Scholastic Notebook – 03/04/2016

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 4, 2016 | 2:46 PM

There is always a lot of talk at this time of year about hangovers. Not from too much imbibing. But from winning a WPIAL basketball championship.

There is a belief that teams that win WPIAL championships have so much trouble getting back up and ready for state playoff games. Is the WPIAL hangover real? Is it hogwash?

Well, the evidence shows there isn’t much to this hangover theory for WPIAL boys champions, except for Class AAAA.

A check of the past 10 seasons shows the only class where the WPIAL champion has trouble in the PIAA playoffs is Class AAAA. And that could be because the WPIAL champ has to play tough competition. A look back at the past 10 years showed:

* The WPIAL champ has lost a first-round PIAA playoff game only six times – and four of them were in Class AAAA. The AAAA first-round losers were Chartiers Valley last year, Peters Township in 2009, Bethel Park in 2007 (of course, the Black Hawks played a powerful Schenley team) and Mt. Lebanon in 2006. The only two other WPIAL champs to lose in the first round the past 10 years were West Allegheny in 2007 and Leechburg in 2007.

* Out of the 40 WPIAL champs, the past 10 years, eight lost in the second round, six in the quarterfinals and five in the semifinals.

* Out of those 40 champions, 15 of them went on to make the state championship game.

The WPIAL champs this year are Pine-Richland, Beaver Falls, Aliquippa and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

Of those four teams, Pine-Richland looks like it has the toughest first-round game. The Rams play Bethel Park Saturday. Bethel Park had won eight in a row before losing to Latrobe, 79-73, in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Beaver Falls plays Steel Valley (17-7) in Class AAA, Aliquippa plays Tyrone (15-9) in Class AA and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic meets Union-Rimersburg (17-8) in Class A.

Best in First Round

Possibly the best first-round matchup in any boys classification could be Monessen vs. Farrell in Class A. Monessen was so dominant in Class A before being upset by Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in the WPIAL semifinals. Now, Monessen plays a Farrell team that made it to the state title game a year ago.

A good indication of how good Farrell is might be that the Steelers defeated WPIAL AAAA champion Pine-Richland, 66-58, late in the season. Farrell has Malik Miller, who recently became the all-time leading scorer at a school with a rich basketball tradition.

Championship Crowds

The WPIAL had to be somewhat pleased with crowds at the championship games last weekend. The eight games drew 13,364 fans. There were three sessions – three games Friday night, three Saturday morning-afternoon and two Saturday night.

The best crowd was for the Class AAAA boys and girls doubleheader Saturday night. Pine-Richland, North Hills and Norwin all brought big student sections and big crowds. Attendance for that night was 5,870.

The Friday night games drew 4,128.

Play-In Games

For the past two basketball seasons, the WPIAL has used play-in games to determine the PIAA playoff participants. In other words, teams that lose in the quarterfinals play off for the spots in the PIAA tournament. In the past, the WPIAL had used a follow-the-leader system. It meant PIAA playoff spots were not decided on the court.

This is the final year for only four classifications in high school basketball in Pennsylvania. There will be six next year. Rumor has it that the WPIAL might get rid of the play-in games next year and go back to the “follow-the-leader” system. That’s because with six classifications, there would be more “play-in” games to be played.

A Kickoff “Classic”

A new rule for the next football season lets high school football teams play a game instead of a second preseason scrimmage. The new rule has North Allegheny planning a “kickoff classic” that will have probably three – and possibly four – games involving WPIAL teams and teams outside the WPIAL.

North Allegheny athletic director Bob Bozzuto said the plan is to have the event over two days and he already has commitments from teams. North Allegheny will play Malvern Prep from Eastern Pa. on Friday, Aug. 26.

The following day will have Pittsburgh Central Catholic playing St. John’s of Washington, D.C. St. John’s annually has a strong team with Division I college talent.

The plan is to have at least one more game, and possibly two on Aug. 27, besides Central and St. John’s.

Tiger Sweep

The second and final day of the WPIAL swimming championships is Friday at Pitt’s Trees Pool, and there is a good possibility of one of the impressive “sweep” streaks in WPIAL history.

Both the North Allegheny boys and girls teams were in first place after the first day of competition Thursday. If they both win, it will be a remarkable fifth consecutive year the Tigers have won both the boys and girls titles. The North Allegheny girls have actually won seven championships in a row.

Where Are They Now

Brendan McKay, the former star baseball player at Blackhawk High School, is off to a sensational start to his sophomore season at the University of Louisville.

McKay was recently named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association pitcher of the month for February.

So far in this young season, McKay has made two starts and has a 0.00 ERA in 14 innings pitched. He had a three-hit shutout of No. 21 Mississippi last weekend, with eight strikeouts and no walks. He has allowed only six hits in 14 innings and opponents are hitting only .136 against him.

On top of that, McKay also hits for Louisville and has a .360 average.

Tags: Aliquippa, Blackhawk, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, North Catholic