Which team stands in the way of Reading High and another state title?

Throughout much of the season Reading High was considered a top contender for the PIAA Class 6A championship. The Red Knights returned seven of the top nine players from last year’s championship team and recorded impressive early victories against Imhotep Charter, La Salle College, Pocono Mountain West and later against Vertical Academy and Archbishop Wood.

They cruised to the Berks Conference title, beating Berks Catholic by double digits for the third time in the championship game.

They’re coming off an impressive run through the District 3 Tournament but they’re not the same team since losing All-State wing Daniel Alcantara to a broken hand Feb. 25 against Wilson.

They’ve played with increased passion since he went out but his loss leaves them without a starter taller than 6-2, without one of their best perimeter shooters and scorers, and without a veteran presence who took the heat off Ruben Rodriguez.

They enter the PIAA Tournament Wednesday still as a top contender, one of maybe eight teams to watch, but it’ll be more of an uphill climb now. They’re in the toughest of the four Class 6A quadrants, with a potential state championship rematch against Archbishop Wood in the second round and then North Hills, considered by some the top team in the West, in the quarterfinals should they get that far.

It’s worth noting that in the 21 Big School tournaments completed since 2000 (Class 6A or Class AAAA) the champ has come from District 1 10 times: Chester won five, Lower Merion two and Coatesville, Penn Wood and Plymouth Whitemarsh once each.

Three champs came from District 12 — Roman Catholic each time. District 3 has produced three champs: Reading High twice and Harrisburg. District 7 has had two champs: Penn Hills and New Castle.

In those 21 tournaments District 1 has seen 18 teams reach the championship game.

Eleven of the 21 PIAA champs have been district champions; seven were district runners-up. Penn Hills was a sixth-seed when it won in 2004; Harrisburg was a fifth seed when it won in 2002; Reading was a third seed in 2017.

Here’s a quick look at some of the other top contenders (listed as they appear on the bracket, top to bottom):

1-1 Lower Merion (24-3): The Aces are at the top of the PIAA bracket, and for good reason. They’re coming off their second straight District 1 championship, 68-57 over Norristown, and feature perhaps the best big man in the state, 6-9 Penn State recruit Demetrius Lilley.

Lilley, a second-team All-State pick last season, had 24 points and 18 rebounds against Norristown. He scored 28 against Reading High in a 61-57 win at West Chester University in the Play-by-Play Classic Jan. 17.

Lilley had 20 points and 24 boards in the semifinals against unbeaten Cheltenham.

“He’s a dominant big man — there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it, he’s dominant in every fact of the game,” Norristown coach Binky Johnson told cityofbasketballlove.com before the district title game. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s smart.”

Lilley is among three starters back from a team that reached the PIAA semifinals last season before falling to Archbiship Wood 72-68. Wood lost in the next round to Reading High, 58-57.

Junior guard Sam Brown, who has offers from Penn and Albany, scored 19 points against Cheltenham.

Lower Merion, the alma mater of Kobe Bryant, has won seven PIAA titles, most recently in 2013. Only Chester has won more PIAA basketball titles.

12-1 Roman Catholic (19-4): The Cahillites feature four Division I recruits and tied for the Catholic League regular season title with West Catholic, going 12-1. They crushed Lincoln 78-47 in the District 12 title game.

Cincinnati recruit Daniel Skillings, a 6-6 senior and third-team All-State pick last year, scored 28 points in the district title game. He was named MVP of the Catholic League.

He’s joined in the lineup by Hofstra recruit Khalil Farmer, a second-team All-State pick last year; Xzayvier Brown, a third-team All-State pick last year who has offers from Marquette, Drexel and Saint Joe’s; and senior point guard Justin Moore is a Drexel recruit.

Skillings, Farmer and Brown were each on the 10-player All-Catholic League first team.

Roman lost to Philadelphia Catholic League champ Neumann Goretti in the league semifinals.

Its lone league loss came to Archbishop Wood, 64-61. It had early losses to Imhotep Charter (70-60) and St. Benedict’s Prep of Newark.

1-3 Cheltenham (28-1): The Panthers won their first 27 games before falling to Lower Merion 61-54 in the District 1 semifinals. They have more wins than any 6A team in the state.

They replaced two all-league picks and went on to repeat as Suburban One Freedom Division champs. Their schedule wasn’t demanding; that’s why they went into the District 1 tournament as the No. 3 seed.

The Panthers’ best wins came against Methacton, the top seed in the District 1 Tournament, in the district third-place game, and against Executive Education, the District 11 Class 3A champ.

7-2 North Hills (24-1): The Indians were unbeaten, the No. 1 seed and averaging over 70 points per game before being taken out by second-seeded Fox Chapel 48-36 in the WPIAL championship game. They had been held under 60 just once all season.

Prior to that loss they had been ranked No. 1 in the state among Class 6A teams by both maxpreps.com and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Their top player is 6-7 sophomore Royce Parham, who had 21 points in an 87-57 romp over Fox Chapel in a December tip-off tournament. He averages 20.9 points per game; senior guard Alex Smith averages 18 points.

Half of their wins have come by 20 or more points; they dropped 55 points on Fox Chapel in the first half of the first meeting.

12-3 Archbishop Wood (17-7): The Vikings rebuilt on the fly after graduating nine seniors from the team that lost to Reading in last year’s PIAA championship game. They went 11-2 in Catholic League play with wins over Roman Catholic, Devon Prep and Neumann Goretti.

They were turned back in a rematch against Reading High 64-58 at the Geigle Jan. 22 when Ruben Rodriguez scored 19 points.

The Vikings will get a third shot at the Red Knights if each wins its state opener.

Point guard Justin Moore, who transferred in when Bishop McDevitt was closed last year, is a Drexel recruit and a first-team All-Catholic League pick. Carson Howard, a 6-8 junior, was a second-team all-league pick. Sophomore Jalil Bathea and freshman Basil Laster are third-team all-league picks.

Wood’s record is not impressive but coach John Mosco challenged his team with a demanding schedule; it picked up three December losses to out-of-state teams.

1-4 Methacton (24-3): The Warriors aren’t nearly as strong as the powerhouse that went 28-2 and had designs on the 2020 state title before COVID ended the season in mid-tournament.

Still, they put together a big season and were the top seed in the District 1 Tournament. They enter state play with back-to-back losses, against Norristown in the semifinals and to Cheltenham in the third-place game.

Cole Hargrove, a 6-8 senior with offers from Drexel and St. Peters, is a space-eater and shot blocker. Brett Byrne is a three-year starter at guard. Junior guard Matt Christian is a sniper who had five 3’s and 19 points in an overtime loss at Wilson Feb. 5.

The Warriors beat Spring-Ford for the PAC-10 championship.

7-1 Fox Chapel (24-1): The Foxes lost to North Hills by 30 points in a December tip-off tournament but came back to knock off the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL championship game last week, won 43-36. They take a 23-game winning streak into the state tournament.

They’re led by Eli Yofan, a third-team All-State pick as a junior and the program’s leading scorer with over 1,400 points. He’s one of four starters back from a team went 20-3 and reached district semifinals.

Yofan, who averages 20.6 points, has been the centerpiece of a program that’s gone 65-6 over the past three seasons.

The Foxes won their first district title since 1977 and were in a championship game for the first time since 1998.