Saturday, January 12, 2008

Hot shots

Quick (and deep) thoughts on the local high school hoops scene

I've become convinced that the South Fayette boys basketball team is primed for a deep playoff run. The Lions are very young (two freshmen, one sophomore in the starting lineup) but they have as much on-court talent as any local team. SF may not yet belong in the same class with Class AA heavyweights Beaver Falls and Jeannette but there aren't many other teams in the classification as strong as the Lions. This is a team that may be around come the PIAA quarterfinals.

Fort Cherry's Zach Bellhy put up an astounding 42 points Friday night during a loss to Bishop Canevin. That type of production is what we saw from Monessen's Josh Arnold and former Rangers' guard Dan Davis. FC may not be a playoff team this year but Bellhy and Mike Kropf are two of the better players in the area.

The only game I can see the Wash High girls losing before the playoffs is a non-section contest at Monessen.

Speaking of Wash High, junior Jocelyn Floyd deserves mention along with Peters Township's Emily Correal and Ringgold's Emily Schartner as the best local players in girls basketball. Floyd is an excellent defensive player and one of the best at anticipating the pass that I've seen (boys or girls).

Monessen senior Tim Tyree is the area's most exciting player.

That said, I believe the Greyhounds will lose at Wash High when those two meet again and they will share the Section 5-AA title.

Local teams in the WPIAL playoffs will be:
Boys - Canon-McMillan, Peters Township, South Fayette, Washington, Monessen, Burgettstown, Bentworth, California, Carmichaels, Mapletown;
Girls - Peters Township, Ringgold, McGuffey, South Fayette, Washington, Beth-Center, Monessen, Avella, Carmichaels, Mapletown, California.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about Christina Chukweudo as a top girl's basketball player?

mike_kovak said...

I have yet to see Chukwuedo play basketball though she seems to be the driving force to another great Monessen girls team.

Mapod said...

I have seen Christina Chukweudo play a few times and must agree, she is one of the top WPIAL Girls players. The best girls game this year will be when Wash High girls come to Monessen. Will be a true test for both teams.

Anonymous said...

Let's hope that the Blue Devils shut down this Tyree guy on Friday night.

mike_kovak said...

Speaking of Burgettstown, how about the job head coach Ed Goetz has done with the team? I figured Burgettstown would contend for the playoffs but I didn't think they'd be as good as they've been.

Goetz did a phenomenal job of building basketball at McGuffey then he rejuvenated the Burgettstown program. Two years ago, the Blue Devils were the area's best team and it appears Goetz has crafted another playoff team.

IMO, he's an incredibly underrated coach. Maybe I'll come up with a list of the area's most underrated coaches. Could be interesting.

Anonymous said...

Goetz is a good coach. But I'm not sure about him doing such a great job this year. Let's see how the Blue Devils do vs. Monessen Friday and against WHS. That will define their season. Burgettstown's non-section schedule isn't that strong so I'm not at all surprised with their record. That said, Goetz is a good coach and I think he is recognized as so by his peers.