25 basketball teams won’t participate in WPIAL’s open postseason tournament

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 6:11 PM

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Derry’s girls basketball team earned its way into the WPIAL playoffs last winter, but the one-win Trojans won’t go back this year.

They could have.

The vast majority of schools will take part in the WPIAL basketball playoffs this winter in an open-tournament format, but 25 teams decided to not participate.

Almost all of the teams skipping the playoffs have two or fewer wins.

“I just don’t feel that it’s right to have my team go to the playoffs without having a winning record,” said Derry coach Gene Brisbane, whose team is 1-9. “It’s just a personal belief that I’ve always had. … I don’t go for participation trophies or all that kind of stuff. If you’re in the playoffs, you definitely should earn your spot.

“I can’t in good conscience take a team into the playoffs with one win.”

Thursday was the WPIAL deadline for schools to opt in. The league received notice from 122 of 133 boys teams and 112 of 126 girls teams saying they will compete in the open tournament.

The boys teams not participating are Connellsville (0-6), Moon (1-14), Indiana (0-11), Keystone Oaks (1-9), Freedom (0-11), Riverside (2-13), Summit Academy (0-0), Bentworth (1-9), Cornell (0-12), Neighborhood Academy (2-4) and Propel Andrew Street (0-11). Summit Academy had already opted out of basketball season entirely.

The girls teams not taking part are West Allegheny (0-12), Derry (1-9), Valley (1-5), Ligonier Valley (0-10), Riverside (0-9), Bentworth (1-12), Shady Side Academy (1-8), New Brighton (1-12), Beth-Center (3-9), Carmichaels (2-5), Cornell (2-12), Geibel Catholic (0-8), Leechburg (2-8) and Propel Andrew Street (1-10).

The WPIAL added Neighborhood Academy boys and Leechburg girls to the list Thursday night. The Northgate boys (4-15) initially were listed as out but will participate.

The WPIAL basketball committee will meet Tuesday to pair the tournament. Brackets will be revealed at 7 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

The boys brackets will have 17 teams in Class 6A, 23 in 5A, 21 in 4A, 23 in 3A, 23 in 2A and 15 in A.

The girls have 15 teams in Class 6A, 26 in 5A, 19 in 4A, 18 in 3A, 21 in 2A and 13 in A.

The tournament starts with opening-round games Feb. 27 and March 1. The championships are March 12, 13 and 15 at sites to be determined. The WPIAL intends to use multiple high school gyms for the finals.

The WPIAL board predicted weeks ago that a number of section games would be canceled for covid-related reasons, leaving standing unbalanced and tiebreakers ineffective. An open tournament was the board’s way to eliminate concerns about identifying playoff qualifiers.

Among the teams entering the playoffs are the Steel Valley boys, who’ve played only one game.

The Ironmen (0-1) lost at South Allegheny, 51-42, on Jan. 18 and haven’t played since because of covid-related quarantines, athletic director Shawn McCallister said. However, the team scheduled four games for next week, McCallister said, and never considered skipping the playoffs.

“We wanted to give the kids every opportunity to play,” he said.

Steel Valley isn’t the only winless team bound for the postseason. The girls teams at Brownsville (0-6), Northgate (0-10) and Jeannette (0-15) opted in, along with boys teams from Canon-McMillan (0-11), Greensburg Salem (0-9), Woodland Hills (0-6) and Beaver (0-13).

There also are eight playoff teams with one win.

Teams not participating in the WPIAL playoffs and those later eliminated can continue to play regular-season games until the date of the state championships, under a temporary PIAA policy. Brisbane said Derry already has five more games on its schedule, but will wrap up March 2.

“Spring sports start on March 8,” Brisbane said. “There’s no reason for me to infringe on the starting date of spring sports. That way, they can take a little bit of a break and go to their next sport.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.