Plans are in place for the District 2 basketball tournaments, which for the fifth straight season will conclude with championship games at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
The championships will be decided in 11 games over three days, Feb. 27-29, according to information released by the district on its website this week.
District 2 will conduct three title games each on Feb. 27 and 28 before concluding with another five-game Saturday schedule.
Pittston Area competes in Class 5A of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s six-classification system for both boys and girls basketball.
Wyoming Area is a Class 4A school in both.
The Pittston Area girls and Wyoming Area boys are guaranteed postseason berths because District 2 allows all teams into the tournament in classes where there are eight or fewer eligible schools.
Pittston Area clinched a Class 5A boys berth with Tuesday’s win.
The Wyoming Area girls have used their recent surge to move into position to participate in the Class 4A tournament if the current standings hold up.
The Pittston Area boys have the best record of the four teams, but the Pittston Area girls are currently positioned to be the highest seed.
The Lady Patriots (9-7) were third among seven teams going into Saturday’s action.
Trying to hold the slim lead over fourth-place West Scranton and fifth-place Wyoming Valley West is important. The third seed gets a significantly more favorable draw in the quarterfinals and is likely to avoid Abington Heights, the team that has won all three titles since the class was formed, in the semifinals.
Class 5A girls and Class 4A boys have quarterfinals scheduled for Feb. 19 and semifinals Feb. 22. They are both part of the Feb. 29 five-game schedule at the arena with Class 4A boys at 4 p.m., followed by Class 5A girls at 6.
The Patriots (11-5) are fifth in a deep nine-team race for eight Class 5A boys spots. The top six teams have record of 10-6 or better and there is likely to be significant juggling in the positioning through the final three weeks.
Ratings going into Saturday would have Pittston Area facing eight-time defending district champion Abington Heights in the quarterfinals.
In Class 5A boys and 4A girls, the quarterfinals are Feb. 18 and the semifinals are Feb. 21. The Class 5A boys title game is set for Feb. 28 at 8 p.m.
Wyoming Area is up to eighth out of 11 teams pursuing eight spots in Class 4A girls. A team that lost five straight to end 2019 and start 2020 has won five of its last six and battled Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 leader Holy Redeemer in its only loss during that time.
If they qualilfy without moving any higher, the Lady Warriors (9-8) appear likely to face defending champion Scranton Prep, the only unbeaten team, boys or girls, in the district, as a quarterfinal opponent.
The Class 4A girls championship game is Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.
Wyoming Area (6-10) is seventh out of eight teams in a seeding race in Class 4A boys where the Warriors currently project to open with a quarterfinal game against Valley View.
