George Guido: WPIAL’s 1984 open tournament remembered for wild upsets

By: George Guido
Saturday, February 20, 2021 | 3:57 PM

For the first time since 1984, the WPIAL will hold an open basketball tournament.

In other words, any team that wants to get in can.

The playoff brackets are scheduled to be distributed Tuesday, with action expected to begin Saturday.

For now, let’s take a look back at the tournament 37 years ago that can be described by this phrase: utter chaos.

It was the first year of Quad-A basketball, and the WPIAL thought it might be a good time to open the playoffs. When USA Today began publishing in the fall of 1982, the “Nation’s Newspaper” frequently had pieces about Indiana’s open tournament and the folklore behind it that led to the production of the movie “Hoosiers” four years later. It almost was like USA Today was a press agent for Indiana basketball.

Just like this season, the WPIAL in 1984 had an opt-out date for schools that didn’t want to participate. Most everyone did, however, and the WPIAL forged ahead with teams opening on their home floors, much like this season. The WPIAL brought media members to its Green Tree offices for a luncheon before the final week of regular-season play with some spots in the bracket undetermined. The media and others filled in some of the teams when the regular season ended.

There were an astounding 42 teams in the Quad-A boys bracket. There were 10 preliminary round games, meaning a “pigtail” round team would have to win six games to earn the title.

It didn’t take long for the zaniness to begin. The first night of the playoffs, Plum upset well-established North Catholic on the Trojans’ infamous (for visitors) auditorium stage home court 75-64.

No. 27-seeded Burrell, with a 7-11 regular season record, stunned No. 5 Riverside, 73-72, in overtime.

The Bucs didn’t stop there. Next up was Knoch, a team that defeated Burrell twice during the section season by 16 and eight points, respectively. The Knights couldn’t pull off a third win against the Bucs and lost 68-63.

Burrell went on to the quarterfinals and took No. 4 Aliquippa into double overtime before losing 91-85.

In Class A boys, No. 3 Leechburg, led by future MLB All-Star Mickey Morandini, amassed a 21-1 regular-season mark but was upset in the second round by No. 14 Frew Mill, with a 6-15 record.

In Class AA, No. 1 Serra Catholic was eliminated by No. 9 Ford City in the second round. Lawrenceville Catholic, top-seeded in Class A, lost to Monaca in the second round.

The girls weren’t immune from upsets, either. In Class AA, No. 21 Richland (before Pine was added) knocked off No. 12 Swissvale and No. 5 Aliquippa before losing to Freedom.

Finally, the smallest Quad-A schools, Farrell in the boys bracket and Seton LaSalle in the girls, brought home championships. Seton LaSalle was led by future Olympic, college, pro star and coach Suzie McConnell.

February football

Are you ready for some … high school football this week?

February usually is reserved for Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day and the high school basketball playoffs.

But in Virginia, the high school football season is scheduled to begin Monday. The Old Dominion state was one of about five to postpone the fall season until the spring.

Each school will play six regular-season games with four rounds of playoffs to follow. Teams not qualifying for the postseason can play an additional game against fellow nonplayoff teams, much like the WPIAL did this past fall.

“This is new territory for every team in the state,” Chilhowie coach Jeff Robinson told the Bristol (Va.) Pilot. “There is no blueprint for how to start football in the middle of winter.”

The state finals for Virginia’s six enrollment classes will be May 1. The high school basketball finals were Saturday.