The regular season is over for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and Colonial League girls basketball teams. Before the league tournaments tip off, let’s take a brief moment to see how the lehighvalleylive preseason predictions stacked up to reality.
Some were right on, others … not so much. We’ll start in the EPC:
EPC STEEL DIVISION PREDICTIONS
1. Easton
2. Bethlehem Catholic
3. Allen
4. Freedom
5. Liberty
6. Dieruff
The results:
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TEAM LEAGUE OVERALL Bethlehem Catholic 16-0 20-2 Easton 14-2 19-3 Freedom 9-7 14-8 William Allen 8-8 14-8 Liberty 3-13 3-19 Dieruff 1-15 1-20
The original thought was that Bethlehem Catholic might have to work out some chemistry issues with its new additions — that certainly wasn’t the case. The Golden Hawks were unbeaten in conference play and beat every EPC opponent by double digits, except Parkland.
Shoutout to Freedom for battling its way into both the league and District 11 playoffs, and outperforming this projection.
EPC SKYLINE DIVISION PREDICTIONS
1. Nazareth
2. Northampton
3. Parkland
4. Central Catholic
5. Emmaus
6. Whitehall
The results:
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TEAM LEAGUE OVERALL Nazareth 14-2 19-3 Parkland 13-3 16-5 Northampton 11-5 15-7 Emmaus 7-9 9-13 Allentown Central Catholic 7-9 8-14 Whitehall 5-11 7-15
Well, we got the division winner correct. So, that’s an improvement. Parkland has had Northampton’s number so far this season and took the No. 2 spot as a result. Kiyae White’s presence meant five more conference wins for Emmaus this winter.
Now, the Colonial League …
COLONIAL LEAGUE EAST DIVISION PREDICTIONS
1. Notre Dame
2. Bangor
3. Wilson
4. Palisades
5. Saucon Valley
6. Pen Argyl
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TEAM LEAGUE OVERALL Notre Dame-Green Pond 15-2 18-4 Bangor 14-3 18-4 Wilson Area 9-8 11-11 Palisades 7-10 9-13 Saucon Valley 2-15 2-20 Pen Argyl 1-16 1-21
Well, we were bound to get one of these right. Notre Dame won 11 straight league games (13 overall) to claim the top spot in the division.
COLONIAL LEAGUE WEST DIVISION PREDICTIONS
1. Southern Lehigh
2. Northwestern Lehigh
3. Moravian Academy
4. Catasauqua
5. Palmerton
6. Salisbury
7. Northern Lehigh
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TEAM LEAGUE OVERALL Southern Lehigh 18-0 21-1 Moravian Academy 14-4 18-4 Northwestern Lehigh 13-5 15-7 Salisbury 10-8 12-10 Palmerton 5-13 6-16 Northern Lehigh 3-15 4-18 Catasauqua 3-15 4-18
Southern Lehigh has proven to be on a different level than the rest of the conference, so far, winning a record 48 straight Colonial League regular-season games. What a year it’s been for Moravian Academy, too, building off last season’s district qualification with an 18-win campaign.
Salisbury wins the “Make the Sports Writer Look Dumb” award for outperforming its predicted order of finish by the largest margin this winter.
Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KyleCraigSports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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