BASKETBALL PRE-SEASON POLL
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A few weeks back on both our “SportsTalk” television show and here at “The Shop,” I asked our audience if they might be interested in a high school basketball poll for teams in our PIAA District XI coverage area–similar to what we do each fall.
I’m not really surprised that I did receive comments from a number of local hoops fans saying that they would really like to see a scholastic basketball poll or two this winter.
The only debate was in how to set up the poll.
We had almost an equal amount of people voting for each of the different ways we could “lay out” the polls, including the interesting and somewhat controversial “boundary vs. non-boundary” idea. I think in light of the restrictions/limitations of local schools scheduling during this unusual winter season, it’s best this year if we do things similarly to the way we ran our polls for this past fall football season.
The only difference between the fall and winter is that we may not be doing the poll each week. Most of our local teams are taking the holidays “off” because of the pandemic (the EPC now won’t have any “official” league games until January). Also, both local leagues have ordered certain “off periods” during the season set aside in which teams will not be playing…thus, on those week’s we won’t be doing our polls.
So for this winter, we are breaking the two polls down into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (Lehigh Valley teams only) and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area. With the reduced schedules and many of our teams staying mostly “in country” with their opponents this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this plan for our polls will keep things interesting since many of the top teams within the local conferences will not have the opportunity to actually face each other this fall.
Like football, there will not be any league playoffs for basketball. Without the crowning of official Colonial League and EPC champions, our polls will be an intriguing barometer to who in fact is the best team in each conference (and, of course, bragging rights through the winter months).
So below we have high school polls for both leagues, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.
EPC-LV TOP 5
1) Central Catholic
2) Allen
3) Bethlehem Catholic
4) Parkland
5) Whitehall
Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton
COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Southern Lehigh
2) Notre Dame
3) Palmerton
4) Bangor
5) Wilson
Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades
Tune in to this week’s SportsTalk show as RCN Commentator Tom Stoudt will join us to break down the upcoming high school basketball season, which commences this week for the Colonial League. In addition to discussing the EPC’s decision to postpone the start of their season until after New Year’s Day, we’ll also be highlighting the top players and teams to watch this winter, intriguing matchups and giving predictions for the new season.
We’ll also be joined by former Parkland High School and current University of Virginia football standout De’Vante Cross, who’s making an impact at the Division I level. Like his Cavaliers teammate (and former Easton star Shane Simpson, who was on our show last year), Cross has excelled at the next level and has pro football aspirations. Among the topics of conversation will be discussing the steps he has been taking in making himself eligible for the NFL Draft next spring.
