Blue Mountain's Tyeirre Meade (left) guards East Stroudsburg North's Piotr Drozd (Photo by Eli Doyle).

It was a tough weekend for Schuylkill League teams in the District 11 Basketball Playoffs.

There were nine District 11 games involving local teams played either Friday or Saturday, and in those nine games a Schuylkill League team lost eight times. In the five boys’ games involving local squads, Schuylkill League teams went 0-5.

Overall, Schuylkill League basketball teams fared 2-8 this weekend.

Only the Schuylkill Haven girls, who defeated Mahanoy Area 46-26 on Friday in a Class 3A local-local quarterfinal, and the North Schuylkill girls, who downed Lehighton 41-24 in a Class 4A quarterfinal Saturday, pulled off victories over the weekend.

The Nativity and Weatherly boys both fell in the Class A semifinals and will face each other Tuesday in the third-place game. The season came to end for the Mahanoy Area girls, Blue Mountain girls, Tamaqua girls, Blue Mountain boys, Panther Valley boys and Williams Valley boys.

The District 11 playoffs continue Tuesday and Wednesday with semifinal action in most classes. The schedule gives local basketball fans a great chance to see several games, as doubleheaders are slated both nights at both Martz Hall and Blue Mountain, with single games each night at Minersville.

Only the Weatherly girls and Pottsville girls venture outside of Schuylkill County, with both participating in a doubleheader Wednesday night at Executive Education High School.

Executive Education is located near Coca-Cola Park, just on the Bethlehem side of the Lehigh River (GPS address: 555 Union Blvd, Allentown, PA 18109). Easiest directions are to take I-78 to Route 22, Route 22 to Fullerton Avenue exit, take Fullerton Avenue into city, then left on Tilghman Street, which becomes Union Boulevard.

Complete brackets for the District 11 basketball playoffs can be found here:

Girls: https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2025/02/22/district-11-girls-basketball-tournament-brackets/

Boys: https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2025/02/22/district-11-boys-basketball-tournament-brackets/

Here’s the complete schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday for games involving local teams. We’ll have coverage of every local game later that evening at T102 Sports Now. Radio broadcast information is in parentheses after each game:

Tuesday, Feb. 25

At Blue Mountain

Girls’ AA semifinals, Lincoln Leadership vs. Williams Valley, 5:30 (T-102)

Boys’ 5A semifinals, Pottsville vs. Southern Lehigh, 7:30 (WPPA)

At Minersville

Boys’ A consolation, Nativity vs. Weatherly, 7

At Martz Hall

Girls’ AA semifinals, Shenandoah Valley vs. Marian, 6

Girls’ 3A semifinals, Schuylkill Haven vs. New Hope Solebury, 7:30 (T-102)

Wednesday, Feb. 26

At Blue Mountain

Girls’ 4A semifinals, North Schuylkill vs. Palmerton, 6 (T-102)

Boys’ AA semifinals, Tri-Valley vs. Moravian Academy, 7:30 (WPPA)

At Minersville

Boys’ AA semifinals, Schuylkill Haven vs. Marian, 7

At Martz Hall

Boys’ 3A semifinals, Minersville vs. Notre Dame-Green Pond, 6 (WPPA)

Boys’ 3A semifinals, Mahanoy Area vs. Catasauqua, 7:30 (T-102)

At Executive Education HS

Girls’ A semifinals, Weatherly vs. Bethlehem Christian, 6

Girls’ 5A semifinals, Pottsville vs. Bethlehem Catholic, 7:30

Remember, all tickets for District 11 playoff games must be purchased online at www.districtxi.hometownticketing.com. Tickets cost $7 (plus applicable fees). Make sure you select the correct game when you’re ordering tickets. Spectators ages 65 and older are admitted free with proof of age.

District 11 Class A Qualifier

I thought it was odd when I looked at the District 11 Handbook back in January and in the section for state qualifiers it had “3ish” for Class A boys.

So I asked about it.

Glad I did.

District 11 is in a subregional with District 2 in Class A boys, although no teams from District 2 qualified for the four-team tournament. That gives District 11 a chance to get a third qualifier for the state tournament.

The problem is that District 5 and District 6 are also deserving of a third PIAA qualifier and there are only two tournament slots for those three teams.

This season, the District 5 third-place team automatically gets one berth and the third-place finishers from District 6 and District 11 will hold a play-in game for the second spot. Next season, the District 11 third-place team automatically gets in, while District 5 must take on District 6 in the play-in game.

So, Nativity and Weatherly will square off Tuesday to see which team advances to the play-in game. The PIAA play-in game is slated for Saturday at a District 6 site, which will be announced Wednesday.

In District 6, Ferndale (15-10) will play at Williamsburg (13-10) in the third-place game Wednesday night. Saturday’s PIAA play-in game winner faces the District 3 champion in the opening round of states.

On a side note, the District 11 Handbook was changed Feb. 5 to reflect “2 automatic, 1 play-in” for Class A boys.

*** On an additional note, the handbook originally had three state qualifiers for Class 5A boys. That’s been changed to two, meaning the Pottsville boys need to win Tuesday against Southern Lehigh to keep playing.

Only the District 11 5A champion and runner-up advance to states. There will be no Class 5A consolation game.

Lourdes girls, boys roll into District 4 championship

Both the Lourdes girls and Lourdes boys punched their ticket to the PIAA Class A playoffs with victories Saturday in the District 4 semifinals.

The Lourdes boys continued to be the Cinderella of the tournament, as the sixth-seeded Red Raiders (8-16) upended No. 2 Sullivan County 45-32. Lourdes advances to play No. 1 North Penn-Liberty (17-7) in Thursday’s championship game.

The Lourdes girls entered the Class A tournament as the overwhelming favorite and have lived up to that label. The Red Raiders improved to 19-6 overall with a 46-14 rout of Meadowbrook Christian. Lourdes faces No. 2 Millville (15-8) in Thursday’s final.

Both of the District 4 Class A championship games are scheduled as a doubleheader Thursday at Montoursville High School, with the girls at 6 p.m. and the boys to follow at 7:30 p.m.