Scholastic Notebook – 03/18/2016

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 18, 2016 | 6:45 PM

Two boys teams from the WPIAL (Mars and Aliquippa) and one girls team (Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic) have made it to Hershey for the state championships. Here is information and some factoids for the three games. All games are at the Giant Center in Hershey.

CLASS AAA BOYS

The game: Mars (23-6) vs. Neumann-Goretti (26-4) of Phildelphia, 8 p.m. Friday.

Coaches: Mars Rob Carmody and Neumann-Goretti’s Carl Arrigale.

Leading scorers: Mars: Robby Carmody (20) and John Castello (18). Neuman-Goretti: Quade Green (18.4), Zane Martin (18.3) and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (14.5).

Factoids: This is Mars’ first trip to a state championship game. Neumann-Goretti has won five of the past six PIAA titles. … Neumann-Goretti comes from the Philadelphia Catholic League. The Neumann-Goretti girls team won the PIAA Class AA title earlier Friday for the second year in a row. … Mars’ balance and shooting has been a key all season. Carmody shoots 70 percent from the field. … Neumann-Goretti’s Rasheed Browne has signed with Florida Gulf Coast while Martin is a Towson recruit. But the Saints also have two juniors – Green and Cosby-Roundtree – who have scholarship offers from colleges in the power five conferences. … Castello is a Shippensburg University recruit. Carmody is only a sophomore, but has scholarship offers from Pitt, Duquesne, Penn State, Xavier and Purdue, among others. An assistant coach from Northwestern was at Mars’ semifinal Tuesday night. … Mars has been bolstered lately by the return of senior forward Alex Gruber. He has played seven games since returning from a leg injury. He was expected to be one of the team’s top players heading into the season. … Mars has two sets of fraternal twins – John Castello and Steve Castello; Alex and Aaron Gruber. … The WPIAL hasn’t had a PIAA Class AAA champion since Moon in 2004.

CLASS AA BOYS

The game: Aliquippa (29-0) vs. Mastery Charter North (27-3), 2 p.m. Saturday.

Coaches: Aliquippa’s Nick Lackovich and Mastery Charter North’s Terrance Cook.

Leading scorers: Aliquippa guard Jassir Jodan and forward Chucky Humphries both average around 16-17 points.

Factoids: This is the second consecutive year Aliquippa has made it to the title game with an undefeated record. A year ago, the Quips lost to Conwell-Egan. No team from the WPIAL has ever made it to a state championship game with a perfect record two years in a row. If Aliquippa wins, it would become only the 13^th boys team from the WPIAL to go through an entire season with an undefeated record. This is Aliquippa’s 10^th PIAA title game appearance, the most by a school while a member of the WPIAL. Farrell also has been in 10 championships, but the Steelers made it last year as a member of District 10. … Mastery Charter North’s nickname is the Pumas. Mastery Charter is from the Philadelphia Public League. Mastery Charter’s Daeqwon Plowden, a 6-4 junior forward, had 30 points in the quarterfinals and 18 in the semis. Eli Alvin is a junior point guard who usually starts but came off the bench to score 22 in the semifinals. Mastery Charter started the season 23-1 before losses to Del-Val Charter in the Philadelphia Public League semifinals and Conwell-Egan in the District 12 championship game. … Aliquippa coach Lackovich admitted this team might not be as good as last year’s, but might have a better chance of winning a title. … Aliquippa’s last state championship game in 1997 when the Quips defeated Wilkes-Barre Meyers, 57-50. The Quips had a first-year coach that year by the named of Mike Zmijanac. He is Aliquippa’s football coach and athletic director. He is the only person to ever win a state football championship and a state basketball title.

CLASS A GIRLS

The game: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (27-3) vs. Lourdes Regional (23-6), noon Saturday

The coaches: North Catholic’s Molly Rottmann and Lourdes Regional’s Michael Kiembara

Leading scorers: North Catholic: Sam Breen (26.6), Kylie Huffman (9.0) and Dani Short (8.3). Lourdes Regional: Carmella Bickel (16.3).

Factoids: North Catholic is making its 13^th championship appearance. The Trojanettes have won seven titles. Rottmann has state titles already as a coach and player. North Catholic’s other state titles came under coach Don Barth. … Sam Breen has had a terrific state playoff run, scoring 30 or more in three games. Breen also averages 9 rebounds a game. Even though she is only a junior, she already has some Division I college offers. … Lourdes Regional is from Coal Township in District 4. Lourdes Regional is led by Carmella Bickel, who averages 16.3 points. She has 1,147 for her career. Freshman Frances Czeponis is 6-1 and averages 3 blocks a game.

Tags: Aliquippa, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, North Catholic