Class AA Girls Team Preview - PIAA State Championships
Many of the usual top teams in PIAA Class AA are back at it again this year, and will be battling it out for the team state championship on Saturday.
Central Cambria will be looking to return to the top of Pennsylvania for the first time since 2018. The perennially strong program has a host of returners from last year's team that ran to a second place finish to juggernaut Warrior Run at the state meet last year. CC scored just 18 points to win District 6, putting five in the top seven. This is an experienced team with a couple of strong lowsticks in Niebauer and Brandis, among a few others, and the Red Devils will be a tough team to take down at Hershey.
Their closest challenger will likely be Montour, which rolled to the team title in the deep WPIAL (District 7) this past week. A year ago, a strong Montour team didn't qualify for states with just one bid per district. This year, the team is better than ever with a solid mix of depth and frontrunning. Kletz, Fleck, and Schaltenbrand made it three in the top six at WPIALs. This team is motivated, and it should be a really close matchup with Central Cambria for the state title.
Villa Maria Academy, of course, is a team you can never count out. Villa won three straight state titles from 2014 to 2016 and is always a strong squad in AA. This season is no different. They put three in the top ten to handily win District 10 last week, and they come into Hershey with some good momentum. Villa ran away with the Foundation win in the Blue Race at Hershey earlier this season, and could pose a nice challenge to Central Cambria and Montour.
It's never easy making it out of District 4, but Danville Area and Lewisburg Area did just that with some room to spare last week. Danville captured the district crown at Bloomsburg, winning 65-81 over Lewisburg. Both teams just missed the state meet last year, so expect a pair of motivated teams here. Danville was third at Foundation and won the PHAC Invite before its D4 win. Lewisburg defeated Danville at the NEPA Invite and took second to them at PHAC and D4. Both squads will be in the mix for high finishes with Danville having some better lowsticks, while Lewisburg has the advantage on depth.
After Montour, there are a few strong WPIAL teams to watch out for. Chartiers Valley has come on in a big way this season. Last week, CV placed second at the WPIAL Championships, and will look to ride this momentum into Saturday. Beaver Area was second to Villa at the midseason Foundation Invite at Hershey, and was third in the WPIAL last week. Both teams have a good shot at the top five in the team standings.
District 3 is sending a strong contingent to Hershey, led by Wyomissing Area, which won the district at Big Spring this past weekend. Wyo edged out Conrad Weiser and Boiling Springs for the win. All three should make a good run at high finishes and get right in the mix with some of these top squads. Holy Redeemer won a close one over Dallas for the District 2 title last week. Those are a pair of dangerous teams heading into the weekend.
District 11 champions Blue Mountain, District 1 champions Lower Moreland, and District 10 runners-up Corry Area are among the others teams to look out for in the always-strong AA race.