In the early portion of district tournament play, it's all about survival.
A spot in the quarterfinals at the AAA or AAAA level in either gender means a likely trip to the state tournament. For both boys' and girls' teams in District 3, the top seven teams in Class AAAA and the top six teams in Class AAA move on to the PIAA competition.
But lose before the quarterfinals and your season is definitely over. It happened to the West York boys on Tuesday and, despite being a No. 3 seed in the bracket, they will be sitting at home the rest of the postseason. It also happened to No. 2 Lower Dauphin girls, who came into districts with a 21-1 record but were stunned by No. 15 Spring Grove. The Rockets now just have to win one of their next three games to move on to states.
"The first game in districts is always a concern for coaches," Suburban coach Tom Triggs said. "You want to work through it. You know if you lose you're done."
Triggs presumably means coaches of top seeded teams who might get tripped up on an off-night and have to end the season earlier than planned. For a brief period midway through the fourth quarter, it looked like Suburban might fall victim. Leading scorer Mitch Kemp had just fouled out after scoring 25 points and Northern York had pulled within six points. Tom McInerney (18 points) and the Trojans held strong to help Suburban pull out the victory.
"I think the kids showed a lot of poise, especially when Mitch fouled out, to out-execute," Triggs said.
Because if you don't out-execute, you're just out.
In the district's smallest classes, it's necessary to survive two rounds. Three-time defending PIAA Class AA champion and third-seeded York Catholic girls must take down No. 6 Brandywine Heights on Friday to give themselves a chance to make the state tournament. Ditto for No. 2 Delone Catholic girls, who take on No. 10 Kutztown that same night.
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