Two section games remain for most teams in boys basketball and tonight will go a long way towards determining who's in, who's out and who will be a section champion.
In Class AAAA, Peters Township (10-0) has a one-game lead on Mt. Lebanon (9-1) for first place in Section 4. The Indians play at Mt. Lebanon tonight with a chance to wrap up the section title. Both teams, along with Upper St. Clair, are in the playoffs. Canon-McMillan (4-6) is in fourth, one game ahead of Bethel Park (3-7). Those two play tonight in Canonsburg. A win and the Big Macs are in.
In Class AAA, Trinity (8-2) is one game behind leader Thomas Jefferson (9-1) in section 5. The Hillers, already in the playoffs, have games remaining at Belle Vernon tonight and home against Yough tomorow. The Jaguars play at McGuffey tonight and host Elizabeth Forward Friday.
In Class AA, South Fayette (11-1) and North Catholic (11-1) are tied for the Section 3 lead and split the season series. The Lions play at Fort Cherry (7-5) tonight and host Carlynton (6-6) Friday. The Trojans face Northgate and Fort Cherry. Speaking of the Rangers and Cougars, they are part of a three-way battle with Seton-La Salle (7-5) for the final two playoff spots. The Rebels and Cougars play tonight.
In Section 5-AA, Washington (11-1) is one game ahead of Monessen (10-2) for the section lead. Charleroi (8-4) is in third, Burgettstown (7-5) fourth, Chartiers-Houston (6-6) is fifth and California, at 3-7, is still alive for a playoff berth. Tonight's schedule is the Prexies at Trojans; Greyhounds at Brownsville; Frazier at Burgettstown and Chartiers-Houston at Charleroi. Only Wash High and Monessen have clinched spots.
In Class A, 15 teams have clinched spots, including Carmichaels, Bentworth, Beth-Center and Avella. The Section 2 championship is still up for grabs. Tonight the Mikes (9-1) host the Bearcats (7-2), who mounted a big second-half comeback against Carmichaels earlier in the season. The Bulldogs, at 7-3, are not out of the section title conversation.
In girls Class AAAA, Peters Township is on the bubble but in good shape. Tied with Upper St. Clair for fourth at 7-5, the Indians host the Panthers tonight and conclude the season at Canon-Mac. After Peters Twp., Upper St. Clair has to face unbeaten Mt. Lebanon. Baldwin is a half-game ahead of both teams at 8-5.
In Class AAA, McGuffey's thrilling overtime win over Yough Monday night puts both teams at 3-6, tied for fourth, with one game remaining. The Highlanders face Waynesburg in their final game. The Raiders managed just nine points in their last contest against EF. The Cougars host Belle Vernon.
The Class AA field for local teams is set. Washington won Section 5. Clinching spots are Charleroi and Beth-Center from Section 5 and South Fayette in Section 3.
In Class A, Fort Cherry and Avella are in from Section 2. The Rangers (7-2) can earn a share of the section title with a win over Cornell and a Serra (8-1) loss to Clairton. Monessen is the Section 3 champion. Carmichaels and California are in. Mapletown is still alive but needs California to lose its last game (at Monessen) and beat Jefferson-Morgan and West Greene.
45 comments:
Bethel Park beat Canon Mac. I think that Davis was out for the Macs because I did not see him. They kept it close but the Hawks were just better.
thanks for that detailed report. if i would have known you were going to post such an informative description of the game, i wouldnt have went. you should really be working for sportscenter
R. Keith,
Did James Barton committ to Duke?
Must have been a great game last night with Peters Township missing a chance for the tie with 5 seconds left.
Will this impact the Indians playoff seeding?
Peters should walk away with a either a #1 or #2 seed in quad AAAA so I don’t think the set back last night will have a major impact on our seeding. However, look for Mt Lebo to position themselves into a better seed because of the victory. I would suspect we will certainly take out our frustrations on a uninspired, over hyped CM team.
I am sure Peters wishes they had Rick Bell back with those 11 straight playoff appearances he led them too.
I think a loss to Mt. Lebo is a good thing for Peters. You always hate to see a team run the risk of being over-confident heading into the playoffs and their loss last night is the humble pie that this team likely needed to ensure a quality playoff run. They still should be the #1 seed in AAAA and are definitely odds on favorite to win the title. I hope the Indians do win the title. It would represent a serious shift in power in the Quad-A basketball scene and it would also be great for Washington County.
R Keith,
You get beat up alot on here. I am suprised you still show up to post on here.
I am sure CM wishes Bell would go back Peters as well...
Some nice comedy on here!!!
PT wishes they had Rick Bell back!!!!!!!
LMAO
Goga is the man, he has owned Bell and will continue to own him.
Do yourself a favor and come out to a PT game, see what it looks like when a TEAM plays TEAM basketball, not the one on one stuff you have over at CM.
Peters Township has one good year with the new guy Goga and he is better than Bell.
Guess you guys forgot about the 11 straight playoff appearances.
Char Valley is the best team in the WPIAL. So if you want to watch the best team play. Go watch them light up the score board for 80 points a night.
Peters Township has a solid team, but Char Valley plays the best as a team. They dont have a starter over 6'2", but they still dominate teams with their great ball movement and shooting.
Highlands is the best team in AAA. Char Valley is obviously the favorite, but Highlands is every bit as good offensively and they are more athletic. If that was the championship game in AAA, it might be the first one to ever see both teams score into the 100's. Should be exciting, but I have to give the edge to Highlands.
Char Valley is undefeated how can you give anyone an advantage over them???
Cmon Tommy.....
Big Show,
I've seen both teams play recently and while I do think CV is tremendous, I really think Highlands is capable of beating them. Upsets happen, especially in basketball, and Highlands will only have to beat CV once. In a series of 10 games, I'd take CV, but Highlands is a difficult opponent to handle and prepare for. They are the only team in the WPIAL that can match CV at the 3-point line and as I said they are more athletic. I think Highlands could pressure CV into a high number of turnovers while canceling out their 3-pointers by making plenty of their own.
CV is the favorite Big Show. I recognize that, but at the same time I'm willing to predict a Highlands upset. I gave you some reasons to chew on and if it works out- great. If not, I'll be the first to congratulate CV.
Char Valley is definitely the AAA favorite. One of their best teams they've ever had. With that said, nothing is guaranteed and this Highlands team is very solid. As Tom Pipkins said, I too would love to see a CV-Highlands Wpial Championship. Coach Mac has done a great job for many years at CV and I would take him over any other WPIAL coach.
At the same time, the more I have seen this Mason kid from Highlands the more I have loved his game. He is really something special and is only going to get better.
El Nokali,
I remember watching you play back in high school. You had a great career.
I havent seen Mason play yet, but I hear he is the next T.J. McConnell.
According to Rodney Taylor Char Valley played an easy schedule. So Rod are you predicting a first round upset?
Also Rodney are you applying for the Washington or Ringgold Head football coaching job? Some guy on the other board said you were.
CM Alum,
As a Gen X’er, the streak of 11 straight play-off appearance was before my I went into puberty.
1 play-off appearance in 9 years at CM. GO PETERS!!!
I dont know how anyone can bash Rick Bell. Especially the Peters Township people. He is the most positive coach I have ever seen. CM will get better it just is going to take some time.
Yeah, but don't forget, "Next year is our year." How many times have we seen or heard that claim coming out of Big Mac land? We're young, NEXT year we'll be better. Our young players are good, NEXT year we'll win. Blah, blah, blah! Same old story. At least Peters didn't make excuses when they got pounded...they just accepted the fact they stunk and got better. We've had nothing but excuses for 9 years, crazy claims about how athletic and good we are, and the same old selfish style of basketball. Everyone in CM is drunk off the Rick Bell Koolaid. I am one who's done drinking it.
Take some time? How long will we be saying this? We have athletes, we've had athletes for the past 8 years. You're telling me Peters has better athletes than we have? They play team ball, we jack up bad shot after bad shot and no one gets any better. Murph was the same player for four years, just stronger. Hagan is the same player he was in 8th grade. If he's so positive than why does he throw his kids under the bus by making excuses non stop? We're young, we haven't had any tradition and this is the group we've been looking to make the change. That stuff is putting down the players of the past. I'm just sick of the same old stuff. Great guy, bad program, no progression, and no results.
Ok well Ringgold will take Rick Bell in a heart beat. So if you guys want to get rid of him we will him.
The games I have seen this year I think Peters has better basketball players than CM.
Better athletes dont win basketball games. The best basketball players win.
Congratulations to the McGuffey Girls Basketball Team for making the playoffs for a second straight year and also for finishing their season with a .500 Overall record. With Coach Calvert leading the team, things are definitely looking up.
Wow it looks like the Canon-Mac faithful are now doing to Rick Bell what they did Steve Bucci all of last year. Funny thing though, Bucci got the Macs a state baseball title and Rick Bell may eventually get that for them in basketball too.
I'm tired of all of these LoNero types in the community that always know best while saying how the coach knows least. The teams can only consist of kids that live in the district. The coaches have to be able to develop talent, but that assumes that the players have a solid talent base from which to work. Rick Bell led the Macs to the state playoffs last year. He also lost about 6 seniors that were significant contributors. Yes Hagan is still there. So is Davis and Toward, but the best player in the school (Matt Pierpont) is no longer playing basketball. So the cupboard isn't exactly stacked for Ricky B this year. This is a young group and they WILL be much better next season.
First of all, Coach Bell is a damn good person and a damn good coach. Second of all, how can you rich stuck up Peters people give Coach Bell so much crap after the 11 straight play-offs? Third of all, like said previously, lost 6 seniors who made people give CM respect in sports (along with all of 08 senior athletes), and this upcoming class has not had the heart the 08 class had. Fourth of all, no one knows how good of coach Coach Bucci was unless you ask the players themselves. No one else was at practice everyday like them. So dont judge on what you've heard unless you talk to a player who was on the team that was STATE CHAMPS OF AAAA. Oh yea by the way Peters, if it wasnt for Coach Bell you wouldnt have a tradition there either.
Bucci definitely one of if not the best coaches in WPIAL baseball. I would put Rick Bell into that category for basketball as well. I agree with the person who blamed the LoNero types in the community. It is really sad how people like lonero and his faithful minyans have taken to trying to ruin CM sports all for the glorification of their massive egos. But that's only part of the problem, the rest happens to lay with the idiots who believe what lonero et al are saying.
Case in point, my kid goes to a local indoor baseball facility and lonero happens to work there. I talked to him for about 10 minutes and all he did was say how Bucci and Bell had no clue about coaching. He kept saying how great of a coach he was and how if those guys would have listened to him more then CM would have a few more state titles. Funny how the baseball team won a state title when he had no involvement with the kids. Yes the basketball team might be having a poor season, but they will be better off in the long run if only because lonero has nothing to do with that team anymore.
The funny part is Bell creats a tradition in Peters Township yet he gets ripped apart. I think with the new housing developments in CM will help enrollment and bring more talent into the district.
There are some individuals in the Canon-McMillan community that ruin it for the rest of us. These people are always quick to point out how bad things are, yet offer no solutions to the problems at hand. If I had a dollar for everytime this lonero guy or someone just like him said how bad a coach was I'd be a rich man. If I also had a dollar for every time that this lonero guy or someone just like him said how much better they would be than the current coach, I'd be an even wealthier man. Heck If I could buy these types of people for what they are actually worth and sell them for what they think they are worth, I'd be the wealthiest man in the world.
It's unfortunate that these people exist in what is a pretty nice community. I just hope that the athletes themselves are not affected by the vicious verbal attacks that this lonero guy and others have been prone to make.
RODNEY TAYLOR WHERE ARE U???? ANSWER MY QUESTIONS SON.
Jordan Abrahmowitz is the best hitting coach in the area. He has helped my son so much that I think he has a legitimate shot to be one of the better offensive players in the wpial this year. Thank you Jordan!
Matt Pierpont isn't good at basketball. At all.
He has an okay shot that is slow. He isn't quick, doesn't rebound well, and is a liability defensively. Other than that, ya you're right, best in the school...
Rodney Taylor was the best football player to come out of Ringgold. Him and Fisher Law should be in the NFL together.
Too many teams in the playoffs. 25 out of 44 in AA.
A lot of bad teams will get to win a preliminary round game and then get pounded by a real team. Only teams with an above .500 record should be allowed into the playoffs!
I agree that too many teams make the playoffs. They should somehow reward teams that play a tough non-section game schedule and not reward teams for playing teams two classifications lower. It is real easy to add wins playing "A" level teams.
Well if less teams make the playoffs then they need to rebalance the sections. Some of these sections are loaded while others are a breeze. The sections would have to be redistributed based on some sort of formula. Unlike college these teams have no say which conference they want to participate.
the big macs are definitely fortunate to have abromovitz. He has clearly brought our offense into the 21st century after lonero took us to the prehistoric era. the 07 vs 08 numbers are apples and oranges. If lonero is so
Great why hasn't he gotten a coaching job? Quit hiding behind your faux-career. Bucci and bell would love to coach against lonero and beat your pony league schemes into submission.
You CM guys are hilarious, first Rick Bell was going to take CM basketball to all those WPIAL and pIAA championships, then Guy Montecalvo was going to win it all in football.
Face it, with the exception of wrestling, CM is average at best at every other sport. Yes, you did win a PIAA championship in baseball last year. Lets see how that works out for you this year and into the future.
CM people do have one distinction, the LARGEST inferiority complex in existence.
I love how much bashing goes on between everyone. I guess thats the beauty of a message board.
Everything goes in cycles. You cant be on top forever.
washington and cv have played no one
CV just beat the number 2 team in AAA and also USC who at the time was in the top 5 of AAAA.
I dont see any other teams undefeated do you???? They must be a half decent team.
I expect Monessen to make a deeper run in the AA playoffs than Wash High. Having seen both teams, I was more impressed with the Hounds.
Also, good luck to my main man, Coach Joe Hough, who will be guiding the Avella Eagles into the playoffs in his first year as head coach.
And of course, a good luck goes out to the Brownsville Lady Falcons.
Rick Bell helped us at Peters and I totally respect him, but Gary Goga is one of the top coaches in AAAA.
And for those CM people, don't worry, you are going to have a hell of a team with Davis and Hagan next year based on what I saw Friday night.
mailman u crazy Wash High will go deeper than the Hounds
Guess you were wrong. Hounds are still standing and Wash. High will be purchasing a ticket....
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