New Castle boys hoping to tie Farrell’s longstanding WPIAL record

By: George Guido
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | 11:33 PM

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It was a record many considered unassailable for years.

But New Castle is on the brink of tying Farrell’s longstanding mark of 13 WPIAL boys basketball championships.

Farrell won its 13 titles from 1951-92, a period of 42 seasons.

New Castle (20-4) will go after No. 13 at 1 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center against Quaker Valley, a team that has accounted for two of the four Red Hurricanes’ defeats this season.

“We’re really proud of our tradition at New Castle,” New Castle coach Ralph Blundo said. “It’s something that certainly matters to us. We try to maintain a connection to the past. It ’s important, and I think highly of all the guys who built this before I got here.”

New Castle won its first title in 1927 and garnered another in 1936 but didn’t bring home WPIAL gold again until 1982. The Red Hurricanes have won five titles this decade.

Farrell won five titles during the 1950s.

The school left the WPIAL in 2005 and moved to District 10. Farrell has tried to rejoin the WPIAL, but District 10 would not release the Mercer County school.

Aliquippa also has 12 titles, but the Quips were eliminated by North Catholic on Monday.

Duquesne had 12 before the school closed in 2007.

Tied at 2-all

Highlands and New Castle are tied with two head-to-head wins each in the playoffs.

The Golden Rams won a preliminary-round game in 2010 and a semifinal in 2016 at North Allegheny.

Before Wednesday night, the Red Hurricanes defeated Highlands in the 2012 first round.

New Castle is in the WIAL playoffs for the 45th time, and Highlands is in the postseason for the 26th time.

Highlands is 4-3 in WPIAL semifinal contests.

Clanging

Free throws were a problem for both teams Wednesday.

New Castle was 9 of 23, and the Golden Rams were slightly better at 10 of 24.

The Red Hurricanes, however, were 3 of 13 in the fourth period, allowing Highlands to close the gap.

“We’ve kind of been like that all year. We’ve been really good or really poor,” Blundo said. “We’ll try hard not to focus on that, enjoy this (win) and we’ll discuss that tomorrow.”

Said Highlands coach Tyler Stoczynski: “They missed a lot of foul shots down the stretch, too, so that was kind of a wash. I know you want to always make your foul shots, I get it, but both teams missed a ton of foul shots tonight, so I don’t think either team gained anything.”

The way it was

If there was a play that typified the first three quarters for Highlands, it occurred just before the second-quarter buzzer.

Sheldon Cox tried a 3-pointer from the corner, missed everything, but Isaiah Carter was right there for the rebound and the layup to put New Castle in front 40-19 at the half.

It was Carter’s only basket of the night.

Tags: Highlands, New Castle