Three area teams are still alive as the PIAA State Basketball Tournament opens this weekend.

The Northern Lehigh boys and Pleasant Valley girls will be in action on Friday night. The Marian girls open state play on Saturday afternoon.BOYSPIAA Class AAANo. Lehigh (20-5) vs. Abington Heights (22-5)Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Lackawanna College in ScrantonAbout the Bulldogs … The Bulldogs are led in scoring by Lucas Pierce (6-6, C, 11.47 ppg), Caleb Johnson (6-5, F, 9.72 ppg), and Devin Glose (6-2, G, 8.64 ppg)... Other Northern Lehigh players that will make an impact on Friday night are guard Tyler Dibilio (5.64), guard Josh Pristash, guard Thatcher George, forward Josh Eden, and forward Josh Landsberger... The Bulldogs have made states for the first time since back-to-back appearances in 2007 and 2008. It's NL's third state berth in the last 27 years ... The Bulldogs last state playoff game was in 2008 when they fell in the first round to Imhotep Charter, 64-61. Imhotep eventually advanced to the Class AA State Championship game that season ... Northern Lehigh is coming off a five-point win over North Schuylkill in the AAA consolation game. In 2008, the Bulldogs also beat North Schuylkill the District 11 consolation game. That year, NL was the No. 1 seed in the District 11 AAA bracket, but lost to Wilson 43-39 in the semifinals ...The Bulldogs and Comets did not have a common opponent in 2011-12 season... Northern Lehigh likes to use its size inside to frustrate people on the defensive side of the ball and when they play to their potential they make it really hard for teams to get good looks at the basket ... The Bulldogs average 50.16 ppg on the season...About the Comets … JC Show (6-2 G/F) is "the show" for the Comets averaging 14.8 ppg. 6-4 junior big man Jason Bamford (8.22 ppg) is also poised to make an impact and will challenge Pierce and Johnson inside. Other Comet players that will contribute are junior Kevin Elwell (7.9 ppg), 6-3 junior forward TJ Murray, senior Pat Calvey, and 6-1 senior John Vassil... Abington Heights is coming into the matchup with the Bulldogs averaging 46.7 ppg. The Comets, much like the Bulldogs, have size across the board so it will be interesting to see who wins the rebound battle on Friday night ... Abington Heights had a terrific regular season defeating some quality opponents. It beat Holy Cross (22-5), Dunmore (19-8), Wilkes Barre Meyers (23-2), Delaware Valley (20-7), Scranton (19-5), and Scranton Prep (20-5). There win over Scranton Prep came in the AAA championship game where they took home the District 2 crown with a 55-41 victory ... The Comets defeated Tunkhannock and Crestwood to advance to advance to the District 2 AAA title game ... The Comets ended the year playing really good basketball winning nine straight games.Did you know? ... Northern Lehigh has lost in opening game of the PIAA State Tournament in each of its last four appearances (1984, 1985, 2007, 2008). The last state playoff victory for the Bulldogs came during the 1983 tourney when they defeated Exeter and Lancaster Catholic before losing to Tamaqua in the Eastern semifinals.Quotable … "It will be important for us to control the boards and not get out rebounded. We have to play with the same intensity on defense we showed against North Schuylkill and not let them get second chances on the offensive side of the floor. We know our length can bother people so we just need to execute on defense. It will also be important for us not to turn the ball over and limit our mistakes as the game moves forward. We have to be aggressive on offense. Devin Glose is key for us and needs to be aggressive on the offenisve end to compliment our inside play with Johnson and Pierce." - Northern Lehigh head coach Jeff Miller.GIRLSPIAA Class AAAAPleasant Vy. (18-9) vs. Council Rock South (25-2)Friday, 6 p.m. at Wissahickon H.S. in AmblerAbout the Bears … Pleasant Valley is in the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 2003, when it defeated Central Bucks East in the opening round before losing to Mount St. Joseph's Academy … The Bears qualified for the state playoffs as the No. 3 seed out of District 11 … The top-seeded Bears lost to Liberty in the semifinals, but clinched a berth after beating Whitehall in the consolation game last Friday … Pleasant Valley was 4-6 at one point this year, but went on to win its next eight games to improve to 12-6 … The Bears moved to 13-8 before winning five of their last six games … Pleasant Valley finished 9-3 in the Mountain Valley Conference and went on to defeat Pocono Mountain East and Pocono Mountain West in the conference playoffs to capture its second consecutive MVC title under third-year head coach Nadia Gauronsky … Senior center Kelecia Harris leads the team at 13.1 points-per-game … Although Council Rock South is known for liking to get out in transition, especially with leading scorer Alex Wheatley (also a center) getting out on the break, Harris may be the most qualified to keep up with her … Harris finished fifth and seventh respectively in the 100 and 200-meter dashes in the District 11 track and field championships last spring … Four other Bears average at least five points-per-game and they are Amber Chieffo (7.9), Arden Cisluycis (6.7), Jordan Meckes (5.6) and Keri Dekmar (5.4) … Eight different team members have played in at least 26 games this season, with six of them playing in all 27.About the Golden Hawks … Since winning 25 in a row and going 14-0 in the Suburban One Division, Council Rock South has lost its last two games … However, those two teams were ranked No. 6 and No. 13 in the state according to MaxPreps.com … The Hawks lost to Spring-Ford (No. 6 at Maxpreps, No. 1 according to the Harrisburg Patriot News) 56-50 in the District 1 semifinal … They then lost to No. 13 ranked Downingtown East by the same score in the consolation game … Council Rock South is ranked No. 11 in the state by MaxPreps.com … This season the Hawks have beaten their opponents by an average of 20 points-per-game (55 points for, 35.4 points against) … They run the floor very well and beat teams with their transitional offense … Their leading scorer, senior center Alex Wheatley, averages around 18 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four steals, three assists, two blocks and a 53 shooting percentage … She has scored 1,000 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds in her four-year career and will be playing college basketball at Princeton next winter … Guard Alexis Hofstaedter is second on the team at nine points-per-game and averages seven assists, four rebounds and two steals per game … She also has a remarkable 4:1 assist to turnover ratio and will continue her basketball career at William & Mary next year … Sophomores Taylor Dillon (6.2 ppg, 1.5 spg) and Cait Jackson (5.6 ppg, 3 rpg, 1.3 spg), along with junior forward Courtney Brown (6 ppg, 1.5 spg), round out the Hawks' starting lineup … All five starters are three-point threats … Senior forwards Taylor Hunt and Rachel Jacob will see minutes off the bench.Did you know? … Pleasant Valley is 14-0 when it holds teams to 40 points or less. However, the Bears are just 5-9 when their opponents score more than 40 points ... Despite District 1 having eight state berths to hand out last year, Council Rock South failed to qualify for the PIAA playoffs after losing to Downingtown West, 50-49, in a loser's bracket elimination game.Quotable … "We don't know much about Council Rock South. What we do know is that they are a very well rounded team and they like to get out into the open floor. We probably don't transition as well as they do, but oddly enough our center can run well too. Kelly is the best athlete on our team and we are hoping that she can keep up with Wheatley and maybe even give her some fits of her own. Either way, we are going to have to play very good defense and make every offensive possession count. At this time of the year you can't afford to give up many easy baskets or turn the ball over to the other team." - Pleasant Valley's Nadia Gauronsky.PIAA Class AMarian (19-6) vs. Line Mountain (24-1)Saturday, 3 p.m. at Shikellamy Fieldhouse in SunburyAbout the Fillies … Marian returns to the PIAA State Class A playoffs for the second straight year and has qualified for States 16 of the last 18 years ... It's the 24th time that the Fillies have been involved in the State playoffs since they were first held for girls' basketball in 1973 ... The Fillies advanced into the State playoffs as the No. 2 seed out of District 11 after falling to Tri-Valley, 60-52, in the title game. The Fillies also lost to Tri-Valley in the Schuylkill League championship game ... Marian has had winning streaks of six and seven games this season. Both of those streaks were ended by Tri-Valley. Three of Marian's six losses have come at the hands of the Bulldogs. Marian's other losses came to Lourdes, Dunmore and Mt. Carmel all of those teams are in the state playoffs ... The Fillies are led by a trio of seniors in Kaysi McLaughlin (11.6 ppg.), Kelly Shober (10.3) and Danielle Tristani (9.8). Junior Samantha Faust (5.3) and sophomore Gabby Green (6.7) round out the starting liuneup ... Four of five starters have played in all 25 games this season for the Fillies .... McLaughlin leads Marian with 48 three-pointers ... Marian averages 48.56 points a game offensively while allowing 34.88 defensively.About the Eagles … Line Mountain looks to rebound after suffering its first loss of the season a 66-49 setback to Lourdes in District 4 Class A championship game ... The Eagles finished the regular season 22-0, in cluding a perfect 12-0 in the Tri-Valley League ... The Eagles are led by two upperclassmen in Kasey Long (18.8 ppg.) and Mikhail Whitcomb (17.2). Senior Macy Bethge (4.2) and juniors Ciera Lahr (5.0) and Jade London (3.2) round out the starting five ... The Eagles aren't too deep as sophomore Madison Lagerman (4.6 pgg.) is the first and usually the only player to see time off the bench ... The Eagles also lack height as Lahr is their tallest player at 5-8 while Long is an inch shorter at 5-7 ... Long paced the Eagles against Lourdes with 26 points ... Line Mountain and Marian have had two common opponents this season - Lourdes and Williams Valley. Lourdes routed Line Mountain in the district championship game while Marian split with Lourdes during the regular season meetings. The Red Raiders won the first meeting 47-40 in the championship game of their own Tip-off Tournament in early December while the Fillies returned the favor back in January, recording a 41-36 win. Both the Eagles and Fillies scored victories over Williams Valley. Line Mountain scored a 58-30 win in mid-Febraury while Marian cruised to a 52-15 win a month earlier ... Line Mountain averages 55.16 points a game offensively and allows 34.12 a game on the defensive end ... Whitcomb leads LM with 45 three-pointers. Long has 31.Did you know? … It will be the second straight year that Marian and Line Mountain open the state playoffs against one another. The Eagles posted a 38-32 victory over the Fillies at Shamokin High School last year ... The Fillies are 15-0 when allowing less than 40 points this season. They are 4-6 when allowing 40 or more points ...Quoteable … "We are looking forward to getting back to the state tournament for the second year in a row. Last year, Line Mountain knocked us out in the first round so we are looking foward to the chance to play them again and hopefully move on to the next round. In order to do that we need to contain their two top scorers in Long and Whitcomb. We also need to do a better job of handling their zone pressure both full and half court." Marian coach Paul Brutto.