KEITH GROLLER'S NFL PICKS

From Keith Groller

Indy and New Orleans are decent favorites today in the NFL divisional playoffs, but the conventional wisdom is that both the Ravens and Cardinals are on a roll after their big wins on Sunday.

Conventional wisdom has been wrong a lot this season, so I am going to go against it and go with the favorites to win decisively today, even though I will be rooting again for Kurt Warner to perform his magic. Conventional wisdom also has that the Saints and Cards will put about 80 points on the board, but again, going against the CW, I think the defenses may actually make a stop or two in that game.

INDIANAPOLIS (-6.5) 28, Baltimore 17

NEW ORLEANS (-7) 34, Arizona 17

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In regard to high school basketball, Liberty sure impressed me last night. When people heard that Liberty would be without Anthony Gonzalez and Jarrod West, most gave Allen a real good chance of handing the Hurricanes their first league loss.

But those people forgot that Libery won the Cedar Beach Summer League without Gonzalez and West.

And they also didn't itake nto account that without Gonzalez and West, Darrun "Money" Hilliard would feel more of a sense of urgency and try to take over the game, which he did in the second half.

Hilliard, in his own words "put the team on my back" and carried them to victory.

Dante Holmes, who I learned last night is Hilliard's cousin, was also dynamite around the glass with 17 rebounds.

Liberty coach Chad Landis was not only pleased with those two, but also with Brandon Holland, Jon Cann, Joey Lasko, Louie Horwath and the rest of the guys who stepped up in the absence of two starters.

I know they've been challenged, but Liberty clearly remains the LVC's best.


Darrun Hilliard (32 in white) carried Liberty to victory with a career-high 33.

It will be interesting to see how they play at Pocono Mountain West today. West had basically the night off Friday night in ripping Lehighton, so they will be fresher than Liberty. And, West doesn't have to travel. Liberty could very well lose today, but they're still the team to beat in the LVC and in District 11.

Elsewhere on Friday, nice LVC wins by Freedom and Northampton. But Emmaus was the real stunner. The Green Hornets had been struggling offensively, but evidently couldn't miss against Whitehall. The Zephyrs are in one of those shootouts against Harrisburg on Sunday; not the best way to bounce back.

In the Colonial League, Southern Lehigh really put a beating on Catty which has Josh Case but little other offense. Saucon Valley handed Bangor its first league loss, Notre Dame really got it going offensively in an impressive win over Northern Lehigh and Northwestern took it to a fading Salisbury. The Falcons were held to nine points, total, in the middle periods. Salisbury will try to regroup against Northampton today and that doesn't figure to be easy.

The one league game of interest tonight is Wilson-Saucon Valley.

I'd love to see that one, but have the day off for my daughter Aimee's 8th birthday party.

Enjoy the day and what feels almost like summer-like weather considering how cold it has been.

Keith Groller