Scholastic Notebook – 01/20/2012

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, January 20, 2012 | 3:09 PM

While this is the heart of high school basketball season in the WPIAL, it’s also interesting because it’s “open” season for football – as in “open” coaching jobs.

Some WPIAL Class AAAA jobs are open and might be filled in the next few month. One of them was filled earlier this week when Kiski Area hired Dave Heavner as its next coach. Heavner was Burrell’s head coach in 2006-07 and has been an assistant coach at six different schools. He was an assistant at Franklin Regional when the Panthers won WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2005.

Meanwhile, Mount Lebanon has started interviewing for its head coach’s job, which became open when Chris Haering resigned to become an assistant coach at Pitt.

Penn Hills is open. Ron Graham last four years. We here at MSA are hearing Penn Hills athletic director John Peterman might be a strong candidate for the job.

Hempfield also has interviewed some candidates for its new coach.

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for hirings.

Tri-County South Weaker?

It’s hard to imagine, but it’s true. The much-maligned Tri-County South Conference in WPIAL football got even weaker this week.
Earlier this week, the WPIAL released conference realignments for the next two seasons. Monessen and California were taken out of the Tri-County South and moved to the Black Hills. Monessen was annually one of the best teams in the conference and California was usually pretty good.

Moving into the Tri-County South is Avella and Bentworth. Avella has had trouble getting enough players for a team the past few seasons. Bentworth was 1-8 last season.

Basketball Events

There are three basketball events this weekend with some interesting games and top talent, both locally and nationally.

The Planet Athlete Pitt National Showcase is Saturday and Sunday at Shaler High School with five games both days. St. Benedict’s of Newark, N.J., a nationally-ranked team, was supposed to play Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the event, but pulled out on Friday. Instead, Central Catholic will play Quality Education of Winston-Salem, N.C., at 7:30 Saturday.

Also in the event is Arlington Country Day of Jacksonville, Fla., which will play Quality Education Sunday night at 7:30.
Mount Lebanon, Shaler, Woodland Hills and Kiski School will play in the event. Mount Lebanon plays Princeton Day of Laurel, Md., at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Shaler plays Princeton Day at 6 p.m. Sunday. Princeton Day has two freshmen who are 7 feet and 6-8.

Also Saturday, the Coaches vs. Cancer Clash of the Titans will be played at Geneva College. It is a six-game event (two girls and four boys games). The game drawing the most interest is the 8 p.m. game between New Castle and Montour. New Castle is No. 2 in the MSA Sports Class AAA rankings and Montour No. 1.

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Basketball Classic will be played at Robert Morris. The six-game event is highlighted by a battle of No. 1s – Montour and Chartiers Valley at 5 p.m.

Seven for 2,000

Highlands’ Micah Mason needs seven points tonight to become the 26th player in WPIAL history to score 2,000 career points.
Mason also is chasing the WPIAL record for career 3-pointers. But there is a chance he might have to get that record in the regular season, because Highlands might not make the WPIAL playoffs. Highlands is in fifth place in Class AAA Section 1, one game behind fourth-place Valley. Plus, Valley beat Highlands already this season.

Two-Sport Star

When the subject turns to the best two-sport athletes in the WPIAL this school year, maybe you should start including Woodland Hills’ Shakim Alonzo on the list.

Although Woodland Hills didn’t pass much in football, Alonzo was still a standout at receiver and earned a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati.

A 6-5 senior, Alonzo is now the 13th-leading scorer in WPIAL basketball at 20.6 points a game. He has helped Woodland Hills to a 10-3 record.

Tags: Avella, Bentworth, Burrell, California, Chartiers Valley, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Highlands, Kiski School, Woodland Hills