Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: WCCA event fills void

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 13, 2018 | 5:45 PM

The Westmoreland County Coaches Association heard the plea from member schools in basketball for years: “Why not us?”

Why couldn’t basketball have an event like the other sports in the county? The WCCA puts on top-level tournaments and meets in various sports and seasons but was missing a steady hoops presence — until this year.

For the first time, the WCCA will host an in-season boys basketball showcase, and it will take place Saturday at Hempfield.

Coaches are looking forward to the 14-team event, which will reunite some local teams divided by the WPIAL’s changed landscape.

“It is a good way to get all the Westmoreland County teams in the same gym on the same day and to play each other,” Norwin coach Lynn Washowich said.

Four games will be played at the Spartans Field House, with three more in the school’s former gymnasium. Tickets will be around $6 and will be good for all day.

The schedule is as follows:

Field House: Greensburg Central Catholic vs. Derry, noon; Monessen vs. Burrell, 1:45 p.m.; Mt. Pleasant vs. Southmoreland, 3:30; Greensburg Salem vs. Jeannette, 5:15.

Old gym: Hempfield vs. Belle Vernon, noon; Norwin vs. Kiski Area, 1:45 p.m.; Latrobe vs. Valley, 3:30.

“We needed to do something for basketball,” said Hempfield coach Bill Swan, who fronted the movement to get a showcase in the sport. “The county does a great job with all of their events: the football, wrestling, track and field. We just needed something for basketball. Maybe we can rotate it (around the county) each year.”

Remembering Big Bill

The late Bill Swan, the father of the Hempfield boys coach of the same name, was an avid supporter of Spartans basketball. He sat in a blue Hempfield Spartans chair in front of the padding along the baseline, clad in his trademark sweater, and opened the door for teams as they came and went from the downstairs locker rooms.

Players knew and respected him. Swan died in May after complications following heart surgery and a stroke. He was 76.

Last weekend, at the Hempfield tip-off tournament, the team honored Swan, known by many as “Big Bill,” with a touching gesture: a solitary chair in his familiar spot, with a photo of him taped to the wall above it. Someone set a single rose on the chair.

“Mr. Swan was at every game. He always held the door for us when we ran out for warm-ups and wished us good luck,” Hempfield senior forward Jules Nicholls said. “Everyone on the teams knows how much coach Swan loved his father, so this memorial was something that we needed to have.”

Coach Swan said of his father, “He always said he wanted a (Hempfield) chair at his funeral. It was odd, but that’s what he wanted. He became part of Hempfield. All the guys loved him. He was always positive.”

Said senior guard Reed Hipps: “Coach Swan is like a father to all the players on the team. His father meant a lot to us.”

Salvino content

Joe Salvino has no regrets about leaving Monessen, where he coached the boys basketball team for 34 years and won more than 600 games, six WPIAL titles and two PIAA championships.

He is in charge at Belle Vernon, a larger program and one the veteran coach thinks he can turn into a consistent winner with some time.

Salvino tried coaching the Monessen football team for two years (2014-16) but quickly realized that venture was not for him. The move to Belle Veron, he said, just feels right.

He admitted he considered retiring last year.

“I needed a change,” he said. “I am happy to be here. It has rejuvenated me. The kids are going to take some time to get used to what I do, but I think it can work well.”

Doubleheaders missing

Where have all the girls-boys basketball doubleheaders gone? The lack of same-night twinbills is a product of WPIAL realignment and teams moving to other classifications.

Hempfield, Norwin, Penn-Trafford and Latrobe, for instance, made a tradition of hosting doubleheaders, but with differing opponents now for girls and boys teams, some in different sections, teams will have to play on opposite nights.

The Hempfield and Norwin girls, for instance, were separated, but their boys teams stayed in the same section. Penn-Trafford and Latrobe have boys teams in Class 6A, and their girls are in 5A.

Norwin remedied the matter to a degree by scheduling three doubleheaders but with different opponents.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.