Basketball
Winchester Thurston Pulls Away From Cornell for Girls 1-A Gold
March 3, 2017
The top-seed Winchester Thurston Bears defeated the #2 Cornell Raiders 52-41 Friday afternoon to take home the first WPIAL girls basketball title in school history.
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Knocks Off Lincoln Park to Repeat
March 2, 2017
Two teams with nearly identical overall records and two completely different styles of play were on full display Saturday night in the WPIAL Class 3-A boys championship game at Petersen Events Center. In a back and forth contest that saw Lincoln Park race up and down the court and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic stick to a slower more methodical game, the Trojans slowed down the potent Leopards offense and won back to back Class A championships with a 56-51 win in the 3-A title game. Feels a lot different; we did it without size" said senior Kenny Fukon, who plays alongside his from John, one of the leading scorers for Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic. John finished with 16 points to lead the Trojans.
Monessen Cruises to District Gold in Boys 1-A
As the clock hit 0:00, the Monessen Greyhounds won their second WPIAL championship in three years and seventh in program history with a 74 to 59 victory over Imani Christian. The Greyhounds started off strong in the first quarter dropping 17 points to the Saints 10. Imani Christian struggled controlling the ball as they had 8 turnovers in the first period of play and 19 in the half. Part-way through the 1st quarter, tempers rose and technical fouls were dealt. Imani Christian senior, and West Virginia University football commit, Kenny Robinson took a seat on the bench after reaching three early fouls. Robinson finished the first half of play with six points.
Chartiers-Houston Dethrones Vincentian For Girls 2-A Title
The No. 1 seed Chartiers-Houston (23-2) Buccaneers kicked off the WPIAL Championship games with a 47-35 win over the No. 2 seed Vincentian Academy Royals (20-5). This was the 8th consecutive trip to a title game for Vincentian, and after winning their last five tries, the Royals fell short Thursday. For Chartiers-Houston, it was their first time playing for the WPIAL Championship. Their inexperience never showed though.WPIAL Championship Game Previews For Saturday
The weekend concludes with five championship games on Saturday. Two bitter section rivals will battle in each of the boys games, while the girls games will have a first time participant and some lower seeds taking the floor in hopes of winning gold. Below are previews of all the games, listed in order, Catch all the action on the NETWORK, with game broadcasts, Center Stage videos, articles photos and so much more. 2017 WPIAL CLASS 3-A GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #1 Bishop Canevin Crusaders (18-5) vs #3 Neshannock Lancers (23-1) AT The Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 4th at 11:00am on MSAsports.netWPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Wednesday 3/1
As the calendar changed from the February Frenzy to the madness of March, three days of Final Four action in the WPIAL basketball postseason also came to an end. Section supremecy was the theme on the boys side as a pair of Section 1 teams are title game bound in Class 6-A while two teams from Section 2 are headed to clash at The Pete in Class 4-A. For the girls, the lone district team with a perfect record is unbeaten no more and two lower seeds advance to play for gold in Class 5-A. Here are recaps from the eight Semifinals games on Wednesday from Boys 6-A, Boys 4-A, Girls 5-A and Girls 3-A. A special thanks to Bob Barrickman, Tyler Friel, Dennis Fischer, Mike Azadian, Scott Majesky, Bob Gregg, Mark Schaas and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.WPIAL Championship Game Previews For Friday
March 1, 2017
An early start as Day 2 of heaven for WPIAL Basketball fans with 4 more games at the Pete. Friday features three first-timers to the title game plus some experienced veterans. All 4 games can be heard on the NETWORK, plus game stories, Center Stage interviews and much more. Here are the game previews in order of their starting time. 2017 WPIAL CLASS 1-A GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #1 Winchester Thurston Bears (20-1) vs #2 Cornell Raiders (20-4) AT The Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday, March 3rd at 3:00pm on MSAsports.net Both teams will make their 1st title game trip. Winchester Thurston defeated Cornell 62-59 on December 12th at home.WPIAL Championship Game Previews For Thursday
It’s the conclusion to the Path to the Pete as over a 3 day stretch, players and fans will make the trip up Cardiac Hill to the home of the Pitt Panthers and the WPIAL Championships. MSA Sports Network will offer up broadcasts of ALL 12 title games, plus stories, photos, Center Stage video interviews and much more. Kicking of our coverage, here are game previews of Thursday’s action in order by game time. 2017 WPIAL CLASS 2-A GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #1 Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers (22-2) vs #2 Vincentian Academy Royals (20-4) AT The Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh on Thursday, March 2nd at 5:00pm on MSAsports.netWPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Tuesday 2/28
February 28, 2017
In a postseason with very few surprises across both genders, we saw a 7th-seed advance to the finals and a pair of top-seeds get eliminated on Tuesday. After knocking off #2 Pine-Richland in the Girls 6-A Quarterfinals, #7 Bethel Park followed up by beating #3 Penn Hills to advance to the title game. Meanwhile, two teams not championship bound are #1 Mars in 5-A and #1 Greensburg Central Catholic in 2-A. The Fightin' Planets were ousted by rival Hampton while the Centurions undefeated season earned its first blemish with a loss to OLSH. Here are recaps from the eight Semifinals games on Tuesday from Boys 5-A, Boys 2-A, Girls 6-A and Girls 1-A.WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Monday 2/27
February 27, 2017
The first of three nights of Final Four district postseason hoops is in the books with a familiar theme ringing true. In both the Boys 3-A and the Boys 1-A Semifinals, the #1-seeds were winners and will now face the #3-seeds in the finals. Meanwhile, it was a simpler formula for Girls 4-A and Girls 2-A where in the title games it will be #1 vs #2. Here are the summaries from the eight WPIAL Semifinals in the above mentioned classifications from Monday night on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Brandon Showers, Mark Uriah, Rob McKinney, Bob Gregg, Mark Schaas, Tom Hays and Donny Chedrick for their help on these recaps. BOYS WPIAL CLASS 3-A Semifinals:
WPIAL Coaches Corner – Tim McConnell
February 26, 2017
In this feature titled “Coach’s Corner”, I will be interviewing a different coach every week and asking them questions about their personal life and about coaching. Hopefully their answers will not only shed some light on how they coach their respective teams, but also allow readers to get to know the men behind the fields/courts. This week highlights Chartiers Valley boys basketball coach Tim McConnell. Coach McConnell is in his 24th season as head coach of the Colts, posting 20+ win seasons in 20 of his previous 23 years. He is closing in on 550 career wins as a coach and he has led Chartiers Valley to 6 WPIAL championships, including titles with each of his sons: TJ and Matty. Let’s take a look inside Coach McConnell’s corner:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 02/26/2017
A golden week marks the transition from the February Frenzy to the scholastic version of the Madness of March all this week on the MSA Sports Network. Our EXCLUSIVE postseason coverage concludes with Semifinals and Championship action in the WPIAL and District 6 boys and girls basketball playoffs along with the start of the PIHL high school hockey playoffs, the 2017 WPIAL Individual Wrestling Class 3-A Championships and the 2017 WPIAL Boys and Girls Swimming Championships, plus we have The WPIAL Roundball Report on the road at a special time, The PIHL Power Play Show and Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, February 27th:WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Friday 2/24
February 24, 2017
Day Two of Round Two brought forth some hot action on the hardcourt. OK, so temps in the upper 70's in Southwestern Pa may have had something to do with the 'hot' aspect, but it was a great night for the 'Super Sections' in boys hoops while a couple of top four seeds were eliminated on the girls side. Here are recaps from Boys 5-A, Boys 2-A, Girls 6-A and Girls 1-A Quarterfinals game on Friday around the WPIAL. A special thanks to Josh Rowntree, Bob Gregg, Steve Nagler, Cory Campano, Dennis Fischer, Dave Floyd, Sam Hall, Nate Regotti, Matt Vandriak, Don Rebel, Tom Hays and Brian Mroziak for their help on these recaps. BOYS WPIAL CLASS 5-A Quarterfinals:Scholastic Notebook – 02/24/2017
It’s unusual for the Canon-McMillan boys basketball team to still be playing in late February. It is certainly a fun time for the Big Macs. For the Bell family, it’s twice as nice. Canon-McMillan’s coach is Rick Bell. His son, R.J., is a 6-foot-4 senior guard who has played a big role in getting the Big Macs to the WPIAL 6A quarterfinals. They play No. 1 seed Pine-Richland Saturday. The younger Bell had six 3-pointers in a first round victory against North Allegheny. R.J. is averaging in double figures. The victory against North Allegheny was only the third playoff win in school history for Canon-McMillan. The others were in 1996 and 2008. This is only the ninth time the Big Macs have been to the postseason.WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Thursday 2/23
February 23, 2017
The name of the game in the First Round of the 2017 WPIAL Basketball Playoffs was no surprises. Outside of a #11 and a couple of #10 teams, all of the favorites prevailed in the opening round. That theme continued on the first night of the Second Round as the top four seeds advanced in three of the four classifications. Here are summaries from the Boys 3-A, Boys 1-A, Girls 4-A and Girls 2-A Quarterfinals from Thursday night on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Mark Uriah, Paul Paterra, Sean Meyers, Brian Mroziak, Mike Azadian, Bob Orkwis, Mark Schaas, Cory Campano, James Dotson, Bob Gregg, Tom Hays and Kevin Zielmanski for their help on these recaps. BOYS WPIAL CLASS 3-A Quarterfinals:WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Wednesday 2/22
After six days and four nights of contests (three nights actually along with Saturday afternoon), the First Round of the 2017 WPIAL Basketball Playoffs is complete. With hardly any surprises and with the Second Round chalk full of top eight seeds, the Quarterfinals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday should be much more competitive hoops. For now though, we look back at the final night of the opening round on Wednesday with recaps from Boys 6-A, Boys 4-A and Gilrs 3-A First Round basketball games. A special thanks to Tyler Friel, Mark Uriah, Ed Troup, Steve Nagler, Mike Azadian, Bob Gregg, Lee Mohn, Rennie Detore, John Smathers and Mark Schaas for their help on these recaps. BOYS WPIAL CLASS 6-A First Round:WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Tuesday 2/21
February 21, 2017
Another night of First Round games in the district postseason and the song remains the same as the favorites keep rolling into Round Two. On this third day of opening round contests, 12 of 14 higher seeds were victorious and only a pair of #10-seeds over #7-seeds were the so-called surprises. Here are the recaps from the ten 5-A and 2-A boys games and the four 6-A girls games from Tuesday nights action on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Don Rebel, Andy Stanko, Dennis Fischer, Rennie Detore, Bob Gregg, Mark Uriah, Josh Rowntree, Mark Schaas, Brian Mroziak, Kyle Dawson and Tyler Friel for their help on these recaps. BOYS WPIAL CLASS 5-A First Round:
WPIAL Coaches Corner – Adrian Batts
February 20, 2017
In this feature titled “Coach’s Corner”, I will be interviewing a different coach every week and asking them questions about their personal life and about coaching. Hopefully their answers will not only shed some light on how they coach their respective teams, but also allow readers to get to know the men behind the fields/courts. This week highlights Jeannette boys basketball coach Adrian Batts. This is his 8th season coaching for the Jayhawks. After losing in the 2015 WPIAL championship, and in the 2016 WPIAL semifinals, Coach Batts has his squad primed for a 2017 run in 2-A. Let’s take a look inside Coach Batts’ corner:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 02/20/2017
The February Frenzy may feel like the springs high school sports postseason is here outside, but inside, the winter sports postseason heats up...much like outside, this week on the MSA Sports Network. Our EXCLUSIVE postseason coverage Continues with the WPIAL and District 6 boys and girls basketball playoff games, college hoops featuring Carlow University, WPIAL Individual Wrestling Class AAA Sectionals and PIAA Class AA Southwest Regional Wrestling, plus we have The WPIAL Roundball Report, The PIHL Power Play Show, Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle and Carlow Sports Talk ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, February 20th:Allderdice Beats Obama in Triple OT Thriller for Boys City Title
February 19, 2017
For the third straight season, Allderdice and Obama Academy squared off for the City League boys’ championship. Both of the first two matchups went to Allderdice, giving the Dragons their latest two of three straight City League crowns. Sunday’s matchup was different, however, as for the first time in the three matchups, Allderdice came in the underdog, the No. 2 seed to Obama Academy’s No. 1 seed. The Eagles had defeated the Dragons in the second matchup between the teams during the regular season. The difference was two points in that game; in the previous regular season matchup it was five.
