By TYLER DONOHUE
Sports Writer
After nearly two months of Cape-Atlantic League basketball competition, we finally know the teams that will vie for a CAL crown. The league’s first inaugural six-team postseason tournament is now fully filled for both girls and boys hoops.
The top two teams in each group earn a first-round bye in the three-round playoff format. The CAL championship games take place on Saturday, Feb. 25 at Richard Stockton College.
Though identities of the CAL playoff participants are now known, the order of seeding still must shake out.
The boys bracket includes St. Augustine (17-2), Atlantic City (15-4), Holy Spirit (15-4), Middle Township (13-6), Wildwood Catholic (16-6) and Pleasantville (14-6).
Wildwood Catholic failed to clinch the United Conference title and a first-round bye when it lost to Sacred Heart on Thursday, Feb. 9. That loss opened the door for Pleasantville to tie things up atop the conference (both teams are 10-2 against United opponents).
“We obviously wanted to get into the CAL playoffs any way possible and knew that if we took care of business on our end it was going to happen,” Greyhounds coach Ken Johnson said. “It shows how important it is to win games that you should win. You can’t look past any team in this league.”
There is a very good chance that St. Augustine and Middle Township will meet for a third time this season if the Panthers survive the first round. The rivals split their first two matchups, with the home team winning each game.
An interesting season in the American Conference could have an intense conclusion. Currently, Atlantic City and Holy Spirit are locked in a first-place tie, but the Vikings own the tiebreaker and would own a first-round bye as the second-seed if the team avoids any pitfalls in the regular season’s final week.
Regardless, both the Vikings and Spartans have secured their spots in the playoffs.
In the girls bracket, Sacred Heart (20-1), Cedar Creek (18-2), Ocean City (17-3), Middle Township (15-4), Holy Spirit (15-4) and Atlantic City (14-6) will battle for the title.
Sacred Heart should be able to hold on to the top seed as the United Conference champs. Conference runner-up Cedar Creek will be an extremely dangerous wild card team, as its only two losses of the season came against the Lions.
Ocean City edged Middle Township on Thursday, Feb. 9 to claim the Atlantic Conference championship. The Red Raiders are competing with Holy Spirit for the second seed and a first-round bye.
The Panthers face the Spartans this Saturday and could rock the playoff landscape with a win. Middle Township is trying to stay ahead of Atlantic City in the fifth slot, although a loss to Holy Spirit could set up an immediate rematch with the Spartans in the first round.
We won’t officially know the CAL playoff seeding until Thursday, Feb. 16 but it’s exciting to speculate about how things could shape up. If the 2011-12 season has taught us anything, you can expect some surprises.
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