Shaler sports notebook: Titans will continue to play in Class 5A

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, December 10, 2017 | 11:10 PM

Where to move the football team wasn't much of a discussion for Shaler athletic director Clinton Rauscher. When the PIAA recently released the enrollment figures for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Shaler, which has an enrollment of 498 boys, decided to stay in Class 5A and not move up.

The WPIAL, which only had nine teams land in Class 6A, will have 24 teams in football in Class 5A, up from 18 the past two years. McKeesport chose to remain in the classification despite having a Class 4A enrollment.

Rauscher said Shaler getting a chance to renew its rivalry with North Hills and possibly be in a conference with other neighboring districts was a big draw. Fox Chapel, Penn Hills and Hampton also are in the classification.

“There was no real thought about staying at 6A in football or basketball, while we did look at baseball, because of its historical success, but have decided it best to remain at 5A,” Rauscher said. “The fact our immediate neighbors are 5A as well really should make our section exciting and have great rivals, plus even less travel.

“The move will really allow us to compete with schools more like us in size, which hopefully translates to more success on the courts and fields as well.”

The football program has struggled in the Northern Seven Conference, which in the past two seasons has had two teams reach the WPIAL Class 6A title game at Heinz Field. Pine-Richland, the conference champion, won the PIAA title Saturday by beating St. Joseph Prep.

Shaler has lost 24 consecutive games since a 14-9 win over Fox Chapel on Sept. 9, 2015. The Titans went 0-10 last season, including an 0-7 mark in conference.

Neither the Shaler's boys nor girls basketball programs made the playoffs the past two seasons.

Thorpe leaves Syracuse

Geno Thorpe, a Shaler graduate, left the Syracuse men's basketball program after seven games, citing a lack of playing time. Thorpe, who was playing at his third school, was averaging 6.0 points and scored in double figures twice.

Thorpe, who also played at South Florida and Penn State, scored 1,000 points during his Titans career.

Solid start

Shaler's boys basketball team, which had won five games the past two seasons, opened with two victories to start the 2017-18 season last weekend.

The Titans, who won the Shaler Tournament with wins over Perry (67-34) and Kiski (53-36), open Section 1-6A play Friday at North Allegheny.

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

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