Time for a few deep thoughts...
The Peters Township girls basketball team does not lose out of section. After knocking off New Castle in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs, the Indians are 14-1 against non-section opponents. Victories include New Castle (twice), Fox Chapel (twice), Oakland Catholic, Butler and South Park.
Had Bentworth senior Jon Kennedy stayed out of foul trouble during the Bearcats' first-round game against District 5 champ Southern Fulton, he may have scored 40 points. Southern Fulton had no chance of stopping the high-scoring Kennedy, who led a balanced offense with 14 points.
Those who haven't seen the South Fayette boys may consider the Lions a "sleeper" in the Class AA bracket. Those who've seen the Lions know otherwise. South Fayette, led by freshman Mike Lamberti and senior Zach Patterson, have a legitimate shot at advancing past the second round.
Foul trouble hurt Canon-McMillan in its first-ever PIAA playoff game, a double-overtime loss to Moon in the Class AAAA bracket. I'm sure some C-M fans are salty over the officiating but the Big Macs also struggled defensively. Moon's Brian Walsh and Keir Jeter, two gifted players, drove the lane at will. Of course, if the Big Macs had one starter not in foul trouble, maybe they could have tried to draw a charge or two.
The Washington girls and Monessen boys found out that District 6 is playing some good hoops. D6, not always a basketball powerhouse, has performed well the last several years in PIAA play.
2 comments:
Mike,
You mentioned D6 playing well. One district not playing well, from the 1 and 3/4 games I saw is District 9. I have no idea how Cranberry won that championship. They had no business being on the floor with SF (maybe SF's just that good).
While I was writing my story, I saw the first three quarters of Indiana girls in AAA against D9 champ Saint Mary's. Indiana was called for 16 first-half fouls and still led by six I think at halftime. They were up by 15 after three quarters when I left and won by 17.
I have no idea of District 9's hoops history, but its champs did not do a good job of representin'.
-Kevin
CM’s playoff run wasn’t cut short by the officiating but it a contributing factor. For a player as talented as Walsh, having the ability to clear space with his fore arm off the dribble doesn’t hurt at all.
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