We all know the favorites.
North Schuylkill and Pottsville in Division I. Minersville in Division II. Marian and Shenandoah Valley in Division III.
But with the holiday tournament season over, it’s time to take a look at what other teams — surprising or not — could contend for a spot in the Schuylkill League playoffs, which are now a mere six weeks away.
Here are five other teams to keep an eye on as the second half of the season begins:
Jim Thorpe (6-3, 3-0 D-I)
The true test for the Olympians is on the horizon.
Jim Thorpe has its three league wins over Tamaqua (64-37), Lehighton (65-55) and Panther Valley (63-38), teams that have a combined 8-18 record.
Coming up are Pine Grove (Jan. 6), North Schuylkill (Jan. 9), Blue Mountain (Jan. 13) and Pottsville (Jan. 16).
Freshman Kayley Kovac has put up stellar numbers and leads the area in scoring with 25.7 points a game. Sophomore Alexys Naranjo is averaging 9.7 a game.
So the future, if nothing else, is bright for the Olympians. But why settle for the future when the present looks good, too?
If Thorpe can win at least two of the four upcoming league games, it can remain in the hunt for the Division I wild card.
Don’t be surprised if that happens.
Blue Mountain
(3-5, 1-2 D-I)
Don’t let the Eagles’ record fool you. There are some pretty good losses in there:
• 44-33 to District 11 Class AA contender Salisbury;
• 37-35 to Berks League Section II squad Conrad Weiser;
• 49-30 to Division I and league favorite North Schuylkill;
• 38-33 in overtime to league playoff contender Pottsville;
• 42-39 to Donegal in the Cardinal Classic.
Blue Mountain has Panther Valley, Lehighton, Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua approaching on the schedule. Three or four wins in those games can put the Eagles right back in the playoff mix.
Abby Fanelli has helped the maturation process of this generally young team and Julia Kutz is pulling down double-doubles with regularity.
Lourdes (8-1, 3-0 D-II)
This one falls under the not-so-surprising category.
The biggest problem facing the Red Raiders last season was a defense that allowed too many points.
Through the first half of this season, Lourdes is third in the area in scoring defense, allowing just 30.1 points a game.
If that number stays in that neighborhood, the Raiders could challenge Minersville for the Division II crown.
Bailey Trell and Carmella Bickel have returned to last season’s form, with both averaging more than 13 points per game.
Lourdes already dispatched Williams Valley with a convincing 53-33 win Dec. 23 in Coal Township, but it still has two games with Minersville (Jan. 9 and Feb. 5) and one game with Williams Valley (Jan. 29), Marian (Jan. 22) and Shenandoah Valley (Jan. 19).
Williams Valley
(5-2, 1-2 D-II)
The Vikings started the season well, averaging 58.3 points in their first four games.
That loss to Lourdes on Dec. 23 looked nasty, but Williams Valley responded well with a WQLV Holiday Tournament title over rival Tri-Valley.
Rayanne Hawk (13.7), Kate Whelski (11.6), Haley Nestor (10.1) and Haley Nestor (10.0) are all averaging double digits in scoring, but the Vikings’ defense is giving up 41.4 a game — middle of the road in the area rankings.
The good news for Williams Valley in the second half of the season is that it gets Lourdes and Marian at home, but has Minersville and Shenandoah Valley on the road.
Mahanoy Area
(6-3, 1-1 D-III)
The Golden Bears are the most surprising team on the list by far.
But consider the following:
• Mahanoy Area started the season 3-0 under first-year head coach Tom Scheeler after a rocky last few seasons;
• The Bears nearly toppled Marian in a 34-32 loss Dec. 19;
• The other two losses the team suffered were by five points at Tri-Valley on Dec. 15 and by seven points to Hanover Area on Dec. 20;
• Mahanoy rolled to wins over Tamaqua (41-13) and Panther Valley (64-17) in the Senator Rhoades Tournament. Struggling teams, but a win’s a win, right?
Kelsey Conroy leads the Bears in scoring with 10 points a game. But Mahanoy has gotten good supplemental scoring from Megan Babinsky, Laura Bisco and Megan Bisco.
The road ahead for the Bears features Shenandoah Valley on Jan. 6, Nativity on Jan. 9, Lourdes on Jan. 13 and Williams Valley on Jan. 16.
(Wilson is the girls’ basketball beat writer for the Republican-Herald.
Contact him at
mwilson@republicanherald.com or on twitter at @MJWilson_RH)
Girls’ Basketball Power Poll
School Rec. Pvs
1. North Schuylkill 6-2 1
2. Pottsville 7-1 3
3. Minersville 7-1 2
4. Marian 7-2 4
5. Shen. Valley 7-1 5
6. Lourdes 8-1 7
7. Williams Valley 5-2 6
8. Jim Thorpe 6-3 8
9. Mahanoy Area 6-3 10
10. Blue Mountain 3-5 NR
— Compiled by Mike Wilson