The PIAA Basketball Championships at Penn State University have been favorable to Delco teams, but they are headed back to Hershey.

The Giant Center in Hershey will host the state's four classifications of boys and girls basketball championships for the next four years, beginning with the 2012-13 season, according to a post on District Three's Web site.

The PIAA's Board of Directors voted, 29-2, in favor of returning the championships to Hershey.

The title games had been hosted by Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center for the last six seasons, beginning in 2007. In that span, Chester (2008, '11, '12), Penn Wood (2009) and Archbishop Carroll (2009) won boys basketball championships, while Archbishop Carroll (2009, '12) and Cardinal O'Hara (2009) claimed girls titles.

Nonetheless, the basketball championships are back in Hershey.

According to a post on RodFrisco.com, money had a lot to do with the location change.

The PIAA in March asked for an RFP (request for proposal) from the sites that host winter championships, with which Penn State complied. But because Penn State submitted "a combined individual wrestling and basketball proposal in violation of the PIAA’s policy on championship venues," the PIAA asked that RFPs be re-submitted. It was at that point that, according to Frisco, Hershey submitted a proposal to return the title games back there, where they had been hosted for more than 20 years.

Frisco reports that Hershey "submitted a zero-rent bid" for the PIAA Championships, while Penn State "submitted a bid that included reimbursed expenses of $74,000 per season." If we're to believe what Frisco's reporting, the PIAA saw a chance to host the title games in Hershey at a better rate, compared to what it would face in State College.

Therefore, the games will be back in Hershey this March.