Scholastic Notebook – 02/12/2011

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 12, 2011 | 12:00 AM

The Woodland Hills boys basketball team is headed to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in 11 years. If you watch the Wolverines in the playoffs, you'll see some North Allegheny in them.

That statement might sound strange, but first-year Woodland Hills coach Mike Decker is not afraid to acknowledge he has copied some of North Allegheny's dribble-drive offense. Why? Because North Allegheny coach Dave DeGregorio was Decker's coach when Decker played at Pine-Richland a little more than a decade ago.

"We're still very tight," Decker said of DeGregorio. "I coached an AAU team with one of his assistants last year. I still follow Dave and their staff and we share a lot of info with each other. He's still my coach and I rely on him for a lot of stuff."

But when Decker played for DeGreogorio at Pine-Richland, DeGregorio wasn't using the "dribble drive" offense, which relies heavily on drives to the basket and "kickouts" to players for 3-pointers.

"But Dave has had a lot of success with it," Decker said. "With all our athletes, we can really get into the lane and penetrate. One thing we had to work on was our shooting. We spend at least 20-30 minutes every day in practice just shooting. Because you have to be able to shoot the outside shot in order for teams to come out and play you, so you can drive. I lean on Dave and he basically taught it to me."

The top four teams in each section go to the playoffs. Woodland Hills finished in a tie for third place in Class AAAA Section 2 with Penn Hills and Plum. After the WPIAL tiebreaker was applied, all three teams will enter the playoffs.

Playoff Numbers

* Washington failed to qualify for the playoffs this season, breaking a string of 15 consecutive playoff appearances. With Washington out of the playoffs, Uniontown now has the most playoff appearances in WPIAL history with 56. Washington is second with 55 and Monessen third with 54.

* Monessen is in the playoffs for the 30th year in a row, a WPIAL record. Blackhawk qualified again for the 28th year in a row.

* Avella tied for a section championship. This is the Eagles' first section title since 1970.

* The Summit Academy boys won a section title for the first time since the Knights joined the WPIAL in 1998-99.

* Mars' loss to Knoch Friday means the Planets failed to win only the second section title in school history. Mars was tied with Highlands for first in the section before Friday's game. Highlands edged Hampton in overtime. Mars was trying to win its first section title since 1987. It was Highlands' fifth overtime game of the season, but the first time the Rams won an OT game.

* The North Catholic girls qualified for the playoffs for the 36th consecutive season, a WPIAL record. Serra qualified for the 27th time, which is second on the all-time girls' list.

* The Quigley boys team is playoff bound for the first time since 1995. Current Spartans head coach Greg Cercone was a senior on the Quigley team that last tasted postseason play.

Fit to be Tied

For two sections in girls' basketball, it's one big playoff party and everyone is invited. All six teams in Class AAA Section 1 and all six in Section 4 will enter the playoffs. The reason is that three teams tied for fourth place in both sections with 2-8 records. And since head-to-head competition couldn't break the tiebreaker, all three tied teams enter the playoffs. In Section 1, it is Valley Highlands and Knoch. In Section 2, it is Belle Vernon, Ringgold and Elizabeth Forward.

Central-North at Palumbo

Pittsburgh Central Catholic is playing North Catholic today for the first time since 2002, and the game is being played at Duquesne University's Palumbo Center. Game time is 2 p.m. and tickets are $10.

National Record for Points

Imagine a high school girls game with 240 points scored between the two teams. It happened this week.

In Iowa, Gladbrook-Reinbeck defeated West Marshall, 122-118, in double overtime to set a national record for more points in a game. According to the National Federation of State High School Association record book, the 240 points bettered the mark of 122, set in 2004 when Booneville-Thrasher beat Wheeler, 113-109, in Mississippi.

For Gladbrook-Reinbeck, scoring 100 is nothing new. It was the third consecutive game the team scored 100 or more.

Football Hires

Two more WPIAL schools hired football coaches this week.

* Dave McDonald turned around the Saegertown football team in only two seasons. Now he will try to turn around the worst program in WPIAL Class AAAA. McDonald is Connellsville's new coach. McDonald, 41, was the coach at Saegertown in District 10 for the past two seasons. He was only 2-8 his first year, but finished 9-2 last year.

* Meanwhile, Burrell hired Kevin Horwatt as its new coach. Horwatt, 33, was the quarterback on Burrell's 1995 WPIAL championship team. He takes over for Tom Henderson, who resigned last month. Horwatt was Burrell's 7th-8th grade coach last season.

More Coaching News

This doesn't come from the WPIAL, but is somewhat noteworthy. Frank Varischetti has left Brockway to become the new coach at DuBois. Varischetti installed the spread offense at Brockway and coached Derek Buganza, the state record holder for career passing.

Football Recruiting

North Allegheny running back Alex Papson, who rushed for more than 4,000 yards in his career, has accepted a scholarship to Gannon.

Where Are They Now?

Hopewell graduate Jordan Zuppe is seventh in the country in NCAA Division I free-throw percentage at .909. Zuppe plays at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW).

Tags: Avella, Burrell, Connellsville, Hopewell, Washington, Woodland Hills