Scholastic Notebook – 02/21/2014

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 21, 2014 | 3:50 PM

If the WPIAL basketball quarterfinals are a party for eight, Class AAAA Section 1 has done and unusual thing and made reservations for two.

It’s like Section 1 has finally stood up and said “what about us?” Hempfield and Kiski Area are Section 1 teams that have made it to the quarterfinals. It might not seem like much, but seeing two from Section 1 eating at the quarterfinal table doesn’t happen often.

Since 2000, this is only the fourth time that two teams from Section 1 have made the quarterfinals and the first time since 2010. In 2007, Albert Gallatin and Norwin made the quarterfinals. Norwin and Franklin Regional made it in 2008. Kiski Area and Latrobe made it in 2010.

Hempfield beat Mt. Lebanon in the first round and plays North Allegheny in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Kiski Area upset No. 4 seed Plum and plays Gateway tomorrow. Section 1 hasn’t had a team in the semifinals since Norwin in 2008, when a Mike Shanahan-led Norwin team made it to the semifinals before losing to Moon.

Section 1 Girls Rise

The Section 1 girls teams have also made the rest of Class AAAA take notice.

Hempfield, Penn-Trafford and Norwin are all Section 1 teams that have made the quarterfinals. This is the first time that more than one Section 1 team has made the quarterfinals since both Norwin and Latrobe made it in 2007.

Hempfield plays Bethel Park, Penn-Trafford plays Mt. Lebanon and Norwin plays Fox Chapel.

Basketball Realignment

Earlier this week, the WPIAL released its basketball section realignment. For almost all of the sections, it is a change for two years. But the WPIAL will have to make a few changes again next year when Ford City and Kittanning close after this school year and form one school, which will go in Class AAAA.

One of the more noteworthy changes is Pittsburgh Central Catholic going out of Class AAAA Section 2 and into Section 3 (northern section). Section 3 needed another team because New Castle and Hampton are dropping down from Class AAAA to AAA. Section 3 was left with only six teams.

There were many who thought Fox Chapel should move from Section 2 to Section 3 because Fox Chapel is more of a northern team than Central Catholic and because Section 2 has teams from the eastern suburbs. Fox Chapel lobbied against the move. Central Catholic didn’t want to move to Section 3, either. Fox Chapel won out.

What was a little interesting was that Dan O’Neil, head of the WPIAL basketball committee, voted against the move of Central. Hampton athletic director Bill Cardone, a member of the committee, also voted against it. But they were out-voted. Also interesting, Fox Chapel AD Mike O’Brien, Plum AD Bob Alpino and Gateway principal Bill Short all voted for Central Catholic to leave Section 2. Those three all come from schools with teams in Section 2.

Among other noteworthy moves, New Castle and Beaver Falls will be in the same section next year. Besides New Castle moving down, Beaver Falls has chosen to play “up” in Class AAA. That certainly makes for a strong section, along with Central Valley, Blackhawk and Ambridge, among others.

Also, Lincoln Park’s enrollment jumped the Leopards up to Class AA. That presented the possibility of Lincoln Park being put in the same section with Aliquippa. But Lincoln Park and Aliquippa are in different sections.

Hearing for Aloi

Speaking of Lincoln Park, the school is involved in a transfer case that will go to the WPIAL for a hearing.

Nick Aloi transferred from Ellwood City to Lincoln Park last month, but the WPIAL decided to bring Aloi in for a hearing this spring to determine if athletic intent was involved.

Aloi was Ellwood City’s leading scorer last year as a freshman, but is not playing this year because of a knee injury.

He transferred to Lincoln Park despite the fact that his grandfather is Ellwood City’s superintendent and Nick’s father is a former standout player for Ellwood City.

Nola to Gateway

In the biggest football coaching move of the offseason, Tom Nola has left Clairton to become coach at Gateway.

Nola was Clairton’s coach for 12 seasons and took the Bears to great heights. He won six WPIAL titles, including five in a row, and four PIAA titles in a row. His team had a 66-game winning streak that was snapped last season.

Nola’s move surprised many. He leaves behind plenty of talent at Clairton.

“It was a very difficult decision,” said the 60-year-old Nola. “Next year’s Clairton team will have 19 or 20 starters back. I expect that team to do a lot of good things. That made it difficult, too.”

Gateway is moving down to Class AAA next season. The Gators had always played in the WPIAL’s largest classification since the school opened in the 1950s.

“I’m sure there’s pressure there,” Nola said. “But there was pressure at Clairton, too, especially during the streak.

“I know the work is going to be a little more maybe. I haven’t really been there yet. But I can already anticipate it’s going to re-energize me and just get me more into the coaching mode again.”

More Coaching Moves

Nola’s change from Clairton to Gateway was just one of a number of WPIAL football coaching moves and hirings in the past two weeks.

* Another noteworthy  move came Wednesday night when Dan Bradley was hired as Ambridge’s new coach. Ambridge’s program has been down for a number of years, but Bradley does know a thing or two about winning. He was an assistant coach at some very successful programs.

On top of that, he was Sto-Rox’s head coach the past two seasons and guided the Vikings to the WPIAL Class A championship game both years.

* It’s the third go-round for Ron Skiles and Bentworth.

Skiles was hired at Bentworth Tuesday night. This will be his third stint with the Bearcats and this one he starts at age 70.

Skiles, who played at Bentworth before graduating in 1962, took over the program in 1981 and coached eight seasons. His second stint started in 2004 lasted three years.

* Rob Densmore is the new coach at Butler. He is the Golden Tornado’s fourth coach in eight years.

Densmore was an assistant at Freedom last year but spent a number of years as a Pine-Richland assistant. He played at Seneca Valley.

* Latrobe hired Jason Muracco as its new coach. He spent the past five years as a Mount Pleasant assistant, but he is quite familiar with Latrobe football. He is a 1991 graduate of Latrobe.

Give Back the Medal

Emily Vannatta won a gold medal at the WPIAL gymnastics championships Feb. 8 by finishing first in the bars in intermediate division.

But Vannatta will have to forfeit her title and give back her medal because she should have been competing in the advanced division. The WPIAL made the ruling after a complaint was filed and the league reviewed information on the situation.

Moon’s Mackenzie Kraft will instead be awarded the gold medal.

Tags: Ambridge, Bentworth, Butler, Clairton, Gateway, Hempfield, Kiski School, Latrobe, Lincoln Park