2022 WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball championship breakdown: Shady Side Academy vs. Avonworth

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Friday, March 4, 2022 | 10:28 AM


No. 3 Shady Side Academy vs. No. 8 Avonworth

5 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center

On the air: Video livestream: TribHSSN.TribLive.com

WPIAL titles: Avonworth 1 (1959), Shady Side Academy 1 (1999)

Avonworth (18-6)

Coach: Mike Mancuso

2, Rowan Carmichael, 5-8, fr., G

3, Jordan Kolenda, 6-2, sr., G

5, Colin Crawford, 6-0, jr., G

10, David Kujawinski, 6-1, sr., F

22, Peyton Faulkner, 6-3, jr., F

Notable: Avonworth reached the WPIAL finals by upsetting No. 1 seed Ellwood City, 66-55, in the quarterfinals, and No. 5 South Allegheny, 46-43, in the semifinals. Ellwood City and South Allegheny met in the WPIAL finals last season. … Avonworth defeated No. 9 Ligonier Valley, 64-36, in the first round. … The Antelopes have three double-digit scorers in Kolenda (19 ppg), Carmichael (17) and Faulkner (17). Faulkner averages eight rebounds. … Carmichael is the son of La Roche men’s basketball coach Hermie Carmichael. … Faulkner is a Division I football recruit with offers from Bowling Green, Kent State and others. … Avonworth finished third in Section 2 behind Aliquippa and Seton LaSalle. … The Antelopes have reached the WPIAL finals three times. They defeated McDonald, 77-63, in the 1959 finals. They were runners-up in 1954 and ’62. … This is Mancuso’s second season as coach.

Shady Side Academy (18-6)

Coach: David Vadnais

1, Ryan Fitzgerald, 6-1, sr., G

3, Eli Teslovich, 5-10, so., G

4, Ethan Salvia, 5-11, jr., G

21, Thompson Lau, 6-4, sr., F

24, Peter Kramer, 6-2, sr., G

Notable: Shady Side’s top scorers are Teslovich (16.5 ppg) and Kramer (15.7). The two combined for 35 points in a 56-51 semifinal win over No. 2 Aliquippa. … The Bulldogs defeated No. 6 seed Washington, 57-50, in the quarterfinals, and No. 14 Laurel, 66-28, in the first round. … Shady Side competed in the first WPIAL basketball championship game in 1913, losing to Wilkinsburg in a three-game series. Wilkinsburg took the final game, 27-24. … Shady Side won its lone WPIAL title in 1999 by defeating Farrell, 49-46. The team was WPIAL runner-up in 1995, ’96, ’98 and 2001. … Vadnais is in his ninth season as coach.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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