Trib HSSN 2021-22 WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball preseason breakdown

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, December 7, 2021 | 6:48 PM

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West Allegheny became the poster boys of “anybody can win it” when it comes to the WPIAL basketball playoffs after taking the 2007 boys Class AAA crown as the No. 16 seed. Well, West A has company on that poster after No. 11 seed Ellwood City went on a shocking postseason run that earned the Wolverines their first district hoops title last winter.

Here is a rundown of players to watch, top teams and other notables in WPIAL 3A boys basketball this season.

Preseason Player of the Year

Steve Antuono, Ellwood City

6-0, Sr., guard

18.8 ppg last season

Players to watch

Joseph Roth, Ellwood City

6-4, So., F, 18.1 ppg

Bryce Epps, South Allegheny

6-0, Jr., G, 15.8 ppg

Connor Spratt, Seton LaSalle

6-2, Jr., G, 16.0 ppg

Matt Marinchak, Ligonier Valley

6-2, Sr., F, 17.0 ppg

Tayshawn Levy, Washington

5-11, Sr., G, 18.9 ppg

Preseason Top 5

1. Ellwood City (14-5 last season)

What a magical postseason for Ellwood City last season. The Wolverines were the No. 11 seed in the 3A open tournament and promptly defeated Valley, Avonworth, Shady Side Academy, Neshannock and top-seeded South Allegheny to win improbable gold. No sneaking up on anybody this season for ole Lincoln High with the return of leading scorer Steve Antuono, along with the splash brothers, senior Alex Roth and sophomore Joey Roth, both of whom also won district gold in swimming last winter.

2. Aliquippa (12-6)

The Quips beat out Avonworth last season to win the Section 2-3A title in the return of former Aliquippa coach Nick Lackovich as bench boss. The team reached the 3A semifinals before falling to South Allegheny. Junior Donovan Walker leads the backcourt for the Quips while a pair of sophomores, Brandon Banks and Cam Lindsey, will join Walker in the starting lineup. DeAndre Moye transferred from Aliquippa to Lincoln Park.

3. Shady Side Academy (14-3)

A year after finishing under .500, Shady Side Academy enjoyed a nice turnaround season in 2020-2021, finishing tied with South Allegheny for the Section 3-3A championship. The Bulldogs were 14-2 overall when they lost to eventual champion Ellwood City in the 3A quarterfinals. All five starters are back, including one of the top freshmen in the district a year ago, Eli Teslovich, who averaged 13.4 ppg. The others are seniors Thompson Lau and Rian Fitzgerald, junior Ethan Salvia and sophomore Peter Kramer.

4. South Allegheny (17-5)

Oh, so close. South Allegheny earned a share of the Section 3-3A title and the No. 1 seed in the open 3A playoffs last season and won three games to reach the title game but lost to Ellwood City in the finals, ending one of the best seasons in Gladiators history. They lose size in Omar Faulkner and Antonio Epps to graduation, but return one of the top guards in junior Bryce Epps as well as senior guards Ethan Kirkwood and Dillon Hines.

5. Washington (12-5)

Coach Ron Faust led Washington to another section crown in 2020-2021. He is now in his ninth season in his second stint and 35th season as coach of the Little Prexies. Despite the section title, Wash High lost to Laurel in the 3A first round. Seniors Tayshawn Levy and Brandon Patterson return for Washington. Both averaged double digits scoring a year ago with 18.9 and 13.6 respectively.

Notables

• Ellwood City earned its improbable run to gold by beating the top three seeds in the 3A playoffs: No. 3 Shady Side Academy in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Neshannock in the semifinals to reach the WPIAL finals for the first time since 1986. The Wolverines then took out No. 1 seed South Allegheny to capture the first WPIAL boys basketball championship in school history.

• The Wolverines are trying to accomplish a rare feat in 3A boys basketball: a repeat. If Ellwood City were to repeat as district champions, it would only be the third school in 3A to accomplish that this century. Moon won three straight AAA crowns from 2004-06 while Lincoln Park repeated as 3A WPIAL champs in 2018-19.

• Two of the 25 WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball programs decided not to take part in the district’s open tournament for the postseason last year. Riverside (3-16) and Freedom (3-14) opted not to participate. Thanks to the title run by Ellwood City, Section 1 teams were a combined 10-4 in the open tournament. Section 2 was 4-4, Section 3 was 6-7, and Section 4 was a disappointing 2-7 with both wins coming in the preliminary round.

• After sitting out a year due to covid-19, Summit Academy returns and will play in Section 2. Twenty-four of the 26 head coaches in 3A also will be returning to the bench this winter. One of the two exceptions is at Mohawk, where Mike O’Lare moves from the girls head coaching job to the boys bench boss after leading the Warriors girls to a WPIAL championship and a PIAA runner-up last season. The other new coach is John Stone, who takes over the Valley boys hoops program. He has been an assistant at Central Catholic and Norwin.

• Who are the Fearsome Foursome in Class 3A boys basketball? Over the last three years, it has been Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Neshannock and Seton LaSalle. Those four schools have reached the elite eight in the 3A WPIAL playoffs in each of the last three years. Taking it a step further, both Aliquippa and Seton LaSalle have reached the quarterfinals in all five seasons since the expansion to six classifications.

Alignment

Section 1: Beaver Falls, Ellwood City, Laurel, Mohawk, Neshannock, Riverside

Section 2: Aliquippa, Avonworth, Freedom, New Brighton, Seton LaSalle, Summit Academy

Section 3: Apollo-Ridge, East Allegheny, Ligonier Valley, Shady Side Academy, South Allegheny, Steel Valley, Valley

Section 4: Beth-Center, Brentwood, Brownsville, Charleroi, McGuffey, Washington, Waynesburg Central