5 Berks boys basketball teams on the District 3 playoff bubble
Reading High, Berks Catholic and Antietam are locks to make the District 3 Tournament. Each is currently No. 1 in its classification: the Red Knights in Class 6A, the Saints in 4A and the Mounts in 2A.
| District 3 qualifiers | |
| 6A | 12 |
| 5A | 16 |
| 4A | 10 |
| 3A | 6 |
| 2A | 6 |
| 1A | 8 |
Exeter, at No. 6, is in solid position to make the Class 5A field, as is Fleetwood.
Oley Valley has won five straight to put itself in strong position in Class 4A.
Tulpehocken is in solid position in Class 3A; Kutztown and Brandywine Heights will probably make that field, as well.
Five other Berks boys basketball teams are smack on the bubble with less than three weeks to go before the Feb. 12 cutoff date. After that power ratings will determine who’s in and who’s out and how the teams are seeded.
The tournament begins Feb. 21.
Here’s a closer look at the five Berks teams that have some work to do between now and then:
Wilson
The Bulldogs (9-5) were at No. 10 in Class 6A heading into Tuesday’s game against Gov. Mifflin and have a little bit of breathing room — they have to finish in the top 12 to make the field.
However, their schedule is brutal the rest of the way. They’re at Reading High Friday, face Exeter Monday, then head to Harrisburg next week. (This isn’t the best of Cougars team, but they did give Reading a run for it a few weeks back.)
The final week of the season Wilson plays Methacton, which is unbeaten, then closes at Berks Catholic.
Figure on the Bulldogs needing at least four wins in their final seven games to make it. Tuesday’s game against Mifflin is critical since the Mustangs are chasing for one of those same 12 spots.
Mifflin beat Wilson 54-52 on a Matt Harley buzzer-beater in December.
Muhlenberg
The Muhls (12-5) were 10-2 just eight days ago but losses to Nativity, Berks Catholic and Executive Education have shoved them up against the bubble. They were No. 12 heading to Conrad Weiser Tuesdaythe top 12 make the Class 6A field.
The Muhls should be able to win their next four games before ending the season against Reading High.
Their schedule, with two games each against Daniel Boone (0-16) and Conrad Weiser (4-11), plus non-leaguers against Easton (1-11), Dieruff (2-12), Solanco (2-10) and Susquehanna Township (4-9), has hurt their chances. Their strength-of-schedule rating, a key component of the power rating, is higher than only two of the top 15 rated teams.
Gov. Mifflin
The Mustangs (7-8) have little margin for error. They head to Wilson Tuesday at No. 13 in Class 6A and with seven games left. They may need to win five of them to make it, which will be a challenge. All but Twin Valley (6-7) have winning records.
The remaining schedule includes games against Berks Catholic, Reading High and Exeter, each of which beat the Mustangs the first time around.
Mifflin’s strength-of-schedule rating (.695) is the highest of any team in Class 6A.
The Mustangs let a big lead slip away and lost in overtime at Hempfield, and at Berks Catholic 72-70; those could keep them out of the postseason.
Twin Valley
The Raiders (6-7) have become all too familiar with living on the bubble in recent years, and have fallen just short of the making the playoffs several times. They haven’t qualified for districts since 2012. Only Fleetwood, Hamburg and Daniel Boone have longer droughts among league rivals.
The Raiders head to Daniel Boone Wednesday at No. 18 in Class 5A; the top 16 make the field. They’ve got nine games left and still have a chance to finish with a winning record, which they haven’t done in five years.
They have tough games left against Gov. Mifflin and at Muhlenberg but a bunch of winnable ones, too. They’ve already beaten both Boone and Weiser and get a second shot at each. They also have Hamburg, Brandywine Heights, Ephrata and Octorara, each of which have losing records.
A 50-48 loss to Wyomissing early in the season is looking very costly right now.
Wyomissing
It’s been a tough season for the Spartans (6-6). They got a late start because of their extended football run, then were shut down twice, going nine days and then seven days between games.
And yet if the district playoffs started today they’d be in; they’re No. 10 in Class 4A, where the top 10 teams make it.
Not an ideal spot but they’ve got a sizable lead over No. 11 Kennard-Dale and a bunch of winnable games left.
Granted, the schedule is stacked up because of all the down time. Starting Friday they’ll play six games in eight days, including some tough crossovers against Antietam and Oley Valley and a rematch against Berks III rival Fleetwood, which just beat them by 27 points.
Another stretch of bad weather and Wyomissing might be looking at a day/night double-header, as it did last year (it swept the games to clinch the Berks III title).
They end the season against Elco (10-4) and Bishop McDevitt (9-6), so they have their work cut out for them.