West, Palmyra and James Buchanan and have a young roster with just four seniors.
On paper, these two teams appear to be evenly matched, and this is a game that may well come down to the final minutes or seconds.
The winner of the game will advance to the D6-8-10 sub-regional finals on March 2 at a site to be announced.
Both semifinalists will advance to the PIAA tournament.
District 6 Playoffs Week 1
The District 6 high school boys’ basketball playoffs have begun and three local teams qualified for this year’s tournament.
Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley will compete in the AAA bracket while State College will enter the AAAAAA bracket.
Bald Eagle began the tournament at Richland Monday, Feb. 19 in a play-in game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds, and Richland came out on top by a score of 58-46.
No. 6 Penns Valley will open at No. 3 Tyrone on Friday night in Tyrone, and No. 1 State College will meet Mifflin on Saturday afternoon at Mt. Aloysius College for the D6, AAAAAA Championship.
Here’s a closer look at each game.
No. 8 Richland moves on with a 58-46 win over Bald Eagle Area.
The Bald Eagle Area boys’ basketball team started cold at Richland on Monday night and never recovered in a 58-46 loss in the First Round of the District 6, AAA tournament.
The Rams ran out to a 19-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back in their 11th win of the season against 12 losses.
Richland will not advance to face No. 1 Bishop Guilfoyle on Friday night in Altoona.
Bald Eagle rallied to within 28-23 by halftime, but Richland responded and extended its lead to 42-28 heading into the final eight minutes.
Both teams opened it up in the last quarter, combining for 34 points, but the Eagles’ 18 points were not enough to close the gap.
Kane Wolf led BEA in the game with 15 points, and Dru Smith scored 10.
The loss ended the Eagles’ season with a record of 9-14 overall and 5-12 in the LHAC.
No. 6 Penns Valley (11-11) at No. 3 Tyrone (16-6)
At 11-11 for the season, the Penns Valley Rams qualified as the No. 6 seed in the D6, AAA rankings and will match up with LHAC foe Tyrone in the First Round of the Tournament on Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in Tyrone.
Penns Valley comes into the game after completing a 3-3 record in its last six games that included conference wins over Somerset and Juniata along with a non-league win over Juniata.
The Rams began the season with six straight losses and steadily improved throughout their regular season. They finished with an 11-5 record over their last 16 games and climbed to an 8-10 record in the LHAC.
Fletcher Ironside, Jackson Romig, Spencer Althouse and Dontae Mast were standouts all year for the Rams as they qualified above Penn Cambria, Richland and BEA in the D6 standings.
That won-loss record, however, includes two conference losses to Tyrone.
On Dec. 5, 2023, in the opening game of the season at Spring Mills, Tyrone pulled away for a 70-55 victory over PV in the first game for both teams in the new Laurel Highlands Conference.
Then on Jan. 31 of this year in Tyrone, the Golden Eagles prevailed again with a 67-60 victory in what was a much closer contest.
Tyrone finished 16-6 for the season in 2023-24 with impressive victories over Greater Johnstown, P-O (twice), Bellefonte (twice) and Clearfield (twice).
The Eagles finished fourth in the LHAC East with a 9-4 record, two games behind Hollidaysburg. Bishop Giulfoyle and Central Martinsburg finished 1-2 in the league.
The winner of the game will advance to the Semifinals against either No. 2 Forest Hills or No. 7 Penn Cambria on Tuesday, February 27.
Three teams from AAA will play in the PIAA Tournament.
No. 2 Mifflin County (10-12) vs No. 1 State College (9-12)
The State College Little Lions clinched the No. 1 seed in the District 6, AAAAAA Championships and will meet Mifflin County on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. at Aloysius College for the D6 Title.
The two teams usually met each other in the regular season, but with Mifflin’s move to the Mid-Penn Keystone Conference, they did not play this season.
State College, playing in the Commonwealth Division, finished with a 9-12 record overall and a 6-8 record in the conference.
The Little Lions had solid wins over teams like Harrisburg, Notre Dame Green Pond, CD East and Williamsport. However, the team lost three of its last four games coming into the playoffs and will have to reset against the Huskies.
The Lions are led by Luke Torbic and Ty Salazer in scorin, by Charlie Yartz in rebounding and Aidan Angus in assists.
Mifflin comes in with a 10-12 record and on a three-game winning streak.
The Huskies have wins over Mechanicsburg, Milton Hershey, Midd-West, Palmyra and James Buchanan and have a young roster with just four seniors.
On paper, these two teams appear to be evenly matched, and this is a game that may well come down to the final minutes or seconds.
The winner will advance to the D6-8-10 Sub-Regional Finals on March 2 at a site to be announced.
Both Semifinalists will play in the PIAA Tournament.
