Scholastic Notebook – 11/30/2012

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, November 30, 2012 | 12:38 PM

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The Clairton boys basketball team has a chance to make plenty of noise this season. But you won’t hear the sounds of basketballs in Clairton’s gym possibly for another few weeks.

Like the past four years, Clairton basketball will get a late start this season because just about the entire team is made up of football players. The Clairton football team is in the PIAA Quarterfinals Friday night and favored to make a fifth consecutive trip to the title game. The championship is Dec. 14 in Hershey.

What makes this basketball season interesting for Clairton is that the Bears have a new coach, and they could end up being one of the top teams in Class A because of their experienced and talented players.

The new coach is Matt Geletko, a former Serra player who was an assistant for 19 years at Serra. He will inherit a team that has made it to the WPIAL quarterfinals three years in a row and could be even stronger this year, despite a late start. The Bears return their top three players from last season – and all are on the football team.

Titus Howard, a Pitt football recruit, is a 6-3 senior forward who averaged 18 points and nine rebounds last year. Bryon Clifford, a quarterback in football, is a 5-9 senior guard who averaged 17. Football star Tyler Boyd is a 6-2 guard who averaged 13 points last season.

Lincoln Park seems to be everyone’s pick as the top team in Class A. But when Clairton gets its football players in basketball shape, the Bears might not be all that far behind Lincoln Park.

Facing the Record Holders?

Depending on what happens in PIAA football quarterfinal games this weekend, there is a chance two WPIAL teams could face two players who have broken state records this season.

If Clairton defeats Berlin Brothersvalley Friday night, and Port Allegheny beats Sharpsville, Clairton will face the most prolific passer in Pennsylvania history. Port Allegany senior quarterback Matt Bodamer broke the state career passing yardage record earlier this season and now has more than 10,000 yards for his career.

Bodamer also has a chance to break two other state records. He is three touchdown passes and 301 yards away from both of those records. In the past two seasons alone, Bodamer has completed 441 of 645 passes for 7,288 yards and 98 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, if West Allegheny could find a way to beat Erie Cathedral Prep Friday night in Class AAA, there is a good chance West Allegheny would face the most prolific pass catcher in Pennsylvania history. Bishop McDevitt of Harrisburg plays West York in the District 3 championship. The winner will meet the West Allegheny-Cathedral Prep winner in the Semifinals. Brian Lemelle, a senior receiver for Bishop McDevitt, last week set the state record for career receptions and now has 251. The old record was 247 by Kevin Gulyas of Allentown Central Catholic.

Lemelle also is the state record holder for career receving yardage with 4,397.

Looking at Z’s W’s

Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac won his fifth WPIAL football championship last week when Aliquippa defeated Washington. While five titles is impressive, a look at Zmijanac’s record might be the most impressive thing about the coach, who is in his 16th year.

Zmijanac’s record at Aliquippa is 174-28. That comes out to an .861 winning percentage.

Bears and Quips shine on defense

It has been well documented about how Aliquippa and Clairton are blessed with offensive stars. But what those teams are doing defensively is surreal – especially Aliquippa.

Aliquippa is allowing less than 100 yards a game in total offense. The Quips give up only 42 yards a game rushing and 35 passing.

Clairton isn’t far behind, either. The Bears are allowing only 66 yards a game passing and 65 rushing.

Coaching Openings

The WPIAL already has six vacant head coaching jobs in football.

* Jerry Holzhauser retired at Laurel after nine years as head coach and 28 as an assistant. He had a 54-35 record as a head coach and made the playoffs nine times. Right now, Holzhauser holds the distinction of the last coach to beat Clairton. It was in the 2009 season opener. Clairton hasn’t lost since.

* Ryan Mayo resigned as Shenango’s coach after six seasons. The Wildcats didn’t make the playoffs in any of Mayo’s years and he was 21-34 overall.

* Deer Lakes opened Todd Hazlett’s position as coach, despite Hazlett leading the team to the WPIAL playoffs a few years ago for the first time in school history.

* Tim Sohyda recently resigned as Canon-McMillan’s coach after three seasons.

* Harvey Smith is no longer the coach at Imani Christian.

* Chris Saluga resigned at Chartiers Valley after 12 seasons.

Kennedy to National Meet

If you called Kiski Area’s Brent Kennedy one of the best cross country runners in the country, it might not be an overstatement.

Kennedy will run in the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championship Dec. 8 in San Diego. Kennedy qualified for the national championship meet by placing ninth at the recent Northeast regional race. Only 40 runners in the country will compete in the national championship race.

Kennedy won the WPIAL Class AAA cross country championship this fall and was second at the PIAA meet.

Where Are They Now?

Former Plum basketball standout Nolan Cressler is having an impact on the Cornell University team in the Ivy League. Cressler is only a freshman, but leads the team in scoring at 9.8 points a game. He comes off the bench most of the time, starting only three of eight games so far. But he is shooting 49 percent (17 of 35) from 3-point range and also averaging 3.4 rebounds.

Tags: Aliquippa, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Valley, Clairton, Deer Lakes, Imani Christian, Kiski School, West Allegheny