Westmoreland notebook: WCCA schedules in-season shootout at Hempfield

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 24, 2018 | 7:24 PM

Basketball continues to gain prominence in the yearly sports cycle of Westmoreland County Coaches Association.

After two successful summer shootout events, WCCA has introduced a new feature: a boys in-season shootout set for Dec. 15 at Hempfield.

Bill Swan, the coach at Hempfield, spearheaded a move to get basketball onto the countywide schedule of events.

Summer games didn’t count, but these ones will.

“The WCCA represents so many sports and is such a great organization,” Swan said. “We wanted to host a couple events as a way to celebrate our game together as a county.”

There will be 14 teams in the shootout, and games will be played at the Spartans Field House and in the upper-campus old gym.

Each team gets one game.

The schedule for Dec. 15 is:

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.

“This is someting that is good for community relations,” GCC coach Greg Bisignani said. “There are a lot of good coaches who want to make this a fun event.”

Tutino’s records

Senior Aaron Tutino rewrote the record books at Ligonier Valley this season and will leave the program as not only one of the all-time best Rams but also as one of the top pass-catchers in the state.

Tutino finished as the Rams’ career leader in receptions in a season (66) and career (206), receiving yards in a season (1,363), game (285) and career (4,210) and touchdown catches in a game (5), season (21) and career (61).

The 61 TDs are a state record.

Rivalry hangs around

Rivals Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette no longer are in the same basketball section. GCC dropped to Class A.

But the teams will keep the rivalry going when they play a nonsection doubleheader Dec. 22 at GCC.

It will be a Saturday matinee: the girls with a 2 p.m. tip, followed by the boys at 3:30.

Recruiting

A pair of Greensburg Salem athletes will continue their running careers at the Division I level.

Senior Cameron Binda signed a national letter of intent with Duquesne for track and cross country, and teammate Mark Brown will compete in the same sports at Youngstown State. Brown edged Binda to win the WPIAL Class AA individual championship. The pair helped lead Greensburg Salem to WPIAL and PIAA championships. Greensburg Salem’s Maddy Murtland will continue her track and cross country career at Shippensburg.

Latrobe swimmer Carrie Lenz signed with Clarion. She competes in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes.

Southmoreland senior basketball player Maggie Moore, a 6-foot-2 forward, accepted an appointment from Navy.

Derry volleyball player Lauren Enos signed with IUP.

Former Southmoreland 6-foot-11 basketball standout Brandon Stone, now at Christ School (N.C.) signed his letter of intent with La Salle.

Greensburg Salem junior softball catcher Syd Tressler will continue her playing career at Saint Vincent.

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