Hawthorne Christian senior forward/center Alex Thomas has led the Defenders to an 11-0 start, good enough to earn the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Passaic County tournament. (PHOTO: MARKO GEORGIEV/The Record)
There wasn’t much drama in the room tonight when Passaic County’s boys basketball coaches convened at Eastern Christian to seed their upcoming county tournament.
To no one’s surprise, Eastside, a heavy favorite to win the PCT, was seeded No. 1. Cross-town rival Kennedy, based mostly on its strength of schedule, was seeded No. 2.
Unbeaten Hawthorne Christian received the No. 3 seed, the highest seed the Defenders have earned since first entering the PCT in 2001. That’s a sure sign coach Kevin Standford’s program is starting to receive respect for the strides it has made in recent years, particularly how well the Defenders have played in recent Passaic County tournaments against Big North schools Eastside (2013), DePaul (2012), Wayne Valley (2012), Passaic (2012) and Kennedy (2011).
Securing one of the top four seeds in the PCT was more important than usual this season because Passaic County’s coaches voted last year to change the tournament’s format.
The top four seeds will receive byes in the first two rounds, which should make most early-round games more competitive than in the past, when the No. 1-seeded team played the No. 16-seeded team in the first round, etc. The teams seeded No. 10-No. 16 will play in the preliminary round, with winners advancing to first-round games against teams seeded No. 5-No. 8.
For more on the PCT seeds, read Thursday’s editions of The Record and/or Herald News.
Below are the seeds and the preliminary schedule:
- Eastside (10-1)
- Kennedy (7-5)
- Hawthorne Christian (11-0)
- DePaul (6-5)
- Wayne Hills (6-4)
- West Milford (6-3)
- Passaic Valley (5-5)
- Wayne Valley (6-5)
- Passaic Tech (4-6)
- Pompton Lakes (6-3)
- Clifton (3-6)
- Lakeland (4-6)
- Manchester (4-6)
- Passaic (0-8)
- Hawthorne (2-6)
- Eastern Christian (1-8)
Records based on results reported to The Record.
All times TBA
Preliminary round
Saturday, Feb. 1
No. 16 Eastern Christian at No. 9 Passaic Tech
No. 15 Hawthorne at No. 10 Pompton Lakes
No. 14 Passaic at No. 11 Clifton
No. 13 Manchester at No. 12 Lakeland
First round
Saturday, Feb. 8
w/o Eastern Christian-Passaic Tech at No. 8 Wayne Valley
w/o Hawthorne-Pompton Lakes at No. 7 Passaic Valley
w/o Passaic-Clifton at No. 6 West Milford
w/o Manchester-Lakeland at No. 5 Wayne Hills
Quarterfinals
Saturday, Feb. 15
At higher seeds
Teams TBD
Semifinals
Saturday, Feb. 22
At Kennedy
Teams TBD
Final
Saturday, March 1
At Wayne Valley
Teams TBD