Scholastic Notebook – 12/23/2011

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 23, 2011 | 2:12 PM

The New Castle boys basketball team is once again a major factor on the WPIAL basketball landscape. A former New Castle player is the one who has led the Red Hurricanes’ return to glory.

Ralph Blundo is in his second season as head coach and has New Castle off to a 5-0 start. The Red Hurricanes are No. 3 in the MSA Sports WPIAL Class AAA rankings. In three of the four seasons from 2006 through 2010, New Castle finished below .500 three times.

As for Blundo, he was a standout New Castle player in his day. He also was an assistant coach for a while under John Sarandrea, but then got out of coaching for a while. He became an assistant principal at New Castle, and that meant he couldn’t coach. The district had a rule where administrators couldn’t hold coaching positions.

But in the spring of 2010, the district changed that policy, just so it could hire Blundo. It has turned out to be a good move for the Red Hurricanes.

Blundo has certainly benefited from having talented players, but he has the Red Hurricanes playing a style that is fun to watch. They don’t have much size, but they are excellent at running their dribble drive offense and playing a fast-paced game. New Castle is averaging 76.4 points a game, one of the best marks in the WPIAL.

Among their top players, 6-foot-3 junior Shawn Anderson and 6-1 Malik Hooker are the only two taller than 6 feet. But New Castle’s guards are excellent, with the likes of 5-9 Brandon Domenick, 5-9 Anthony Richards and 5-11 Corey Eggleston. The thing is, all of the Red Hurricanes play like a guard when they are on the court.

And the success this season won’t be a one-time thing. New Castle was a WPIAL Semifinalist last season, and almost all of their players are either sophomores or juniors.

New Castle is definitely one of the teams capable of winning a WPIAL Class AAA title. But they will be moving up to Class AAAA next year.

Bearcats Uprising

Maybe one of the surprise teams in the early going is Bentworth. The Bearcats are 4-0 in Class A.

Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that the Bearcats are 4-0. Although they were 9-14 last year, they were 13-5 only two seasons ago.

But it’s the way that Bentworth is scoring that is surprising. After averaging only 59 points last year and 52 in the 2008-09 season, the Bearcats are averaging 77 points a game so far this season.

Tourney Time

It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time for loads and loads of holiday basketball tournaments.

A few tournaments in the WPIAL will start Dec. 26. But most of them go are played within Dec. 27-29, with a few ending Dec. 30.

As usual, some teams will go out of state to play. A few WPIAL boys teams traveling for the holidays are Bethel Park (Virginia Beach), Shaler (Maryland), Sewickley Academy (Virginia), Mount Lebanon (Florida) and Butler (Florida).

On the local level, one of the best tournaments is the C.J. Betters Classic at the Beaver Dome. On the first night of the tournament Dec. 27, one of the top games is Lincoln Park vs. Beaver Falls at 8:30 here on MSA Sports.

Another top game in a first round of a tournament is Upper St. Clair vs. North Allegheny at NA on Dec. 27 at 8 p.m.

Top Wrestling Tourney

One of the top wrestling tournaments in the country is next Thursday and Friday when the 45th annual Powerade Christmas Tournament is held at Canon-McMillan and heard here on MSA Sports.

This year’s field includes 33-time national prep champion Blair Academy of New Jersey. Blair has one of the best wrestling programs in the country.

Also, Derry’s James Gulibon will try to become only the fourth wrestler to win four Powerade championships.

Shell’s Honors

It has been a pretty good week for Hopewell running back Rushel Shell, in terms of honors. It seems like every day, he gets a new honor.

He was named the MSA Sports Player of the Year a week ago. He was selected the state player of the year for Class AAA on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he was named a second-team All-American by Sports Illustrated.

On Friday, he was named Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Player of the Year.

But maybe Shell’s biggest honor came Thursday when he was named a USA Today first-team All-American. Only three running backs in the country made first team.

Coles Done for Basketball and Track?

A sad story out of Clairton concerning Trenton Coles.

Coles, a senior, injured his right knee in last Friday’s PIAA Class A championship and he will need surgery on it. Coles sustained torn MCL and PCL ligaments. He will definitely miss all of basketball season and will likely miss track and field season, although there could be a chance he could be back for track late in the season.

Coles is the defending PIAA Class AA champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. He also is a Pitt football recruit.

The sad thing is how Coles was hurt. He was injured after kicking an extra point when a Southern Columbia player rolled into his right leg.

Tags: Bentworth, Bethel Park, Butler, Canon-McMillan, Clairton, Derry Area, Hopewell, Lincoln Park, Upper St. Clair