WPIAL approves new basketball sections without addressing public-private concerns

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, June 13, 2022 | 5:28 PM

Purchase Photo Options

The WPIAL considered some radical ideas such as splitting public and private school basketball teams into separate sections, but ultimately decided that’s a debate for another day.

The WPIAL board on Monday accepted the basketball committee’s recommendation to stick with the status quo approach and approved new sections for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons after a spirited discussion about whether the WPIAL was “kicking the can down the road” on concerns about competitive balance.

In recent months, a group of public school athletic directors presented several plans to the WPIAL to address what they saw as an urgent problem, but the WPIAL basketball committee and the board each decided more time was needed to reach a consensus.

“All of those options were discussed at the basketball committee,” WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino said. “There have been multiple discussions with the small group of athletic directors from the small schools on how to address their concerns moving forward. There were just so many different proposals that there wasn’t a consensus to come together on one of those proposals.”

The WPIAL sorted teams into new sections as it does every two years, but the league won’t make any major structural changes before next season. However, Sortino insisted the WPIAL’s work isn’t over.

“It was agreed upon that everybody continue to meet and try to come up with something that everyone is happy with,” he said. “You’re never going to get 100%, but we’ll get close to it.”

The sections revealed Monday were created through the usual process based largely on geography with a secondary attempt to keep the sections balanced in terms of strength. In Class 2A and A boys, two of the new sections comprise entirely private and charter schools, but Sortino said that was coincidental.

“It wasn’t that we all said: ‘Let’s put them in that section and see how it goes,’ ” Sortino said. “That’s not what was done there.”

Moon athletic director Ron Ledbetter was the most outspoken voice on the WPIAL board in favor of making a major change now. The board voted 11-2 in favor of the approved alignment with Ledbetter and Mapletown athletic director Linda Messich in opposition.

“What I worry about is that two years from now in June, we’re going to be sitting around having the same conversation,” he said.

Timing was the biggest issue, said several board members, noting that serious discussion about making changes didn’t start until late winter. If the public school advocates had brought their proposals to the WPIAL earlier — or if there were only one proposal to consider — reaching a consensus might have been easier, they said.

“It boils down to we need one consensus plan to try to implement it,” Peters Township athletic director Brian Geyer told the WPIAL board. “I think the basketball committee is in favor of doing change … but it was not a consensus on what that change looks like currently.”

Added Mt. Lebanon athletic director John Grogan: “Out of the three plans that came to us, there were bits and pieces of each of them that I think made sense.”

Geyer and Grogan are members of the WPIAL board and the basketball committee.

The proposals differed in how they addressed competitive-balance concerns. Some would have separated private schools into a separate division, but Fox Chapel athletic director Mike O’Brien questioned whether the WPIAL might face legal challenges for that decision.

Ledbetter argued for an option where teams from different classifications could share a section, and the WPIAL season would end with an open tournament for all teams. But Grogan said there was no consensus on the basketball committee for an open tournament.

“In my opinion, it renders the regular season meaningless,” Grogan said.

Ledbetter accused the WPIAL of kicking the can down the road, but Sortino said the league isn’t trying to stall and ultimately forget.

“Too much effort has been put into it at this point,” Sortino said, “but not long enough effort to come to a consensus.”

WPIAL boys basketball alignment 2022-23, 2023-24

Class 6A (12 teams)

Section 1: Butler, Central Catholic, New Castle, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley

Section 2: Baldwin, Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, Norwin, Upper St. Clair

Class 5A (24 teams)

Section 1: Bethel Park, Connellsville, Peters Township, Ringgold, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity

Section 2: Armstrong, Fox Chapel, Penn Hills, Plum, Shaler, Woodland Hills

Section 3: Franklin Regional, Gateway, Kiski Area, Latrobe, McKeesport, Penn-Trafford

Section 4: Chartiers Valley, Mars, Moon, North Hills, South Fayette, West Allegheny

Class 4A (25 teams)

Section 1: Freeport, Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Highlands, Indiana, Knoch

Section 2: Ambridge, Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Hopewell, Lincoln Park, North Catholic

Section 3: Albert Gallatin, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, Southmoreland, Uniontown

Section 4: Avonworth, East Allegheny, Montour, Quaker Valley, South Allegheny, West Mifflin

Class 3A (28 teams)

Section 1: Beaver Falls, Ellwood City, Freedom, Mohawk, Neshannock, New Brighton, Riverside

Section 2: Brentwood, Keystone Oaks, Seton LaSalle, South Park, Steel Valley, Sto-Rox, OLSH

Section 3: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Derry, Ligonier Valley, Shady Side Academy, Valley

Section 4: Brownsville, Charleroi, McGuffey, Mt. Pleasant, Washington, Waynesburg, Yough

Class 2A (26 teams)

Section 1: Aliquippa, Laurel, Northgate, Sewickley Academy, Shenango, South Side

Section 2: Bishop Canevin, Eden Christian, Nazareth Prep, Propel Braddock Hills, Propel Montour, Winchester Thurston

Section 3: Clairton, Greensburg C.C., Jeannette, Leechburg, Riverview, Serra Catholic, Springdale

Section 4: Bentworth, Beth-Center, Burgettstown, Carmichaels, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, Frazier

Class A (18 teams)

Section 1: Avella, Carlynton, Cornell, Rochester, Union, Western Beaver

Section 2: California, Geibel, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, Monessen, West Greene

Section 3: Aquinas Academy, Hillel Academy, Imani Christian, Neighborhood Academy, St. Joseph, Summit Academy

WPIAL girls basketball alignment 2022-23, 2023-24

Class 6A (13 teams)

Section 1: Butler, Hempfield, North Allegheny, Norwin, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley

Section 2: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Valley, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Upper St. Clair

Class 5A (27 teams)

Section 1: Franklin Regional, Gateway, Indiana, Kiski Area, Penn Hills, Plum, Woodland Hills

Section 2: Armstrong, Fox Chapel, Hampton, Mars, New Castle, North Hills, Shaler

Section 3: Albert Gallatin, Connellsville, Latrobe, McKeesport, Oakland Catholic, Penn-Trafford, Thomas Jefferson

Section 4: Lincoln Park, Montour, Moon, South Fayette, Trinity, West Allegheny

Class 4A (20 teams)

Section 1: Derry, Freeport, Greensburg Salem, Highlands, Knoch, North Catholic, Valley

Section 2: Ambridge, Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Hopewell, Quaker Valley

Section 3: Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, Southmoreland, Uniontown, Ringgold, West Mifflin

Class 3A (24 teams)

Section 1: Beaver Falls, Ellwood City, Laurel, Mohawk, Neshannock, Riverside

Section 2: Avonworth, East Allegheny, Keystone Oaks, OLSH, Seton LaSalle, South Allegheny

Section 3: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Shady Side Academy

Section 4: Brownsville, Charleroi, McGuffey, South Park, Waynesburg Central, Yough

Class 2A (27 teams)

Section 1: Aliquippa, Freedom, New Brighton, Rochester, Sewickley Academy, Shenango, South Side

Section 2: Brentwood, Burgettstown, Carlynton, Fort Cherry, Northgate, Sto-Rox

Section 3: Clairton, Ellis School, Greensburg C.C., Serra Catholic, Springdale, Steel Valley, Winchester Thurston

Section 4: Bentworth, Beth-Center, California, Carmichaels, Chartiers-Houston, Frazier, Washington

Class A (16 teams)

Section 1: Aquinas Academy, Bishop Canevin, Cornell, Eden Christian, Union

Section 2: Avella, Geibel, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, Monessen, West Greene

Section 3: Hillel Academy, Jeannette, Leechburg, Riverview, St. Joseph

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.