Basketball
WPIAL Boys Basketball 2014-2015 Season Preview
December 4, 2014
The season hasn't even started and we already know there will be new WPIAL champions in both Class AAAA and Class A. Realignment shuffled the deck in the offseason and blew that New Castle Red Hurricane nasty storm which dominated Quad-A for two years back down to Triple-A while perennial Single-A power Lincoln Park, which captured its second district title in three years last season is now in Double-A. The two champs that do get to defend in the same classification are Central Valey in AAA and Seton-LaSalle in AA. Here are the Pre-Season Top 10 in each classification along with the players to watch in each class.WPIAL Girls Basketball 2014-2015 Season Preview
December 3, 2014
The 2014-2015 WPIAL girls basketball season tips off on Friday, December 5th with a lot of the teams that enjoyed success last winter favored to enjoy more victories this winter. Penn-Trafford, Blackhawk, Seton-LaSalle and Vincentian Academy are the defending WPIAL champions with the Royals looking to four-peat this season. Three of the four district champs in 2014...the Cougars, the Rebels and the Royals went on to win a PIAA state crown as well. Here are the Pre-Season Top 10 in each classification along with the players to watch in each class.WPIAL Boys Basketball 2013-2014 Season Review
December 2, 2014
The historic run for New Castle continued last winter and this time they were able to seal the deal with a state championship to go with their third straight district crown. The Red Hurricanes weren't the only double champion as Lincoln Park won it all in both the district and the state postseason while Seton-LaSalle came within inches on a missed shot at the buzzer in Hershey of winning the golden double. We look back at last season with a look at the standings, district and state playoff results from the 2013-2014 campaign. All results with (MSA) can still be heard archived on MSA Sports. 2013-2014 WPIAL BOYS BASKETBALL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: TEAM NAME - SECTION RECORD - OVERALL RECORDWPIAL Girls Basketball 2013-2014 Season Review
The 2013-2014 girls basketball season will be remembered by the golden dominance of three teams. The Blackhawk Cougars, Seton-LaSalle Rebels and Vincentian Academy Royals were a combined 82-9 for the season and captured gold in both the WPIAL and the PIAA. We look back at last season with a look at the standings, district and state playoff results from the 2013-2014 campaign. All results with (MSA) can still be heard archived on MSA Sports. 2013-2014 WPIAL GIRLS BASKETBALL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: TEAM NAME - SECTION RECORD - OVERALL RECORDThis Week on the MSA Sports Network – 12/01/2014
December 1, 2014
The Road to Hershey continues this week as we welcome in both the month of December and the 2014-2015 winter scholastic sports season this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have ALL four WPIAL football champions in action in the PIAA Semifinals right here on The Network, along with plenty of PIHL high school hockey, men's college basketball and the debut of WPIAL high school boys and girls basketball and scholastic wrestling, plus the debut editions of Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle and the PIHL Power Play Show here at MSAsports.net Monday, December 1st: TALK SHOW - Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle at 7:00pm on MSAsports.netThis Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/23/2014
November 23, 2014
Now that the journey on the Highway to Heinz has ended, it's time to take a spin on the Road to Hershey this week here on the MSA Sports Network. All four WPIAL football champions will be in action in the PIAA Quarterfinals and all four games are right here on The Network.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/16/2014
November 16, 2014
The journey on the Highway to Heinz comes to an end with full day coverage from the Big House on the North Shore this week here on the MSA Sports Network. This years WPIAL Football Playoffs come to an end with all four Championship Games from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh along with the 2014 District Class A Championship Game from Altoona. We also have some winter sports with plenty of PIHL high school hockey contests including two more video-stream games along with men's and women's college basketball, plus its a Championship Friday Preview edition of This Week in the WPIAL ALL here at MSAsports.netScholastic Notebook – 11/14/2014
November 14, 2014
It has been well-documented how Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci has turned out to be one of the most prolific passers in the history of the WPIAL. But DiNucci also has benefitted from a terrific one-two receiving punch. It looks like you could call seniors D’ondre Gastion and Mike Merhaut are a receiving duo for the ages. There are no records available for best receiving one-two punches, but you can bet you will be hard-pressed to find many duos from the same team who have been as productive as Gastion and Merhaut. How many teams have had two receivers with 100 or more career catches? But that’s what Pine-Richland has in Gastion and Merhaut, a pair of seniors.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/09/2014
November 9, 2014
The journey on the Highway to Heinz is half way through and continues in full force this week here on the MSA Sports Network. The WPIAL Football Playoffs hit the Semifinals and Final Four Friday. We also have a pair of District 6 Class A Semifinals football postseason games and four PIHL high school hockey contests including two video-stream games, and the debut of men's and women's college basketball, plus its another edition of This Week in the WPIAL ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, November 10th: No BroadcastsScholastic Notebook – 11/07/2014
November 7, 2014
If the first round of the WPIAL playoffs proved anything, it was that the Foothills are alive. Since coming back to being a WPIAL conference in 2006, the Foothills was always thought to be the weaker sister to all of the other Class AAAA conferences. Sure, it might have had a strong team like a Gateway, Penn-Trafford or even Central Catholic. But as far as strength from top to bottom, the Foothills didn’t measure up. This year, though, the Foothills flexed some muscle like never before. Four Foothills teams won first-round games – Penn-Trafford, McKeesport, Altoona and Plum. It was the first time since 2006 that the top four teams in the Foothills won first-round games. The two that lost were fifth-place Norwin and sixth-place Connellsville.Scholastic Notebook – 10/18/2014
October 18, 2014
Neshannock High School has never gotten much attention for football, and not just because the small Lawrence County school is on the outer edges of the WPIAL. Neshannock hasn’t gotten much attention because the football team had been one of the least successful in WPIAL history – until lately. What is going on the past few seasons at Neshannock is really one of the biggest turnaround stories in the WPIAL in a long time. And this year, the story might have a perfect ending.Scholastic Notebook – 10/03/2014
October 3, 2014
Maybe you’ve heard the quote “Down goes Frazier, Down goes Frazier.” It is a line from legendary sports announcer Howard Cosell, describing boxer Joe Frazier after he went down from a George Foreman punch in a famous 1973 bout. In WPIAL football this year, it is “Up goes Frazier, Up goes Frazier.” Things haven’t been this good in Perryopolis (where Frazier is located) since 10 years after that Frazier-Foreman fight. The Frazier Commodores are 5-0 and have a showdown tonight with Beth-Center for first place in the Tri-County South Conference. The winner likely will win the Tri-County South title. Frazier has not started a season 5-0 since 1983, when the school made it all the way to the WPIAL Class A championship game before losing to Western Beaver.Scholastic Notebook – 09/19/2014
September 19, 2014
At the rate he is passing, Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci has a good chance to become the 17th player in WPIAL history to throw for 5,000 career yards. While that is an impressive feat, Pine-Richland does thro the ball often. So DiNucci will naturally pile up yardage. What might be more impressive about DiNucci is his accuracy. DiNucci is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior who you probably wouldn’t want to play in darts. Sure, in Pine-Richland’s spread offense, DiNucci throws a number of short passes. But he still throws downfield and his accuracy is uncanny.Scholastic Notebook – 09/12/2014
September 12, 2014
They haven’t exactly beaten world-class competition, but Norwin is still 2-0. After tonight, the Knights could be in a spot where they haven’t been in 15 years. Norwin plays at Seneca Valley in a non-conference game. While Seneca Valley (0-2) is trying to find itself, Norwin is trying to go 3-0 for the first time in 15 years. The last time Norwin was 3-0 was 1999, one of the greatest seasons in Norwin history. The Knights finished 8-4 and made it to the WPIAL semifinals before losing to Cecil Howard and McKeesport.Scholastic Notebook – 09/05/2014
September 5, 2014
It is a recurring storyline at Indiana High School. The Stapletons are staples of the football team. It has been the story in recent years at Indiana, and it is again this season. Two of the four Stapleton brothers had big impacts on the Little Indians’ opening-night upset victory against Mars last Friday. Riley Stapleton, a 6-5 senior receiver, caught seven passes for 95 yards and scored a touchdown. Dylan Stapleton, a 6-4 junior, caught five passes for 111 yards and scored two touchdowns.WPIAL Coaching Change – Pine-Richland Boys Hoops
July 15, 2014
A veteran championship winning coach who lost his job a few months ago has a new gig. On Monday evening, the Pine-Richland school board hired former Moon basketball coach Jeff Ackerman to take over as the new Rams boys basketball coach. The 41-year old Ackerman spent the last 13 years as head coach of the Moon Tigers amassing a record of 224-116 with eight playoff seasons, four trips to the WPIAL finals and three district championships. The Tigers have struggled over the last five years with a record of 8 games under .500 and Ackerman was let go in April. Ackerman takes over for Brian Gaetano, who had a record of 51-66 with one postseason trip in his six years at Pine-Richland before he was not hired back after this past season in which the Rams finished 9-12.
MSA SPORTS CUP: Sewickley Academy Back on Top After Winning Class A Cup
July 3, 2014
Eight time champion Sewickley Academy and defending champ Greensburg Central Catholic were deadlocked with 360 points each with one more sport to calculate in the chase for the 2013-2014 MSA Sports Class A Cup. That one sports was boy tennis, which was great news for Panthers fans and bad news for everybody else in Class A. A district title and state runner-up in boys tennis helped Sewickley Academy win the MSA Sports Cup for the ninth time in eleven years.
MSA SPORTS CUP: Seton-LaSalle Are Rebels With a Cause After Winning AA Cup
July 2, 2014
For only the third time in the eleven years of the MSA Sports Cup Class AA chase, the torch has been passed to a new champion. Greensburg Central Catholic won the first three years, followed by a five year run by Shady Side Academy and the last two years with Quaker Valley on top. Now thanks to a lot of hardwood gold, Seton-LaSalle High School is wearing the Cup crown. After a couple of close calls in recent years, Seton-LaSalle was lifted to the top spot in part because of double gold on the basketball court this winter followed up with some diamond success in the spring.
MSA SPORTS CUP: South Fayette Roars to First Class AAA Cup Title
July 1, 2014
The first ten years of the MSA Sports Cup has shown us that while there are a couple of dominating schools in the other three classifications, the chase for the Class AAA Cup has been up for grabs with eight different schools earning The Cup in ten years. Now in the eleventh year of this competition, we have another first time winner in Triple-A making it nine different champs in eleven years. After finishing as the runner-up in 2012-2013 and being a steady member on the Top 5 in recent years, South Fayette is finally enjoying its day in the Championship Sun with a convincing victory.
MSA SPORTS CUP: Another Year, Another Quad-A Title for North Allegheny
June 30, 2014
Another school year and another MSA Sports Cup in Class AAAA for North Allegheny High School. NA captured their 11th Cup in eleven years since the MSA Sports Network started this school year long competition to determine the top sports programs in each classification. There are 20 sports in which schools can earn points in the competition and for the second straight year and only the second time in this history of the coveted competition, the Tigers earned points in ALL of them. In the 2012-2013 school year, North Allegheny scored a mind-numbing and record 1,115 points. In 2013-2014, they had to settle for a mere 965 points. The second place school finished 530 points behind NA.
