To those who might want to gripe about the distance (about 70 miles), I feel your pain. But Liberty is the District 11 champ and a higher seed than the Black Knights, the District 3 runner-up. So the location of the neutral site favors the Hurricanes, who will still have to make a 59-mile trek.

Sure, Reading’s Geigle Complex might have been a more logical choice, given its location betweenLancaster County and Bethlehem. But a quick look at Google Maps shows that Hempfield would have about a 35-mile trip, while Liberty would have to travel 51 miles.

At any rate, I’ll be there on Saturday to blog live from the game. So if you don’t feel like making the jaunt to ‘Nova, join me at LancSports.com instead.

That’s the situation Hempfield faced at the intermission of its PIAA Class AAAA second-round game with LaSalle College Wednesday night at Coatesville. Stymied by the Explorers’ matchup zone defense and methodical half-court offensive sets, the Black Knights looked tentative, confused and frustrated for the first 16 minutes. They had almost as many turnovers (seven) as they did points, and their top scorer and team leader, Christian Walck, put up a goose egg.

And yet no one was panicking. Possibly because in spite of all those grim statistics, Hempfield trailed only 16-10.

“There was no worry,” said coach Warren Goodling. “I felt we’d get it going. We didn’t play well in the first half, but we were only down six. I said to the kids, ‘If we weren’t a good team and played a half like that, we’d be down 20.’

“There was no talk about X’s and O’s. We just talked about playing with confidence and hanging in there.”

Whatever was discussed, it worked out well. The Knights came out with a more determined effort in the second half. Walck caught fire, scoring 14 points. And Hempfield fought its way to a 41-32 victory to keep its season alive.

With the win, the Knights (29-1) advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals, where they will face Bethlehem Liberty (24-5), a 58-54 winner over York. The site and time for the game will be announced later today. Reading’s Geigle Complex seems like a logical location, but we’ll soon see.

This is Hempfield’s deepest incurstion into the state bracket in school history. Prior to this season, the Knights had never even won a state playoff game. But this team appears determined to overcome any obstacle in its path.

Even Goodling, who has been at the Knights’ helm for 27 years, seems to believe that this group of players is unique.

“The wins are great, but the experience I’m having coaching these guys is unbelievable,” he said. “They’re great kids.”

It all begins with Walck, the team’s unquestioned leader. On Tuesday, he was matched up with LaSalle’s Troy Hockaday, regarded by many as one of the state’s top defenders. During the District 12 playoffs, he held Bartrum’s Tyrone Garland — a Virginia Tech recruit and the third-highest scorer in Philadelphia city school history — to just eight points. Walck knew Hockaday would be guarding him.

“I took it as a sign of respect,” he said.

But Walck also asked for the task of guarding Hockaday, LaSalle’s leading scorer.

“We were going to save Christian for the second half and put him on (Hockaday) then,” said Goodling. “But he asked to guard him right away.”

Walck and Hockaday cancelled each other out in the first half — both were scoreless. But Walck’s 14 second-half points all seemed to come at big moments during the Knights’ second-half rally. Hockaday finished with nine points before fouling out with 1:19 left in the game.

“I knew he’d get to the rim, and that he’d get his shots,” said Walck. “I just tried to keep him in front of me and kept challenging him. We were talking a lot. I kept saying, ‘Shoot it, shoot it.’ When he missed a couple of threes in the fourth quarter, I saw his head go down a little bit.”

Walck, meanwhile, got hot late in the third quarter when he scored his first bucket on a short jumper, then moments later nailed a 3-pointer that pulled Hempfield to within one. He then converted a three-point play to start the fourth, giving Hempfield its first lead in a long time. It went back and forth for a while after that, but the Knights — thanks in part to LaSalle’s 1-for-6 effort from the foul line in the fourth quarter — managed to pull away.

“(Hockaday) is an outstanding defender,” said Goodling. “They did a great job on Christian in the first half. But you’re not going to hold a player like him down forever.”

Now it’s on to Liberty, the District 11 champ. Like Hempfield, the Hurricanes are entering uncharted territory. Their last trip to the state quarterfinals came back in 1925. The ‘Canes have a budding star in junior guard Darrun Hilliard, who scored 26 points in Wednesday’s triumph over York.

Just a guess, but I’d bet Walck knows who his defensive assignment will be on Saturday. Guarding Hilliard will be a challenge. But Walck is the kind of player who thrives on challenges.

It’s a common theme in the Hempfield locker room.

“This team is all about the intangibles,” Goodling said. “There’s nothing fancy. It’s all about the players and their ability to think we can win every game. It’s about how they help each other out, the things they say to one another to pick each other up. It’s a great group of kids.”

READING BOWS OUT: After Wednesday’s results, Hempfield is the last District 3 team standing in the Quad-A field. York got knocked out by Liberty, and Reading — the district champ — was defeated 62-47 in double overtime by Roman Catholic in the nightcap of the doubleheader at Coatesville.

Roman, which arrived about 10 minutes before the start of the game because of traffic problems, pulled away in the second OT to win the back-and-forth battle. Reading had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Yavil Echavarria lost the handle on a pass under the basket with five seconds left. Instead of a wide-open backdoor layup, the Red Knights came up empty. Tulane recruit Rakeem Brookins scored a game-high 32 points, including a 3-pointer that helped fuel a 16-0 surge to start the second OT.

Reading star Trenity Burdine, a Siena recruit, finished his high-school career on a down note. He managed just seven points on 2-of-19 shooting in the loss, which snapped Reading’s 24-game winning streak and brought the Red Knights’ season to a disappointing close.

Elsewhere in the PIAA bracket Wednesday night, nationally ranked District 7 champ Mount Lebanon was stunned by North Allegheny, falling 52-48. Mt. Lebanon was ranked 16th in the nation by USA Today, but the Blue Devils (26-2) couldn’t get it done on Wednesday. NA, which finished fourth in District 7, avenged a 79-65 loss to Mt. Lebanon in the regular season.

So the elite eight is set. Here are Saturday’s matchups:

Hempfield (29-1) vs. Liberty (24-5)

Penn Wood (25-3) vs. Scranton (22-6)

Plymouth-Whitemarsh (26-2) vs. Roman Catholic (18-8)

North Allegheny (22-5) vs. Gateway (20-5)

If Hempfield wins on Saturday, it will get the winner of the Penn Wood-Scranton game in the semifinals next Wednesday. If the Black Knights reach the semifinals, it would match the deepest state playoff run for a Quad-A team in L-L League history. McCaskey got to the semis in 2001, falling 69-58 to Harrisburg — which went on to defeat Uniontown to claim the state title.

Last Friday, after Lancaster Catholic rallied to defeat Pottsgrove in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs, the Crusader coach was asked about his team’s penchant for playing well in the second half.

“I think it’s kind of a coincidence,” Klazas said then. “We’ve talked about getting off to better starts. We’d rather play from in front than come back from behind.”

Tuesday night against York Suburban, the Crusaders once again allowed their opponent to build an early lead. And this time, the hole was too deep to dig their way out.

Using an impressive first-quarter surge, the Trojans jumped out to a 21-point advantage in the first half and fought off Catholic’s final thrust to earn a 70-55 triumph at Central Dauphin East High School. The loss ended the Crusaders’ season. (Read Joel Schreiner’s account of the game here.)

It was a disappointing end to a brilliant season for Catholic, which finishes with a 23-6 record. After making an early exit from the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs, the Crusaders put together a memorable run through the District 3 playoffs, upsetting Mid-Penn powerhouses Hershey and Steel-High on their way to the final, where they nearly upended undefeated top seed Eastern before falling 55-53.

But a pattern emerged during Catholic’s postseason run. In three of four district playoff games, the Crusaders had to overcome early deficits. The only time they started strong was in their blowout win over Greencastle-Antrim in the first round. They were down 7-0 early against Hershey before rallying to a 52-46 triumph. They trailed by eight early in the first half against Steel-High (a 62-44 win). And against Eastern, they fought back from a 21-point first-half deficit to take a late lead before succumbing down the stretch.

The pattern continued against Pottsgrove in Catholic’s PIAA opener. The Crusaders trailed by five at halftime and were down nine early in the third quarter before righting their ship with a huge second-half surge.

That Catholic could consistently erase those early deficits was admirable.

“They never hang their heads, and they never panic,” said Klazas after the Pottsgrove game. “You know you’re going to get a full 32-minute effort from every one of them.”

But as you get deeper into the playoffs, it becomes harder to summon that kind of effort — especially as the quality of opponents improves.

Which brings us to Tuesday night’s clash with York Suburban, a team that was dangerously under-seeded in the PIAA bracket. The Trojans were the third seed in the District 3 playoffs before getting upset by Steel-High in the second round. They battled past Hershey in their first consolation game after the loss, but were blown out by Susquehanna Township in the fifth-place game.

When the state playoff brackets were filled in, some conspiracy theorists out there suggested that Suburban intentionally tanked its game with Hanna, pointing out that the sixth-place team out of District 3 avoided a first-round date with the District 12 (Philly Public League) champ in the first round of States. Instead of facing powerful Neuman-Goretti (which pummelled Hanna 64-44 in the first round), Suburban got District 6 champion Greater Johnstown. The Trojans cruised to a 61-46 victory in that game.

I can’t imagine a high school coach telling his team to sandbag a game. This is the PIAA playoffs, not the NBA Draft Lottery. But the fact remains that Suburban was a second-round draw for the Crusaders, and the Trojans proved it on Tuesday.

Led by 6-5 senior Thomas McInerney, who scored 11 of his 19 points in the first half, Suburban jumped on top of Catholic and surged to a 38-17 lead at the break. The Crusaders were scoreless for the final 4:13 of the first quarter, allowing the Trojans to build an early advantage.

Tyler Purvis scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half as Catholic rallied to within eight points, but the Crusaders couldn’t overcome their early struggles. The hole they dug for themselves at the start was simply too deep.

“They got that edge early and that was a big difference,” Klazas told reporters after the game. “We knew coming in this wasn’t a team we’d want to play from behind against. When we did fall in that hole, I think panic set in a little bit.”

And so ends a brilliant season for Catholic. Purvis, Ross Hall, Ty Shedleski, Kevin Cotchen, Joe Rudy and Joe Kirchner have all donned Crusaders uniforms for the last time.

Catholic finished short of its ultimate goal, but it was a memorable run.

“I can’t say enough about what this team has accomplished and how they got to this point,” said Klazas on Tuesday. “It was certainly a good team they were up against. They were just a little better than us tonight.”

LEBANON CATHOLIC STAYS ALIVE: While Lancaster Catholic’s season came to an end, Lebanon Catholic is still dancing thanks to its 51-47 overtime victory over Mansfield Tuesday night. Nick Fortna scored 16 points to lead three scorers in double figures for the Beavers, who got a short jumper from Darius Zook  just before the buzzer ended at the end of regulation to force the extra frame.

From there, Fortna got hot, scoring eight points and hitting two of his four 3-pointers to lead the Beavers to victory.

Catholic jumped out to an early 17-4 lead in the first half before allowing Mansfield to get back in it with a methodical comeback. The Tigers held a slim lead for most of the fourth quarter before Zook’s late heroics.

Zach Arnold added 15 points and Alex Groh had 11 for the Beavers, who improved to 6-0 in overtime games this season. Catholic advances to the PIAA quarterfinals, where they face Greenwood, a 46-37 winner over Old Forge Tuesday night. Greenwood defeated the Beavers 48-33 in the District 3 semifinals. The site and time of the game will be determined.

 For Tyler Purvis and Ross Hall, games of this magnitude are nothing new.

The senior duo from Lancaster Catholic will lead the Crusaders into the second round of the PIAA Class AAA basketball playoffs against York Suburban on Tuesday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m. from Central Dauphin East High School. It’s the second straight season that Catholic has reached the second round of States; last year they were the last Lancaster-Lebanon League team standing when they fell to Holy Ghost Prep in overtime.

For Purvis and Hall, Tuesday’s game will mark their 10th state-playoff game in the last two years — if you count football. Both players helped the Crusaders capture the state Triple-A title in football last December. The year before that, they helped Catholic reach the state semifinals in football and the second round in basketball.

While the sports may be different, the pre-game butterflies are the same. And Purvis and Hall have long since learned how to master those.

“(The experience in football) really helps,” said Hall after last Friday’s 52-44 victory over Pottsgrove. “Tyler and I know what it takes to be a state champ and what it’s like to play in big games like this. We take that experience with us out on the court, and the other guys feed off of it.”

“We know what you have to do to compete at this level,” Purvis agreed. “We learned that in order to win at this level, you have to perform every night. You can’t get caught up in the future or start looking ahead – you have to be ready to play every time out.”

Purvis was a star receiver for Catholic’s football team — the top target of all-star quarterback Kyle Smith. He grabbed 62 receptions for 1,080 yards and 17 touchdowns. He is also the leading scorer on the basketball team, averaging 14.9 points per game. The 6-3 forward shared game-high honors with Hall against Pottsgrove, scoring 13 points.

The 6-4, 260-pound Hall anchored the offensive and defensive lines on Catholic’s football team and was especially feared as a pass rusher. He played most of his final high-school season with a knee injury that sustained in Week 3 against Manheim Central, toughing it out for 13 more weeks. When the season ended, he underwent surgery to correct the problem and was forced to sit out most of the regular season in basketball, returning in time for the final six games.

But Hall has really turned it on in the playoffs, averaging 9.9 points per game. That total seems modest until you factor in the matchups he’s endured, routinely going up against taller competition. He grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds last Friday despite being matched up against Pottsgrove’s Joseph Bell, a rangy 6-6 forward.

Catholic’s win avenged a regular-season loss to Pottsgrove, when the Crusaders fell 65-61. But back then, Catholic didn’t have Hall.

“It took him a while to get his legs back under him when he got back in the lineup,” said Catholic coach Joe Klazas. “But since he’s gotten it going, we’re a much different team.”

Next up for Catholic is a challenging matchup with District 3 neighbor York Suburban, a 61-46 winner over Greater Johnstown in the first round. The Trojans (23-5) finished sixth in the District 3 playoffs after getting upended 55-47 by Steel-High in the second round, and so did not face Catholic.Suburban was obliterated 71-51 by Susquehanna Township in the fifth-place game, but may have gotten the last laugh. While Hanna drew a first-round matchup with Philly Public League champ Neuman-Goretti in the PIAA bracket (and subsequently got annihilated, 64-44), Suburban drew a more managable matchup with Johnstown.

Purvis said Catholic watched some of Suburban’s clash with Steel-High in Districts and is aware of the Tigers’ potential.

“They’re a good team — they beat Hershey (in the consolation rounds), so we know what they can do,” Purvis said. “I think we match up pretty well with them. It should be a good game.”

“At this point, you know everybody’s a great team,” said Hall. “We’ll be ready.”

Here are capsules for the three PIAA playoff games involving L-L League teams:

CLASS AAAA

Hempfield (28-1) vs. LaSalle College (20-5)

Tip-Off: Wednesday, 6 p.m. at Coatesville High School (LancSports.com will be blogging live)

About LaSalle: The Explorers captured the District 12 (Philly Public League) title and hammered Chester 42-21 in Sunday’s first round. Ranked fifth in the state by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, LaSalle will be a slight favorite over Hempfield (No. 8). The Explorers’ top player is 6-1 senior guard Tory Hockaday, who averages 13 points per game. Eddie Mitchell, a 6-0 junior guard, is second on the team in scoring at 11.1 per game. LaSalle has some decent size underneath with 6-4 foward Joe Brown (7.7 per game) and 6-6 center Brennan Woods (5.4 per game). Michael Poncia, a 5-10 junior guard, rounds out the starting five (6.9 per game). LaSalle also can bring in 6-9 junior Steve Collins (4.3 per game).

About Hempfield: The Black Knights had their hands full with Nazareth in the first round, nearly giving the game away in the final minute before Christian Walck delivered in the clutch with a running jumper with 10 seconds left. Walck then calmly drilled a pair of free throws with two seconds to go to ice the 52-49 victory. Nazareth’s gimmicky defense and the Knights’ poor shooting were the biggest factors in the near-upset. Still, Hempfield got enough from Walck (14 points) and forward Taylor McDuffie (18 points) to pull out the victory — their first state-playoff win in school history. The Knights’ only loss of the season was to Reading in the District 3 title game.

CLASS AAA

Lancaster Catholic (23-5) vs. York Suburban (23-5)

Tip-Off: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. at Central Dauphin East

About Suburban: The Trojans were the No. 3 seed in the District 3 playoffs, but got upset in the second round by surging Steel-High. They knocked off Mid-Penn champ Hershey 54-46 in their first consolation game, but were blown out by Susquehanna Township in the fifth-place game. But Suburban rebounded in the first round of States, blasting Greater Johnstown behind a 23-point effort from Kevin Donahue and a 16-point outburst from Sean Hinnenkamp. Donahue, a 6-2 junior guard, is second on the team in scoring on the season (14 points per game). The Trojans’ top scorer is 6-5 senior Thomas McInerney (17 points per game).

About Lancaster Catholic: The Crusaders were the story of the District 3 tournament, springing upsets on Hershey and Steel-High before falling to undefeated top seed Eastern York 55-53 in the final (on a last-second shot, no less). They proved their run through Districts was no fluke last Friday, rallying from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter to subdue a talented Pottsgrove team. Purvis (14.9 ppg) and Hall (8.7 ppg) have been Catholic’s main catalysts in the playoffs, but the Crusaders are no two-man show. Guards Phil Wenger (12.5 ppg) and Paul Senkowski (11.2 ppg) are capable of carrying a heavy scoring load, as is point guard Will Schlosser (8.4 ppg).

CLASS A

Lebanon Catholic (16-11) vs. Mansfield (22-4)

Tip-Off: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. at Danville High School

About Mansfield: The Tigers captured the District 4 crown and knocked off District 11 runner-up St. Pius X 61-51 in the first round of States. Led by the high-scoring tandem of 6-3 forward Luke Berguson (15.9 ppg) and 6-1 winger Cale Correll (10.5 ppg), Mansfield has won 18 of its last 19 games. Senior guards Zaparzynski Graeme (7.2 ppg), Marcus Delgado (7.0 ppg) and Patrick Cummings (7.0 ppg) are all capable scorers, as is junior forward Jakob Nance (8.0 ppg). Nance, at 6-4, joins 6-5 reserve Trevor Bolt as players to watch underneath.

About Lebanon Catholic: The Beavers made the long trek to Central Cambria High School worthwhile last Friday, returning home with a 56-35 rout of District 6 runner-up Homer Center. Zach Arnold (17 points) and Nick Frattaroli (16) fueled the Beavers’ attack. Arnold shares Catholic’s top scorer status with Michael Wolfe; both average 11.3 points per game. Frattaroli is next on the list at 7.2 per game. Catholic finished third in the District 3 playoffs, falling in the semifinals to runner-up Greenwood.

Half of that number will compete in the Class AAAA field, which is traditionally dominated by District 1. The suburban Philly-based district has produced six state champions since the year 2000 — including two straight and four of the last five.

Penn Manor won’t have to wait long to run into a District 1 powerhouse; the Comets face defending state champion Penn Wood in Saturday’s first round. The two teams met in the first round of States last season, and Penn Wood had to withstand a determined upset bid by the Comets before winning 51-46. The Patriots went on to defeat York in the state final.

Penn Manor gets another shot at the state champs Saturday at 3:30 at Norristown High School.

Hempfield, which suffered its first loss of the season against Reading last Saturday in the District 3 title game, will try to rebound on Saturday against Nazareth, the third-place team out of District 11. The Black Knights will be one of several teams in action in the Hersheypark Arena on Saturday, facing Nazareth at 7 p.m. in the last of six games slated to take place there.

Warwick, the fifth-place finisher out of District 3, has a bit of a road trip looming on Saturday. The Warriors will trek to Scranton’s Marywood University to take on District 2 kingpin Scranton (20-6) at 4:30 p.m.

Lancaster Mennonite, the District 3 Class AA runner-up, will face Devon Prep (18-6) on Saturday at 2:30 in Hersheypark Arena. Devon Prep, the District 1 runner-up, defeated District 12 third-place finisher Ben Franklin 57-39 in a preliminary-round game Tuesday night.

Elsewhere, District 3 Class AAA runner-up Lancaster Catholic (22-5) will try to shake off its heartbreaking district-final loss to Eastern York when it takes on District 1 third-place finisher Pottsgrove (16-9) Friday night at 8 p.m. in the Hersheypark Arena and District 3 Class A third-place finisher Lebanon Catholic (15-11) will face District 6 runner-up Homer-Center (20-5) Friday night at 7:30 at Central Cambria High School.

Read on for a few more tidbits about the upcoming PIAA tournament.

(more…)

Go here to see the entire team.

Here are the sites and times for the first-round state playoff games involving L-L League teams. The full brackets can be found here.

QUAD-A

Penn Manor (17-10) vs. Penn Wood (23-3): Saturday, 3:30 p.m. at Norristown H.S.

Warwick (17-10) vs. Scranton (20-6): Saturday, 4:30 p.m. at Marywood University (Scranton)

Hempfield (27-1) vs. Nazareth (20-6): Saturday, 7 p.m. in Hersheypark Arena

TRIPLE-A

Lancaster Catholic (22-5) vs. Pottsgrove (18-9): Friday, 8 p.m. in Hersheypark Arena

DOUBLE-A

Lancaster Mennonite (19-7) vs. Preliminary-round winner: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. in Hersheypark Arena

SINGLE-A

Lebanon Catholic (15-11) vs. Homer Center (20-5): Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Central Cambria H.S. (Ebensburg).

I’ll have more details and previews of the games involving local teams in the coming days.

Winning a championship was another.

Hempfield, Lancaster Catholic and Lancaster Mennonite will all spend the early part of the week regrouping from disappointing losses in their respective district title games. The Black Knights were the last victim, falling 54-46 to Reading in Saturday’s Quad-A championship. Prior to that, Mennonite dropped a 77-65 decision to Trinity in the Double-A final on Friday and Catholic suffered a heartbreaking 55-53 loss to Eastern York in the Triple-A title game on Thursday.

The locals all had their chances to win. On Thursday, Catholic put together a magnificent effort to dig out of an early 25-7 hole and grabbed a three-point lead heading into the final eight minutes. There, after several lead changes in the frantic final minutes, the Golden Knights’ Nate Bollinger hit the game-winning shot with 2.7 seconds left to finally dispatch the Crusaders and boost his team’s record at a perfect 28-0.

One day later, Mennonite outplayed Trinity for a half, grabbing a narrow one-point lead at the break. They actually were up five early in the third quarter before the Shamrocks, who won their third straight district crown and their 11th in the last 20 years, turned it on and pulled away. Trinity hit 11 of 11 free throws in the final quarter and got a handful of dagger-like 3-pointers from Eric Kindler to fuel their decisive surge.

Saturday’s Quad-A clash between Hempfield and Reading was dead even for most of the way. The Black Knights, who entered the tournament with an undefeated record and the No. 1 seed, held a five-point lead at halftime after a spectacular second-quarter effort. But Reading (27-2), which won its third district title since 2003 and its 14th overall, rallied in the second half behind Division I Siena-bound senior Trenity Burdine, who lived up to his hype with a tremendous individual effort. Burdine, a 6-foot-5, whippet-thin guard, seemed to come up with a big bucket whenever the Red Knights needed one. His unbelievable 3-pointer from the corner to beat the third-quarter buzzer gave Reading a five-point lead and a huge swing in momentum.

Moments earlier, Burdine got away with a blatant foul on Hempfield guard Christian Walck, who was headed to the basket on a breakaway. Burdine caught up to him and smacked him hard across both arms, sending Walck flying. Though there was an official trailing the play about five feet away, he swallowed his whistle — much to the disbelief of Hempfield’s players, coaches and fans — and more than a few observers on press row.

“I asked (the ref) about it later, and he said he had a bad angle,” Walck said afterward. “I don’t think there could possibly be an angle where you didn’t see it, but what can you do?”

Walck only addressed the non-call when prodded, and was quick to say that Hempfield had plenty of time to recover from it, and didn’t. But it’s worth noting that if Walck had made the bucket — or the foul shots that should have followed — the Black Knights would have had the lead and some momentum. Instead, Reading’s decisive run began directly after the play.

“There were two game-changing plays,” Walck admitted. “The non-call (on his layup attempt), and the banked-in 3-pointer.”

Walck was referring to Burdine’s second back-breaker, a 3-ball from the top of the key with about two minutes left in the game. That shot gave Reading a 48-41 lead and forced Hempfield to start hurrying shots in a frantic attempt to catch up.

It didn’t happen.

“There were stretches where we played well, but we didn’t play our best game,” said Walck, when asked to sum up Hempfield’s effort. “I wish we had, but give the credit to Reading. They did the stuff they had to do to make us not play our best.”

Walck could have been speaking for all three of the L-L League’s finalists when he was asked to sum up his feelings about coming up short in the title game.

“It sucks,” he said. “We put in all this work to get here,” he said. “We put in all the work in the offseason, playing all over the place. We played two of our best games of the season to get here, and had our chances to win. It’s hard to take.”

Hempfield, Catholic and Mennonite will have plenty of time to recover from their disappointment. The state playoffs don’t begin until Friday, with the Single-A and Triple-A playoffs. The Double-A and Quad-A tourney begins on Saturday.

Catholic (22-5) will take on Pottsgrove (19-9), the third-place finisher in District 1, on Friday at a site and time to be determined. (Sites and times will be announced later today. Check out LancSports.com for more details when they become available).

Mennonite (19-7) will get the winner of the preliminary game between District 12 third-place finisher Benjamin Franklin (17-6) and District 1 runner-up St. Puis X (17-7).

Hempfield (27-1) will face Nazareth (20-6), the third-place team out of District 11.

Hempfield coach Warren Goodling was asked if he was worried about his team’s psyche after the Black Knights suffered their first loss in such a disappointing manner. He said he was confident the Black Knights would be fine.

“They’ve been in tough situations in games during the season and they’ve always bounced back,” he said. “They’ll bounce back from this. I don’t think it will be a problem.

“We’ll talk about the huge opportunity we have and how we want to take advantage of it,” he continued later. “We’ve always wanted to see what we could do in the state playoffs, and this is our chance. A lot of teams have lost in their district finals and gone on to win the state title.

“You can talk about it all you want, but each player has to decide that they want to do it (recover from the loss).”

Walck said he thought his team would be ready.

“We won’t get over this quickly,” he admitted. “This is something you won’t sleep off in one night. But we have a week to recover. By Tuesday or Wednesday, we’ll be ready to go.”

OTHER STATE MATCHUPS:

Three other L-L League teams are part of the state playoffs. Here are their first-round matchups:

Quad-A

Penn Manor (17-10) vs. Penn Wood (23-3). Penn Wood is the District 1 champ; Penn Manor finished seventh in District 3

Warwick (17-10) vs. Scranton (20-6). Scranton is the District 2 champ; Warwick finished fifth in District 3

Single-A

Homer Center (20-5) vs. Lebanon Catholic (15-11). Homer Center is the District 6 runner-up; Catholic finished third in District 3