Photo by Don Rich
A Boys |
D9-A Boys Preseason Team Rankings
Similar to AA, the A race should be a thriller. Elk County Catholic won by a mere four points last year over Cranberry, and then at states, ECC beat out Cranberry 183-184. My goodness, how's that for a close race? If that was good, expect some more fireworks this season.
ECC returns six of seven, while Cranberry returns four of seven. Cranberry does have the two top returners in Harrison Keenan and Sam Lander (16th and 23rd in the state last year, respectively). Elk County Catholic had slightly better depth a year ago with Logan Hoffman, Matthew Dippold, and Zachary Wortman.
The slight advantage as we sit here in August goes to ECC. But Cranberry can certainly add some pieces to make their way up to Keenan and Lander to try and take down the defending champs. Cn Cranberry replace those graduated seniors? Or will Elk County Catholic's depth win out once more?
Luckily, there are two state berths allotted to D9-A, so whoever loses the district race will have another chance at states.
Smethport Area and Otto-Eldred are among the teams that will look to get themselves in the conversation come October.