{"id":90794,"date":"2026-03-19T19:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/?p=90794"},"modified":"2026-03-19T19:51:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:51:47","slug":"hs-basketball-finals-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/hs-basketball-finals-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"HS Basketball Finals 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Astound TV\u00a0Network\u00a0Sports<\/em> winter season officially\u00a0came to an end\u00a0on Tuesday night with the loss of\u00a0Notre Dame Green pond\u00a0in the PIAA semi-final round,\u00a0was\u00a0the last remaining team standing in the ATVN<\/em> – Lehigh Valley viewing area.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although we had a lot of great games, exciting moments and some everlasting individual performances throughout the winter, the state playoff did remind us of a perennial issue with sports in the state of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia basketball is King!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A number of teams from our Delaware Valley viewing area will be playing for state championships this weekend. Astound<\/em> TV customers can watch these games on the Pennsylvania Cable Network as they hold the rights to broadcasting the state finals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coach Marlon Randall who joined me for ATVN’s<\/em> final broadcast of the season pointed out on the air during our last telecast that a major\u00a0reason why\u00a0Philly is so good in basketball is their leagues allow for many more non-league competition opportunities. While a few teams did schedule schools from the Delaware Valley market as part of their non-league schedule, he pointed out that it is tough for Lehigh Valley teams to add many of those schools to their schedule since our local leagues only allow for a small handful of games to be played outside of their league and the District 11 region.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversely, a team like Philadelphia West Catholic, who will be playing in the state finals this weekend, got to play some of the best teams from New York, Washington. DC,\u00a0Maryland\u00a0and Virginia in addition to the top teams in Pennsylvania.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Supporting his argument is the fact that many of those teams that went out to seek the best competition outside of the area will be playing for state championships this weekend and many of them ended up mercy ruling their competition during the PIAA playoffs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, another reason the teams still\u00a0remaining are\u00a0where they are is because of their ability to recruit and bring in players from different regions. This has been a hotly debated topic for\u00a0decades\u00a0and arguments about this usually pop up around this time of year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, many of those “non-boundary” teams defeated other non-boundary teams in the state playoffs…a few\u00a0rather significantly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There’s\u00a0always\u00a0numerous\u00a0discussions with people bringing up different ideas on how the state playoffs “should” be laid out. I think one of the best “newest” ideas\u00a0I’ve\u00a0heard during the last few weeks includes going back to a\u00a0four classification\u00a0format the way it had been for many years but expanding the number of teams involved.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Will this be the year where action is taken and the PIAA playoffs get revamped? \/enhanced to try to ensure better competition going forward? <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ll\u00a0have to wait and see what the\u00a0powers that be\u00a0decide\u00a0as there are quite a few high school sports issues up for debate over the next few months.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0here’s\u00a0a look at the top plays from some of our recent broadcasts on ATVN<\/em>….<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Astound TV Network Sports:\u00a0<\/strong>Boys\u2019 Basketball – Executive Education vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (2\/26)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n