Guido: Not a typo: St. Joseph girls shock Rochester in quarterfinals

By: George Guido
Saturday, February 26, 2022 | 7:55 PM

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I confess.

I thought it was a typo.

After I filed my Highlands-Penn Hills story Thursday night, I perused the scoreboard to see what the other local teams did. The first time I saw the St. Joseph-Rochester score, I was skeptical.

My media colleague sitting beside me agreed that somebody screwed up on the score.

Later I found out that St. Joseph, indeed, shocked the scholastic basketball world by defeating three-time defending WPIAL champion Rochester, 57-54, in girls Class A basketball.

The Spartans will now play Aquinas Academy in the semifinals Monday night at North Hills. The winner goes to the Petersen Events Center for the finals at 11 a.m. Saturday.

This will be only the second time St. Joseph has been in a WPIAL semifinal. The Spartans lost to Cornell, 51-42, in 2017.

Thursday was the second time the Spartans defeated Rochester in the playoffs, beating the Rams, 61-50, on Feb. 15, 2005.

St. Joseph is 11-16 overall in the WPIAL playoffs.

Thursday’s big win also secured a spot in the PIAA playoffs, which begin March 9.

The Spartans are 0-2 in the PIAA tournament, losing to Berlin-Brothersvalley in 2017 and to Iroquois in 2004.

Now the question exists: Was this the biggest upset in local WPIAL playoff history?

Some might point to No. 14 Plum beating No. 3 Ambridge in 2002, but Ambridge wasn’t a three-time defending champion.

In the 1985 Class 3A finals, Deer Lakes blanked No. 1 North Catholic in the third quarter, but the Lancers were seeded second and had played well for two seasons and won a PIAA game in ’84.

On the boys side, in 1968, Tarentum’s last year, the Redcats, seeded 11th among 11 teams, upset No. 1 Rankin, 63-60. Rankin, like Rochester, had two all-state players.

Several days earlier, No. 8 first-year school Valley beat No. 1 Farrell.

Pipkins mark threatened

After nearly three decades, could the all-time WPIAL basketball scoring record, set by Valley’s Tom Pipkins, be in jeopardy?

Pipkins scored 2,838 points from 1989-93.

Right now, Aquinas Academy junior Vinnie Cugini has 2,078 points with the Crusaders season completed.

Cugini would need 760 points next season to catch Pipkins. Let’s say Aquinas plays 22 games and lasts one playoff game. He would have to average 33 points per game to catch the Valley standout.

This past season, Cugini averaged 36.2 points per game, pouring in 688 points in 19 games. He finished the season in 26th place on the WPIAL’s all-time list.

499 and holding

Hampton boys basketball coach Joe Lafko is stuck at 499 career victories for now after the Talbots lost to Laurel Highlands Thursday night.

Now, Hampton has to root for a victory by Laurel Highlands over Highlands in order to drag the Talbots into the PIAA playoffs and give Lafko a chance at No. 500.

Lafko’s 499th came against Kiski Area last Monday, 66-60.

Highlands replay

For those of you wanting to see the Highlands comeback over Penn Hills in the boys Class 5A quarterfinals from Thursday, the game will be replayed Sunday at 9 p.m. on Comcast Channel 190.

Tags: Highlands, St. Joseph