Lourdes Regional is going to qualify for the District 4 playoffs.
Just past the midseason point, the Red Raiders are 9-3 and only a complete collapse would keep them from the Class A postseason. And that's not going to happen.
Head coach Pete Long has a solid core of veterans who have been together for a number of years. They should have no problem finishing the regular season with far more than the 11 victories needed to qualify.
For everybody else in the local area, however, it's getting late early.
Shamokin is in the most dire situation. When they start the second half of their season Tuesday night at home against Midd-West, the Indians will do so with a 2-9 record. Only a complete reversal, or better, of their first 11 games will get it done.
Shamokin is simply a green team. The starters and key reserves from last year's squad all graduated, and first-year head coach Chris Zimmerman has been working to find the right combination to provide a spark. The Indians head into Tuesday's game having lost their last four.
Line Mountain, 5-3 a couple short weeks ago, has dropped four straight as well to put itself two games under .500 one game into the second half of its season. Ten games remain for the Eagles and they need to win at least six of those to qualify.
Neither Mount Carmel nor Southern Columbia has reached the mid-point of their season, so time is still on their side.
The Red Tornadoes are 3-6 and losers of three of their last four. Eight wins in the final 13 games will get it done for them.
Southern, at 3-5, has lost three in succession, including a matchup with Mount Carmel last week, and is in a situation similar to the Red Tornadoes. The Tigers need eight wins in their final 14 games to qualify.
Scoring Leaders
(Top two for each team, unless there are more who average in double figures.)
Line Mountain - Bill Breinich, 16.6; Cole Rickert, 13.1.
Lourdes - Zack Oquendo, 13.0; Anthony Pennypacker, 12.8; Matt Savitski, 10.3.
Mount Carmel - Ben Scicchitano, 9.1; Robert Varano, 7.8.
Shamokin - Kevin Carsto, 8.3; Austin Stine, 8.1.
Southern Columbia - Matt Klock, 16.4; Mike Klebon, 14.0; Bryce Parry, 13.9.
(Roth is Sports Editor
of The News-Item)