PIAA District IV Boys Basketball Post-Season Info
Please take time to review the rules for the 2024-25 PIAA District IV Playoffs. Enclosed is a copy of the rules as approved by the District IV Committee for your convenience. You must notify me (cvenna@indians.k12.pa.us or 570-205-1144) by noon on Friday, January 31, 2025, if your school does not wish to be considered for post-season basketball competition. Those schools not notifying the District IV Committee will be expected to participate in the District IV tournament. Failure to do so could bring disciplinary action from the committee. Also, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. The brackets for the District Tournament will be released on Sunday, February 16, 2025.
***For the 2024-25 season, in Class 4A, 3A, 2A & 1A (Boys and Girls) a minimum of eight (8) teams will be eligible for the District IV Tournament. The top eight teams based on the District IV Power Rating System and all teams with a 50% winning percentage or higher will automatically qualify for the Tournament. Teams will be seeded based upon their Power Rating. In the event that a team with a 50% winning percentage or higher is not seeded in the top eight, the team with the 50% winning percentage or higher and all teams with a higher Power Rating will be eligible for the Tournament. District IV Teams must play 11 or more games to be eligible for the playoffs. Class 5A Girls and 6A Girls will qualify through the District 6 playoffs. Class 5A Boys will qualify through the District 11 playoffs and 6A Boys will qualify through the District 2 playoffs.
Games not played due to COVID exposure will be considered a NO CONTEST. If a team's opponent for a scheduled game cannot play due to COVID, it may schedule a replacement game. The results of the replacement game will count for power ratings, provided it is against a PIAA member school and is played prior to the power ranking deadline. Teams that are unable to participate on the first date of their class's tournament due to COVID exposure will not be permitted to enter the tournament. A team that qualifies for the tournament but must suspend its season due to COVID after the power ranking deadline will be eliminated.
Contact Information
Chris Venna
2000 West State St.
Coal Township, PA 17860
Phone: (570) 648-5731 (4116)
Fax: (570) 648-0601
cvenna@indians.k12.pa.us
District IV Basketball Playoff Format
Please note, teams participating in the tournament must agree to follow the playoff rules of District IV and the PIAA. All games played up to and including February 15, 2025, for 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A schools will be counted for seeding purposes. The District IV playoff games will be played the weeks of February 17 and February 24. The tentative finals will be held Thursday – Saturday (February 27 - March 1). Inter-district play begins on Friday, March 7th. The State Championships will be held Thursday – Saturday (March 27 – 29) at the Giant Center in Hershey.
For future scheduling purposes, the 2026 District IV basketball playoff games have been scheduled for the weeks of February 16 and February 23.
Playoff Rules
- Teams will be seeded by their Power Rating.
- Round of 16 (Preliminaries) and Round of 8 (Quarterfinals) games will be played at the home court of the higher seed. No Rental Fee will be assessed by host schools in these rounds. District IV will pay for a Game Manager, Site Manager, Observer, and the Contest Officials. Host schools are responsible for paying all other workers (including a trainer). For Semi-Finals and Finals games, a neutral site will be used. (Every effort will be made to keep the distance traveled by each school as equal as possible.
- District IV will provide a Contest Site Lease Agreement in advance to the hosting team to cover the cost of insurance and liability.
- All ticket sales will be done online through Hometown Ticketing. More information regarding online ticket sales is forthcoming. District IV will charge $6 for all tickets (plus additional fees set by Hometown Ticketing).
- No passes of any kind (except for District IV Playoff passes) will be accepted for entry into contests.
- Any profits from livestreaming from outside sources, such as TV, radio, web, etc, are the property of PIAA District IV.
- Schools will have the opportunity to recommend officials for the playoffs.
- In Class 4A, 3A, 2A & 1A (Boys and Girls) a minimum of eight teams will be eligible for the District IV Tournament. The top eight teams based on the District IV Power Rating System and all teams with a 50% winning percentage or higher will automatically qualify for the Tournament. Teams will be seeded based upon their Power Rating. In the event that a team with a 50% winning percentage or higher is not seeded in the top eight, the team with the 50% winning percentage or higher and all teams with a higher Power Rating will be eligible for the Tournament. District IV Teams must play 11 or more games to be eligible for the playoffs. Class 5A Girls and 6A Girls will qualify through the District 6 playoffs. Class 5A Boys will qualify through the District 11 playoffs and 6A Boys will qualify through the District 2 playoffs.
- Games not played due to COVID exposure will be considered a NO CONTEST. If a team's opponent for a scheduled game cannot play due to COVID, it may schedule a replacement game. The results of the replacement game will count for power ratings, provided it is against a PIAA member school and is played prior to the power ranking deadline. Teams that are unable to participate on the first date of their class’s tournament due to COVID exposure will not be permitted to enter the tournament. A team that qualifies for the tournament but must suspend its season due to COVID after the power ranking deadline will be eliminated.
- Any league playoff games or championship games will not be considered for seeding purposes.
- When a PIAA District IV member school or schools cancel a scheduled game without the approval of the District IV Committee, such member school(s) may be subject to suspension from all PIAA playoffs in all sports for a period of one year. COVID related cancellations must be reported to PIAA District IV.
- The tiebreaker process is as listed in the District IV Power Rating information as approved by the District IV Committee.
- Additional criteria that may be used for the selection of game sites.
- Availability of game sites
- Proximity of game sites to the location of the opponent
- Past experience and practice
- Seating capacity of available facilities
- Intention to play games as part of a doubleheader
- Accessibility from the standpoint of major roads or good roads
- Quality of gymnasium and quality and availability of sufficient locker room space
- Rental charges and other related costs
Information For Teams Entering The District IV Basketball Playoffs
- Each school will be contacted by the game manager or District IV Committee Member with the information about game sites and times.
- Administrators should be aware of their responsibility for crowd control. No noise makers are allowed.
- Cheerleader advisors should be aware of the PIAA restrictions on cheerleading activities.
- In the Quarterfinal Rounds, the host team will wear white uniforms. In the Semi-Finals and Finals, the team on top in the bracket is the home team and will wear white uniforms.
- The game manager will furnish the game ball for the Semi-Finals and Finals. The home team will supply the game ball for the Quarterfinals. Balls used will be Spalding for boys and girls.
- Benches will be assigned by the game manager.
- Three officials will be used for all games.
- League passes and local senior citizen passes will not be accepted.
- An administrator in charge for each school, both coaches, and game officials, will meet with the game manager 12 minutes prior to the start of the game to review the administrator's responsibility for crowd control and the rules for cheerleaders.
- District IV Teams must play 11 or more games to be eligible for the playoffs.
- Games not played during the regular season due to COVID exposure will be considered a NO CONTEST. If a team's opponent for a scheduled game cannot play due to COVID, it may schedule a replacement game. The results of the replacement game will count for power ratings, provided it is against a PIAA member school and is played prior to the power rating deadline.
- Schools that do not wish to participate in the tournament must inform District IV via email to the District Basketball Chairman by 12 noon on Friday, February 2, 2024.
- Teams that are unable to participate on the first date of their class' tournament due to COVID exposure will not be permitted to enter the tournament.
- A team that qualifies for the tournament but must suspend its season due to COVID after the power rating deadline will be eliminated.
- The postponement and/or rescheduling of playoff games will be at the discretion of the District IV Basketball Chairman and the District IV Committee.
- Medals will be awarded to the teams advancing to the State Tournament (25 individual medals).
- PIAA District IV Basketball apparel sales will be done online and on site at games. A link will be provided on the District IV website. More information is forthcoming.
Tickets For All Games
Admission Prices
All ticket sales will be done online through HomeTown Ticketing (HTT). More information regarding online ticket sales is forthcoming. District IV will charge $6 for all tickets (plus additional fees set by HomeTown Ticketing).
No passes of any kind, except District IV playoff passes, should be accepted for entry into contests.
Starting Times (Recommended)
*** Time adjustments may be made by the District IV Basketball Chairman as needed to accommodate facility use and COVID related issues.
Evening Games
Single: 7:00 p.m.
Double-header: 6:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Triple-header: 5:00 - 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Afternoon Games
Single: 1:00 p.m.
Double-header: 1:00 and 2:30 p.m.
Triple-header: 1:00 - 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.