Jason Shields (above, last July) and Scranton are the District 2 6A champs. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
By Josh Verlin & Andrew Robinson
The last time Lower Merion and Scranton faced off in the PIAA tournament, it was 2011, when the Aces pulled off an opening-round upset of the Knights, 44-42 in overtime. Gregg Downer’s squad won’t be the underdog this time, coming in with a 26-3 record and a District 1 championship under its belt, not to mention two future Division I players on the roster. 
The inside-out play of senior big man Demetrius Lilley (Penn State) and junior Sam Brown has made the Aces a tough guard all season long; teams either have to focus their attention on the 6-9, 235-pound Lilley, who’s an excellent finisher and put-back specialist that can also stretch the floor to the 3-point arc, or Brown and fellow junior Sam Wright, both of whom can light it up from deep. Senior guard Jaylen Shippen and junior Justin Poles give the Aces a pair of dribble-drive specialists, and Downer has a couple other shooters he can throw in the mix as well.
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