Basketball
This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 03/13/2017
March 13, 2017
The high school hockey playoffs move into the Final Four round while the state basketball postseason hits the Second Round and the Quarterfinals all this week on the MSA Sports Network. Our winter sports postseason coverage continues with PIAA basketball Second Round and Quarterfinals boys and girls basketball games and PIHL Penguins Cup Playoffs Semifinals action, plus we have The WPIAL Roundball Report, The PIHL Power Play Show and final edition this season of Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, March 13th: TALK SHOW - Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle at 7:00pm on MSAsports.netScholastic Notebook – 03/12/2017
March 12, 2017
New Castle was a good 3-point shooting team in the regular season. But the Red Hurricanes’ marksmanship has even improved in the postseason, and is it any wonder New Castle hasn’t lost a playoff game? New Castle won the WPIAL Class 4A championship and romped past Sharon in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. New Castle has averaged nine made 3-pointers a game in four postseason games and coach Ralph Blundo’s team is shooting 43 percent behind the arc in playoff games. That is excellent for any team, let alone a high school team. New Castle made 11, 9 and 10 3-pointers in three WPIAL playoff games, and then made 7 of 22 against Sharon in the first round of the playoffs.
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Geno Thorpe
March 6, 2017
Thorpe has been a prominent name in WPIAL athletics for quite some time, and Geno Thorpe has carried on the tradition by producing an impressive basketball resume. Thorpe, who excelled at both Shady Side Academy and Shaler, is now a top performer at the University of South Florida. As a high-school freshman in 2009-10, Geno played in a star-studded lineup at Shady Side Academy. Along with future Division I athletes Michael Young and Reggie Mitchell, Thorpe helped guide the Indians to a 19-5 mark, including playoff victories against Bishop Canevin and Jeannette. The team fell in the Class AA semifinals, however, and was also defeated in the PIAA second round.
WPIAL Coaches Corner – Joe Salvino
In this feature titled “Coach’s Corner”, I will be interviewing a different coach every week and asking them questions about their personal life and about coaching. Hopefully their answers will not only shed some light on how they coach their respective teams, but also allow readers to get to know the men behind the fields/courts. This week highlights Monessen boys basketball coach Joe Salvino. Coach Salvino, a graduate of Monessen, is in his 33rd year coaching the Greyhounds. He has 622 wins and just won his 6th WPIAL title this season. He also has guided the Greyhounds to 2 PIAA crowns. In the past 6 years alone, he has led his squad to 4 WPIAL championship games. Let’s take a look inside Coach Salvino’s corner:Scholastic Notebook – 03/06/2017
It doesn’t take an analytics whiz to figure out that 3-point shooting has become a big part of high school basketball. But if one can deduce anything from the WPIAL championships over the past three days, it is this: While accuracy from 3-point range might be nice, the biggest factor in winning a championship is to hit the boards. Look at the statistics from the 12 boys and girls championships (six in each classification) Thursday through Saturday and rebounding was by far the biggest key and not shooting. Here is what the statistics showed:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 03/06/2017
We move from the district championships to the start of the state playoffs in basketball and the state championships in wrestling as well as the drop of the puck on the high school hockey postseason all this week on the MSA Sports Network. Our postseason coverage continues with PIAA First Round boys and girls basketball games, the PIAA 3-A and 2-A Individual Wrestling championships and First Round and Quarterfinals action of the PIHL Penguins Cup high school hockey playoffs, plus we have The WPIAL Roundball Report, The PIHL Power Play Show and Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, March 6th:2017 WPIAL GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS Results
March 5, 2017
While there were no repeat district winners in girls basketball, 2017 did mark the end of the second longest title run in WPIAL history as Vincentian Academy fell in the finals ending their five year championship winning streak. Three teams picked up first ever WPIAL girls basketball crowns with Chartiers Valley in 5-A, Chartiers-Houston in 2-A and Winchester Thurston in 1-A and while it was the schools second title, it was 45 years since their last girls golden basketball for North Allegheny in 6-A. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in 4-A captured a 17th WPIAL girls roundball title while Bishop Canevin in 3-A won it all for the second time in three years and third time in six seasons.2017 WPIAL BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS Results
For the first time ever, SIX boys basketball teams have been crowned district champions. Two of them, Pine-Richland and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic were repeat winner from a year ago. Three teams, Pine-Richland in 6-A, New Castle in 4-A and Monessen in 1-A went the distance from top-seed to gold medal winner, while Moon in 5-A as a #2-seed, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in 3-A as a #3-seed and Sewickley Academy as a #3-seed won it all from the bottom of the bracket. Here are ALL the results from the 2017 WPIAL Boys Basketball Playoffs. You can go back and listen to EVERY district playoff game anytime you want here on the MSA Sports Network.
Pine-Richland Beats Butler for 3rd Time, Repeats as WPIAL Champs
March 4, 2017
For the second time in as many years, the Pine Richland Rams boys took gold in the WPIAL’s highest classification. The Rams used a late 11-2 run in the 4th quarter to pull away from the Butler Golden Tornado and win the 6-A Championship, 72-61. It was the third time in as many tries that Pine Richland defeated their Section 1 foe. The Rams had to defeat North Hills a third time in the 6-A semifinals to even make it to the championship game.
Char Valley Avenges Loss, Beats Oak Cath for WPIAL 5-A Girls Crown
Ever since losing to Oakland Catholic in a non-section game back on January 21st, Chartiers Valley has had one word on their mind. Redemption. Six weeks and 11 straight victories later, and the Lady Colts have completed that redemption. A stifling defense that limited Oakland Catholic to ten second-half points, coupled with clutch shooting from beyond the arc and at the free throw line, allowed Chartiers Valley to pull away late with a 52-36 victory in the WPIAL 5A Championship Game.
New Castle Wins Rubber Game Over Quaker Valley and WPIAL 4-A Title
New Castle and Quaker Valley battled for 4A supremacy all season long, splitting their two matchups in Section 2 play in the regular campaign. With the WPIAL 4A Championship on the line at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday, the Red Hurricane used a dominant second half to prevail, 73-58. With the victory, New Castle claimed its 11th boys WPIAL title, and fourth since 2012. The top-seeded Red Hurricane held a three-point edge at the intermission, but outscored the No. 2 Quakers 20-11 in the third frame to extend their lead to double digits. The Hurricanes fended off a fourth-quarter surge by the Quakers to close out the win in convincing fashion.
Bishop Canevin Lances Neshannock in Girls 3-A Finals
For the second time in three years, Bishop Canevin claimed girls basketball championship gold at the Peterson Event Center, this time with a blow out win over #3 seed Neshannock in the Class-3A title game. The top seeded Crusaders scored the first 9 points of the game, before the Lancers finally got their first basket of the game with 3:51 left in the opening quarter. Shamyjha Price scored 10 points for Bishop Canevin in the 1st quarter, and Sarah Green knocked down two three-pointers to pace the Crusaders to a 21-7 lead after the eight minutes.
Moon Beats Hampton for First WPIAL Boys Crown Since 2006
March 3, 2017
The Moon Tigers and the Hampton Talbots met twice during the regular season in Class (5A) Section 2, with the Tigers winning both regular season conference games. The stakes for the third meeting were much higher, with the WPIAL Championship on the line at the Petersen Event Center, but the results were the same, as Moon defeated Hampton 69-62 to capture the school’s 4th title.
Sewickley Academy Sweeps Past OLSH for Boys 2-A Crown
Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer admitted his team was a bit nervous in the 2016 WPIAL championship game and ended up losing to North Catholic. Turn the calendar ahead one year and the nerves seemed to disappear, as did that losing feeling at the Petersen Events Center as the Panthers defeated Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Class 2A title game 71-60. The championship is the fourth in school history and being able to carry on that legacy was not lost on the Panthers' players. "It's a great feeling," said Chris Groetsch, senior guard, adding that the seniors took some ribbing from the coach's son Tyler, who was an assistant coach last season and a member of a past championship team. "Tyler always rubbed it in. He can't hold that over us anymore."
Winchester Thurston Pulls Away From Cornell for Girls 1-A Gold
The top-seed Winchester Thurston Bears defeated the #2 Cornell Raiders 52-41 Friday afternoon to take home the first WPIAL girls basketball title in school history.
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Knocks Off Lincoln Park to Repeat
March 2, 2017
Two teams with nearly identical overall records and two completely different styles of play were on full display Saturday night in the WPIAL Class 3-A boys championship game at Petersen Events Center. In a back and forth contest that saw Lincoln Park race up and down the court and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic stick to a slower more methodical game, the Trojans slowed down the potent Leopards offense and won back to back Class A championships with a 56-51 win in the 3-A title game. Feels a lot different; we did it without size" said senior Kenny Fukon, who plays alongside his from John, one of the leading scorers for Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic. John finished with 16 points to lead the Trojans.
Monessen Cruises to District Gold in Boys 1-A
As the clock hit 0:00, the Monessen Greyhounds won their second WPIAL championship in three years and seventh in program history with a 74 to 59 victory over Imani Christian. The Greyhounds started off strong in the first quarter dropping 17 points to the Saints 10. Imani Christian struggled controlling the ball as they had 8 turnovers in the first period of play and 19 in the half. Part-way through the 1st quarter, tempers rose and technical fouls were dealt. Imani Christian senior, and West Virginia University football commit, Kenny Robinson took a seat on the bench after reaching three early fouls. Robinson finished the first half of play with six points.
Chartiers-Houston Dethrones Vincentian For Girls 2-A Title
The No. 1 seed Chartiers-Houston (23-2) Buccaneers kicked off the WPIAL Championship games with a 47-35 win over the No. 2 seed Vincentian Academy Royals (20-5). This was the 8th consecutive trip to a title game for Vincentian, and after winning their last five tries, the Royals fell short Thursday. For Chartiers-Houston, it was their first time playing for the WPIAL Championship. Their inexperience never showed though.WPIAL Championship Game Previews For Saturday
The weekend concludes with five championship games on Saturday. Two bitter section rivals will battle in each of the boys games, while the girls games will have a first time participant and some lower seeds taking the floor in hopes of winning gold. Below are previews of all the games, listed in order, Catch all the action on the NETWORK, with game broadcasts, Center Stage videos, articles photos and so much more. 2017 WPIAL CLASS 3-A GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #1 Bishop Canevin Crusaders (18-5) vs #3 Neshannock Lancers (23-1) AT The Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 4th at 11:00am on MSAsports.netWPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Wednesday 3/1
As the calendar changed from the February Frenzy to the madness of March, three days of Final Four action in the WPIAL basketball postseason also came to an end. Section supremecy was the theme on the boys side as a pair of Section 1 teams are title game bound in Class 6-A while two teams from Section 2 are headed to clash at The Pete in Class 4-A. For the girls, the lone district team with a perfect record is unbeaten no more and two lower seeds advance to play for gold in Class 5-A. Here are recaps from the eight Semifinals games on Wednesday from Boys 6-A, Boys 4-A, Girls 5-A and Girls 3-A. A special thanks to Bob Barrickman, Tyler Friel, Dennis Fischer, Mike Azadian, Scott Majesky, Bob Gregg, Mark Schaas and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.
