Franklin Regional boys begin prep for PIAA basketball playoffs

By: William Whalen
Saturday, March 2, 2019 | 10:06 AM

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Franklin Regional boys basketball coach Steve Scorpion felt a little conflicted last Tuesday night.

Scorpion, like many others, traveled to North Hills to take in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinal game between No. 2 seed Penn Hills and No. 3 Moon. A former assistant coach at Penn Hills, Scorpion wanted to see his old team reach the championship game. But if Moon knocked off the Indians, Scorpion and his Panthers would qualify for the state playoffs.

“I was in a weird position,” said Scorpion, whose team lost to Moon, 64-48, in the quarterfinals. “Me and (Penn Hills coach Dan) DeRose are really, really good friends. I was an assistant under him. I always like to be around him and try to watch and learn from him.

“I would never root against those Penn Hills kids and DeRose, but, on the other hand, I want to keep playing.”

Moon defeated the Indians, 59-46. The same team that ended Franklin Regional’s WPIAL postseason was responsible for breathing life back into the Panthers season.

Regardless of who Franklin Regional ends up playing, the first round of the PIAA tournament will open March 8 with game times and sites to be determined. A Moon victory in the Class 5A title game gives the Panthers the fifth seed out of the WPIAL. A victory by Mars means the No. 6 seed out of the WPIAL.

“Whichever team we see, we’ve never seen before,” Scorpion said. “I think the new opponent will be fun. It will be a new challenge for these kids.”

It didn’t take long for Scorpion to rally the troops. Even though there were a half-dozen Panthers players on hand at North Hills Middle School to watch Moon and Penn Hills, Scorpion sent a group text to his team before he left the gymnasium.

“We’re playing. Practice is (at) 3 p.m. on Wednesday,” Scorpion said, recalling the text. “I gave them off Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday until I found out if we were playing or not.”

The Panthers got back at it the next day. Without an opponent to prepare for, Scorpion led a practice that had an almost-preseason feel. Instead of breaking down film, it was time to whip his players back into game shape.

“(Wednesday) we did more conditioning only because we were off for those days, so we had to get our wind back,” Scorpion said. “Right now, we’re getting back into condition and getting the ball into our hands.”

As for who Scorpion will root for in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game, he really doesn’t have rooting interest beyond the fact that if Moon wins, the Panthers will go into state bracket as the WPIAL fifth-place team. And if Section 3 rival Mars wins, the sixth-place team.

“To be honest, I really don’t care,” Scorpion said. “I know a lot of the Moon people. But on the flip side with Mars, I worked with (Kohri) Fusco and trained him the last four years. I got to be pretty good friends with (Mars coach Rob) Carmody. I have connections for both teams. I’m not gonna root one way of another, beside the seeding aspect.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

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