Basketball
Scholastic Notebook – 11/01/2013
November 1, 2013
Moon’s running game went from Colaianni to Cole, and now everything is cool with the Tigers on the ground.Moon is in the WPIAL football playoffs this season for the first time since 2006, and one of the main reasons for the turnaround is Cole Blake, a senior running back who is the fifth-leading rusher in the WPIAL heading into the playoffs.Blake has made a name for himself, rushing for 1,457 yards. He set a school record with 342 yards in one game. But Blake’s story is interesting in that he only got a chance to be the featured back this year because of an injury. Suffice to say, Blake has run with that chance.Scholastic Notebook – 10/25/2013
October 25, 2013
West Allegheny doesn’t have a running back among the WPIAL’s top 40 rushers. The team’s quarterback isn’t among the top 30 in passing yardage.Yet, when you look at the top offenses in Class AAA, West Allegheny is near the top of the list. And when you look at the rankings of the best teams in Class AAA, West Allegheny is right at the top.So how does it work? No big offensive star, but yet a powerful offense? Well, if ever a team was indeed a “team,” it is West Allegheny. And they are the MSA Sports No. 1-ranked Class AAA team heading into the final Friday night of the regular season.Scholastic Notebook – 10/18/2013
October 18, 2013
These are the days of spread offenses and pass-happy teams in WPIAL football. It’s not often you see a team average over 300 yards a game on the ground.But in the next two weeks, two of the top games in the WPIAL will match teams that average more than 300 yards a game rushing. It is definitely unusual. And if you think running the football is not important any more, consider that all four of the teams involved in those games enter Week 8 with perfect records.Aliquippa plays at Beaver Falls in a big WPIAL Class AA Midwestern game tonight, matching two teams that average more than 300 yards a game rushing. It will be the same next week when Thomas Jefferson plays at West Mifflin a WPIAL Class AAA Big Nine Conference game.Scholastic Notebook – 10/11/2013
October 11, 2013
The Beaver football team changed its offense this year, going to a spread offense with much more passing.You could say the new offense has been a Rowse-ing success.Alex Rowse is Beaver’s quarterback and is doing things unheard of by Beaver quarterbacks. After six weeks of the season, Rowse leads the entire WPIAL in passing yardage with 1,581 yards. To put that in perspective, consider that last year’s quarterbacks – Rowse and Austin Ross - had less than 1,000 yards passing combined.2012-2013 WPIAL Champions on Parade
July 16, 2013
We celebrated America's Birthday earlier this month with various parades and fireworks. You'll forgive us if we celebrate the 2012-2013 school year with just a parade and no pyrotechnics. It was been another great high school sports year in District 7 of the PIAA. All of us here at the MSA Sports Network and Management Science Associates thank our sponsors and fans for their support during the school year. As we get ready for another great scholastic campaign in 2013-2014, we look back at all the WPIAL team champions on parade from this past school year.Football:Class AAAA - North Allegheny TigersClass AAA - West Allegheny IndianaClass AA - Aliquippa QuipsClass A - Clairton Bears
2012-2013 MSA Sports Male Athlete of the Year – DEVIN WILSON
June 28, 2013
Devin Wilson likes to debate many topics and hopes to be a lawyer someday. As for the mystery of who is the best male athlete in the WPIAL, Wilson took the case and built a mountain of evidence for himself.
2012-2013 MSA Sports Female Athlete of the Year – SHATORI WALKER-KIMBROUGH
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough’s favorite athlete is LeBron James. “It’s actually an obsession with him,” Walker-Kimbrough said with a laugh. “My neighbors hate when the Heat plays on TV.” But while Walker-Kimbrough looks up to James, she is sort of like her idol in one way. James is king of the NBA and Walker-Kimbrough is the queen of WPIAL female athletes – again.WPIAL Coaching Changes
June 27, 2013
Three district coaching vacancies have been filled as a new football coach was hired at a Class A school while boys basketball coaches were appointed at a Class AAAA school and a Class AA powerhouse.* The change on the coaching staff at Carmichaels was more a switch of titles than anything else. John Menhart ended his second stint as head coach of the Mighty Mikes (1989-2002 and (2009-2012) after last season and will become an assistant coach at Carmichaels. So it only seemed right to take one of his assistants and slide them into the leadership role. Offensive coordinator Ryan Krull has been named new head coach of the Mighty Mikes, keeping it all in the family. Krull is Menhart's son-in-law.Scholastic Notebook – 05/31/2013
May 31, 2013
The South Park baseball and Riverside softball teams did something unusual this week – win a WPIAL title with a perfect record.On Monday, both begin a quest to do something even more rare– win a PIAA title with a perfect record.Since the PIAA started softball and baseball championships in the 1970s, no WPIAL baseball team has won a PIAA title with an undefeated record. Elizabeth Forward came the closest, making the PIAA Semifinals in 2011.While no WPIAL baseball team has won a PIAA title with an undefeated record, three WPIAL softball teams have won PIAA titles with perfect records, but it has been 14 years since it happened.
2013 MSA SPORTS BOYS ALL-NETTERS
The 2013 MSA Sports All-Netters team looks like the 2012 squad, as three of the ten members graced last year's squad. The selections were made by members of the MSA Sports Network broadcast team and features four WPIAL champions and one PIAA titlist. The makeup also includes eight seniors, a junior and a very talented freshman.And now, the 2013 MSA Sports All-Netters Team:FIRST TEAM ALL-NETTERS:MSA SPORTS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:DEVIN WILSON – MONTOUR 6-4 – SENIOR – GUARDBeaver Falls Joins Lower Merion, Imhotep & Vaux as 2013 PIAA Boys Basketball Champs
March 25, 2013
Only Beaver Falls survived the State Semifinals as fellow WPIAL members New Castle, Montour and Lincoln Park all came up just short in their quest to play for a boys basketball title in Hershey. So the Tigers ended up alone, but they carried the District 7 banner high and proud as they captured their fourth PIAA boys basketball crown and first state title since 2005. Here are ALL the final results from the 2013 PIAA Boys Basketball State Playoffs. All games with (MSA) after the score can be heard archived here at MSAsports.net2013 PIAA CLASS AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:Lower Merion Aces 63 - Chester Clippers 47 PIAA CLASS AAAA Semifinals:Spring-Ford, South Park, Bishop Canevin & Tri-Valley Win 2013 PIAA Girls Hoops Crowns
The WPIAL captured half of the PIAA girls basketball championships as the finals returned to the GIANT Center in Hershey for the first time since 2006. The state championships won by South Park and Bishop Canevin mark the first time since 2005 when Oakland Catholic won in AAAA and Serra Catholic in A. While the Eagles in AAA and Crusaders in AA won first time state crowns, Vincentian Academy had to settle for silver when they fell in the Class A title game. Here are ALL the final results from the 2013 PIAA Girls Basketball State Playoffs. All games with (MSA) after the score can be heard archived here at MSAsports.net2013 PIAA CLASS AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
Bishop Canevin Claims PIAA Gold in Hershey in Class AA Girls Championship
March 22, 2013
The Bishop Canevin Crusaders claimed their first ever PIAA Class AA basketball championship with a furious rally in the fourth quarter to defeat the York Catholic Fighting Irish 45-38 at the Giant Center in Hershey on Friday afternoon.Seniors Carly Forse and Celina DiPietro each scored 18 points to lead Bishop Canevin. The Crusaders trailed 33-28 heading to the fourth quarter but scored 13 straight points in the fourth, holding the Fighting Irish scoreless thru the first six minutes of the final frame.York Catholic fell in the title game for the second straight year and fourth in the last five years. The loss for the Fighting Irish ended a 7 game winning streak this season and a 9 game winning streak at the Giant Center.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 03/18/2013
March 18, 2013
The winter high school sports season comes to an end just as the spring sports season begins as winter officially turns to spring this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We continue our coverage of the 2013 PIAA Basketball Playoffs with Semifinals and Championship Games in the boys and girls state basketball playoffs as well as the 2013 PIHL Penguins Cup Championship Games and the start of the boys lacrosse season, plus the final edition of the PIHL Power Play Show and the next to the last WPIAL Roundball Report on the special day of Thursday this week here at MSAsports.netMonday, March 18th:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 03/11/2013
March 11, 2013
The action on the ice and the hardwood heat up as the winter sports and hopefully winter weather start to fade away this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We continue our coverage of the 2013 PIAA Basketball Playoffs with Second Round and Quarterfinals boys and girls state basketball playoff games as well as PIHL Penguins Cup high school hockey postseason play with all six Seimfinals games, plus both the PIHL Power Play Show and the WPIAL Roundball Report on the special day of Thursday this week here at MSAsports.netMonday, March 11th: TALK SHOW - Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle at 7:00pm on MSAsports.net
