Scholastic Notebook – 01/20/2017

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, January 20, 2017 | 4:00 PM

It was six years ago that Kyle DeGregorio went through a painful experience of being let go as Baldwin’s boys basketball coach. But DeGregorio eventually found new coaching life a little farther south down Route 51, and has given the Belle Vernon program a new heartbeat.

Belle Vernon is 10-3 and tied with McGuffey and South Fayette for first place in WPIAL Class 4A Section 3. Two of those tied teams square off Friday when Belle Vernon plays host to South Fayette.

DeGregorio is in his fourth season at Belle Vernon and has orchestrated an impressive turnaround with the Leopards. Belle Vernon hasn’t had a winning season or made the playoffs since 2009-10. The Leopards’ combined record the previous six seasons was 34-94. They are trying to win a section title for only the third time since 2000. The others were 2001 and 2008.

DeGregorio did some good things at Baldwin, making the WPIAL playoffs four times and winning 19 games twice. He also coached at Ephrata, Manheim Central and York Vo-Tech before coming to Baldwin. But Baldwin elected to open his position after the 2010-11 season. DeGregorio then spent a couple years at North Allegheny as an assistant under his brother Dave. While Dave DeGregorio resigned at North Allegheny after last season and is now an assistant at Hampton, Kyle is enjoying success at Belle Vernon.

Belle Vernon certainly isn’t in the toughest section in 4A, but the Leopards still deserve credit for being relevant again in WPIAL basketball. They take a seven-game winning streak into the South Fayette game and defense has played a key role in the Leopards’ surge. During the winning streak, Belle Vernon has allowed only 44 points a game.

Scoring QBs

From an accomplished quarterback in football to a leading scorer in basketball. You see the transition with a handful of players in the WPIAL.

Latrobe’s Austin Butler was the starting quarterback for Latrobe the past few seasons. Now he leads the WPIAL in scoring at 31 points a game.

New Castle’s Geno Stone helped the Red Hurricanes reach a WPIAL football final. Now he is averaging 19 points in basketball

Fort Cherry’s Ryhan Culbertson was a talented dual-threat QB in football. Now he’s a big scoring threat in basketball at 21 points a game.

Burrell’s Max Garda became only the sixth QB in WPIAL history to run and throw for 1,000 yards in the regular season. He is now averaging 17 in basketball.

Remembering Baynes

It was a short, but touching ceremony before Tuesday night’s Latrobe at Penn Hills basketball game.

Penn Hills was hit with tragedy last Saturday night when Donovan Baynes, a senior on the football team, was killed in a car accident.

On the court before Tuesday night’s basketball game, Latrobe’s basketball team presented a check to Baynes’ mother, brother and cousin. After that, a few members of the Penn Hills basketball team presented the Baynes family with Donovan’s Penn Hills football jersey.

Penn Hills’ basketball players are wearing a patch on their jersey with Baynes’ No. 40.

Johnson’s PIAA Appeal

The landscape of WPIAL 1-A basketball could change Wednesday. But it’s up to the PIAA.

A few weeks ago, the WPIAL ruled Anthony Johnson ineligible to play the rest of this season at Jeannette, saying he transferred from Allderdice for athletic reasons. Johnson averaged 27 points in four games after transferring from Allderdice in December.

Johnson has appealed the WPIAL’s ruling to the PIAA and the PIAA will hold an appeal hearing Wednesday. Will the PIAA overturn the WPIAL, like it often does? Well, there is a rule in the PIAA by-laws that states a student-athlete can be ruled ineligible if he transfers from one school to another to avoid discipline or penalties from the previous school. That sounds life Johnson’s case.

Johnson, a sophomore, was removed from Allderdice’s team shortly before the season and transferred shortly thereafter. Jeannette is the fourth school Johnson has attended in a year-and-a-half of high school. He also has been to Chartiers Valley and Lincoln Park.

If the PIAA overturns the WPIAL, Jeannette is definitely a team to watch come playoff time.

Milestone Watch

* Neshannock’s Luann Grybowski became only the third girls basketball coach in WPIAL history to win 600 games when Neshannock defeated Beaver Falls, 60-32, on Thursday night. Grybowski is 600-240. She began coaching in 1980 and her resume includes stops at three schools besides Neshannock – Shenango, Aliquippa and New Castle.

* Sewickley Academy boys coach Win Palmer needs only two wins to reach 600. He is 598-271.

* Lincoln Park boys player Nelly Cummings is closing in on 2,000 points. He scored 25 against Pine-Richland in a loss Thursday night to give him 1,938.

Top Wrestling Tourney

A number of the top wrestlers in the WPIAL will be competing in the Allegheny County Tournament Friday and Saturday at Fox Chapel High School. The finals are scheduled for Saturday night at 6.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Fort Cherry, Jeannette, Latrobe, Lincoln Park