Mt. Lebanon showed again that they’re the preeminent basketball power in Western PA, as their girls and boys teams both won WPIAL Quad-A Titles. In Triple-A it was Chartiers Valley in Boys and New Castle in Girls. For the second season in a row North Catholic won the Double-A Boys while, the Jeanette Girls took home the Girls’ Title. Finally in Single-A, Sewickley Academy won in boys, while Vincentian home the title in girls.
Boys
AAAA - Mt. Lebanon over Gateway - 57-51
AAA - Chartiers Valley over Hampton - 63-50
AA - North Catholic over Rochester - 51-48
A - Sewickley Acad over Lincoln Park - 49-48
Girls
AAAA - Mt. Lebanon over Baldwin - 59-43
AAA - New Castle over Hopewell - 66-61
AA - Jeannette over Seton LaSalle - 39-36
A - Vincentian over North Catholic - 57-31
The WPIAL Basketball Finals start tonight and go through tomorrow. The marquee game is tonight at 9:00 when Chartiers Valley takes on Hampton. Char Valley is lead by Duquesne recruit TJ McConnell who led the WPIAL in points and set the all-time 3point record this season. The Quad-A Boys Final on Saturday should also be good, as Mt. Lebanon will take on Gateway. In Double-A on Saturday it will be North Catholic vs. Rochester, while Sewickley Academy will take on Lincoln Park tonight for the Single-A Title. In Girls it’s North Catholic vs. Vincentian for Single-A tonight. On Saturday it’s Mt. Lebanon vs. Baldwin(AAAA); Hopewell vs. New Castle(AAA); and Seton LaSalle vs. Jeanette(AA).
All the games at the Palumbo Center.
Finally - NO game will be broadcast live on TV, - Comcast will have them after the fact in on-demand. I’m not sure if Armstrong County Comcast Subscribers will be able to view them or not.
It’s very disappointing the game will not be televised. I think it’s a bad move by the WPIAL.
Update***
Boys
AAA - Char Valley over Hampton 63-5o
A - Sewickley Academy over Lincoln Park 49-48
Girls
A - Vincentian over North Catholic 57- 31
Spring Training is officially underway for the Bucs, and here are a couple of things to keep your eye on. Jeff Clement at first base, the Pirates seem to want Clement as their everyday first baseman. His offense and defense will be at the center of attention this spring. Akinori Iwamura who is the only real accusation of the off season, will be interesting to watch. The fifth starter, the Pirates like Kevin Hart, despite his 1-8 record last season, but Daniel McCutchen and rookie Brad Lincoln are also in the race. You’ll see a lot of Pedro Alvarez, this spring and if he does well, he might get a mid season call-up. Finally the overcrowd outfield, with Andrew McCuhen, Milledge, Jones as roster locks, this leaves, Moss, Church, and Tabata fighting for a bench spot or pushing Jones to first. The Pirates are paying Church, so he’ll be on the team, if Moss doesn’t cut it, he’ll probably be traded or let go. Finally since Tabata might actually be older the first thought, they’ll be pressure on the Bucs to get him to the Majors quicker.
Last night on RSW I spoke with Josh Frketic who is a broadcasting major at Point Park University. For parts of the show we spoke about the Pittsburgh sports media, how they cover games who are the best broadcasters. The question today is, do you think the Pittsburgh sports market oversaturated? Also what are your thoughts on the Fan 93.7, it actually comes in clear to Central Armstrong County. I’m sure people are listening. The interesting thing is the sports radio market is much large then TV market. I would not be surprised we eventually see one of the teams create their own sports TV station. I personally think you can get all the Pittsburgh sports news and discussion you need and then some 15 minutes a day. Feel free to post your thoughts on the website.
We’re particularly interested in your thought about the Fan?
IUP will host their first PSAC Tournament game tonight at 7pm against Gannon. IUP won the right to home court through out the tournament after they finished first in the conference. The IUP men wrap up the regular season 13-1 in conference and with a 25-2 overall record. They’re currently ranked #6 in the country in NCAA Davison 2. IUP should get a bid to 32 team NCAA D2 tournament, but if they win the PSAC title they could host 2 games in the NCAA Tournament. The Gannon girls are the top seed in PSAC women’s basketball after finishing the year 27-0 and ranked #1 in Division 2. This goes to show there is a lot of great college basketball being played in Western PA at all levels.
The discussion about Pitt joining the Big 10, came up on Tuesday Night’s show with Chris Peak from Pantherslair.com. According to Chris, the Panthers would stand to earn almost $20 million more per season in shared Football revenue. Not to mention the additional gate revenue at football game. This leaves no doubt in my mind that Pitt would jump to the Big Ten if asked. Now whether the move makes sense from an athletic performance standpoint is an entirely different question. Most universities use their athletics programs as a way to increase or promote enrollment, awareness, and donations. While is Pitt has yet to be reviewed for inclusion, there would probably be little doubt they would accept an invitation.
Tonight on RSW I’ll welcome Chris Peak from Patherslair.com to talk Pitt hoops. You might have heard Chris on ESPN Radio before Pitt basketball games. You also might have read one of his Pitt Basketball or Football stories on Yahoo Sports. Of course we can discuss Pitt’s recent big wins, and their chances in the NCAA Tournament. Pitt will travel to Notre Dame of game tomorrow, as the end of regular is in sight. Chris also works on Football beat, so he should be able to shed some light on Pitt Football’s recent recruiting class. The show starts at 7:30 on FLTV, and we look forward to hearing from you. If you can’t call the show live you can always email me a question for the show. People who live outside of central Armstrong County can watch live online at familylifetv.com Finally I’ll give an update on the WPIAL Playoffs.
Pitt Basketball had a huge win against Villanova 70-65, on Saturday. Pitt just doesn’t lose home games and now looking Big East Tournament Title Condtender. Even Duquesne got a win over Dayton, in rare nationally televised game. Locally the Ford City Boys fell to Quaker Valley, but the FC Girls worked hard for 3 point win over Mohawk in WPIAL Playoffs. The Kittanning girls had an easy win over McGuffey, setting up a Wednesday night encounter against Mt. Pleasant. The Freeport Boys had big 65-48 win over Summit Academy, next up a Wednesday showdown against Washington at Gateway. The West Shamokin Girls continue to surprise as they knocked off Riverview. Highly rated Avonworth is next up for West Shamokin.
The Freeport Boys will take on Summit Academy 2pm Saturday at Butler. Freeport should be a little upset, as they won their section with a 12-0 record, but were not one the eight teams to get an opening round bye. They actually were the only Double-A team to go undefeated in section play. The Ford City Boys will take on Quaker Valley Saturday 6pm at Northgate, 20-2 Rochester awaits the winner. In girls, Kittanning faces McGuffey, noon Saturday at North Hills. Mt. Pleasant would be next. The Ford City Girls will play Mohawk 4pm at Northgate, so it will be a big day for Saber fans on Saturday. Finally the West Shamokin Girls will take on Riverview 2pm at Hempfield, and the Apollo Girls received a bye, and our off until Tuesday Night.
Section realignment for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 WPIAL Basketball Seasons is final. There is no major reshuffling as far as the local teams are concerned, but there are a few changes that will have an effect. Starting in Triple-A Boys, Burrell is moving up to join Kittanning’s section, and they should be a beatable opponent for the Cats. In Double-A Boys, Burrell was replaced with Shady Side, who figures to be a section force that Ford City, Freeport, and West Shamokin will have to deal with. Elderton was added to Single-A boys, and will play in Double-A girls, last year the Elderton Girls also played up. It will be interesting to see if / how all the Elderton teams start back up.
