Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Penn-Trafford plays at coach’s alma mater

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, January 4, 2024 | 2:34 PM

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Doug Kelly was feeling nostalgic and sentimental as he was time-warped back to his high school days at Elkins (W.Va.) during a recent visit to his old stomping grounds.

Kelly, the boys basketball coach at Penn-Trafford, took his team south to play Elkins, a 2A school that plays in the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, the state’s equivalent to the PIAA.

Kelly and his brother, Mark, each came up with $500 and made a $1,000 donation to Elkins in the name of their late parents, Bud and Jewell, longtime fans and supporters of the school’s athletic programs.

“My dad was a big part of the boosters when my brother was playing football,” Kelly said. “We wanted to make a donation and told them take it, do what you want for the programs.”

Penn-Trafford won the game 51-33, but the atmosphere won Kelly over. The low-key coach seized the moment, thinking about his parents and his time at Elkins.

“I took the mic and said a few words,” Kelly said. “It was cool to see.”

“It was cool,” said Sean Kelly, Doug’s son and a Penn-Trafford assistant. “He screamed into that mic.”

Penn-Trafford made a visit to Robin Harvey Memorial baseball field during the road trip.

R&R

Franklin Regional has caught the attention of local fans with its 9-1 start. The Panthers’ early run has a lot to do with the play of a formidable tandem in seniors Cam Rowell and Cooper Rankin.

Rowell is averaging 16.9 points and Rankin 14.6.

They have a clear connection on the floor. Against Penn-Trafford this week, Rankin tossed an alley-oop to Rowell and, while Rowell just missed the dunk, the pair’s court awareness and athleticism was clear.

Rowell had two dunks in the win.

They look for each other, but have a quality, complementary lineup around them in seniors Colin Masten and Fin Hutchison and junior Connor Crossey.

“They have great chemistry together,” Panthers coach Jesse Reed said. “When Cam was out last year and Cooper missed three games, we were a different team. There was a big drop off. Other guys stepped up. But we’re going to go as Coop and Cam go.”

Said Rankin: “I can rip it and go score, or he can rip it an go score. We feed off each other.”

100 for Giles

Chris Giles used to take it to teams in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference when he played at Seton Hill.

He is the Griffins’ all-time leading scorer with 1,864 points and has a spot in the school’s Hall of Fame.

Now the coach at Penn Hills, Giles guided the Indians in his old neighborhood, winning two games at the Coach Paul Sapotichne Holiday Classic at Greensburg Salem.

The second win, 58-55 against Greensburg Central Catholic, was the 100th of Giles’ career. Of the 100 wins, 62 have come at Penn Hills. The remaining 38 were when he coached at Propel Andrew Street.

Giles is married to another Seton Hill Hall of Famer, Jordan (Burkes) Giles, who is the head girls basketball coach at Seton LaSalle.

Friday night lights

Some of the best games in the area Friday night are in Section 3-5A where Franklin Regional visits Kiski Area, Gateway plays at Penn-Trafford and Latrobe goes to McKeesport.

Belle Vernon at Uniontown and Elizabeth Forward at Southmoreland are good matchups in Section 3-4A, while other top games include Burrell at Deer Lakes (Section 3-3A), Yough at Washington (Section 4-3A), Greensburg Central Catholic at Jeannette (Section 3-2A) and Jefferson-Morgan at Monessen (Section 2-A).

Sneaky win

Latrobe is sitting quietly at 5-5, having played seven teams from outside of WPIAL territory.

The Wildcats returned to the district schedule Tuesday and pulled a head-turner as they opened Section 3-5A play with a 65-59 win over Kiski Area.

Max Butler (18 points), Ian DeCerb (11) and Darius Davis (10) all scored in double figures for the Wildcats.

Isaiah Gonzalez had 24 for Kiski Area on the way to his 1,000th career point.

Latrobe has played Richland, Morgantown (W.Va.), DuBois, Wheeling (W.Va.), Epic South (N.Y.), Elmira (N.Y.) and Horseheads (N.Y.).

Now the Wildcats face a tough four-game stretch in section as they play McKeesport, Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford and Gateway all in a row.

Coach Brad Wetzel said his team’s section could be the most competitive in the WPIAL.

They said it

• “They have five good guys in their lineup. And their bench kicked our tails, too.” — Penn-Trafford coach Doug Kelly after Tuesday’s 69-51 loss to Franklin Regional.

• “Lincoln Park, the best team in 4A? Lincoln Park might be the best team in 20A.” — Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino.

Layups

Ligonier Valley snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 70-58 win over Apollo-Ridge. Parker Hollick had 24 points, Chet Dillaman added 14 and Michael Vargulish-Graver chipped in 12. … Five area teams are averaging over 60 points: Southmoreland (68.2), Belle Vernon (64.7), Monessen (64.4), GCC (63.9), and Franklin Regional (63.9).

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Jeannette, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Penn-Trafford