MSA SPORTS CUP: Seton-LaSalle Are Rebels With a Cause After Winning AA Cup

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 | 5:56 PM

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.

The Rebels amassed 430 points to edge former champions Quaker Valley, who finished in second place with 370 points and Shady Side Academy, which was third with 365 points in the tightest cup chase of the 2013-2014 school year. a strong spring lifted Beaver into fourth place with 320 points while Freeport was a distant fifth with 200 points. Finishing sixth through tenth in the 32 team Double-A chase were Burrell sixth, Laurel seventh, with Deer Lakes and Steel Valley tied for eighth and then Burgettstown rounding out the top ten.

For only the 13th time in WPIAL history, both the boys and girls basketball teams from the same school won district titles. Seton-LaSalle winning a WPIAL girls hoops title was no shocker as the top seed team all year won their third crown in the last four years. But the boys crown, while not surprising, had a little more historic weight behind it as Knobby Walsh guided the Rebels boys team to their first district championship in 25 years. The girls would also win PIAA gold in Hershey while the boys had to settle for silver when a state title winning shot at the buzzer just missed. Seton-LaSalle also enjoyed great success on the diamonds this spring with the softball team winning a share of a section title and qualifying for the state playoffs after losing in the WPIAL Semifinals. The baseball team finished third in their section, but went on a surprising postseason jaunt of walk off upsets that ended when Steel Valley came back with a walk off victory in the district title game. Like the softball team, the boys soccer team also reached the state playoffs after losing in the WPIAL Semifinals.

If it’s any consolation for runner-up Quaker Valley, the school led all Class AA schools by registering points in 15 of the 20 sports in the cup chase competition, compared to 10 sports for Seton-LaSalle. But the back-to-back WPIAL basketball titles captured by the Rebels girls and boys teams on February 28th and March 1st was too much for the two-time defending champion Quakers or any of the other 30 Class AA schools to overcome.