Varsity notebook

Talk about splash hires.

First, McGuffey High School made waves when it hired Ed Dalton as its athletic director and football coach. The hire put a possible end on lengthy headbutting between Dalton and the Trinity School Board.

It also landed the Highlanders an energetic, passionate football coach with previous experience as an athletic director.

The opportunity to move back into an administrative position was an attractive choice for Dalton, who served as Trinity's athletic director for a little more than a decade. That ended when the board moved Dalton back to the classroom.

Must say it was weird seeing Dalton's first tweets as McGuffey football coach, urging followers and McGuffey football players to go and "Like" the football team's new Facebook page. Associating Dalton with McGuffey will take time, but I'm sure the returning players are already excited.

Less than a week after Dalton landed at McGuffey, Waynesburg welcomed back Russ Moore.

The outgoing Moore galvanized a fan base at Waynesburg during the latter half of the 1990s. His stint culminated with the Raiders winning the 1999 WPIAL Class AA championship in convincing fashion, a 30-3 win over then arch rival Washington. It's the lone football title in Waynesburg history, though the Raiders did reach the championship game in 1958, 1959 and 2000.

Moore resigned following the 1999 season in hopes his resignation letter would instead get the school to upgrade stadium facilities. It's a decision Moore regrets.

Now, after a two-year head coaching tenure at Ringgold, where Moore teaches, and several assistant coaching stops, he's head back to the place he calls home.

* Dalton and Moore are replacing fine head coaches, and two well-respected guys with the reputation of getting the most of their talent.

Derek Bochna didn't always win at McGuffey but the soon-to-be WPIAL Hall of Famer didn't always have a lot to work with there. When Bochna had good running backs, the Highlanders were a good team.

Joe Kuhns spent three years at Waynesburg after a successful tenure at California. The Raiders progressed under the direction of Kuhns and flirted with the postseason in 2011.

* Each coach faces a difficult task.

 McGuffey is dropping to Class AA and will compete in the Century Conference following a winless season. The Highlanders first two games are at South Fayette and home against Seton-La Salle - each quarterbacked by a Brumbaugh brother (Brett at South Fayette, Luke at Seton-La Salle).

Waynesburg losses its top rusher and a strong offensive line. The Raiders must also deal with increasing interest.

* For all the attention given to the incident during the boys basketball game between Woodland Hills and Peters Township, it's surprising and a bit alarming that one subject never came up in conversation.

What if Shakim Alonzo's punch to the ear of Peters Township's Gabe Pritz had connected with Pritz's temple instead of his ear? Or what if the unsuspecting Pritz had suddenly turned as Alonzo connected and the punch shattered an eye socket?

When I asked Peters Township coach Gary Goga that question last Thursday, he said I was the first person not affiliated with his team to ask that. Amazing.
* I say let Alonzo keep his scholarship to the University of Cincinnati football team. In reading extensively on this story, the punch appears to be an isolated incident. While it should be considered a criminal act, Division I recruits have faced more serious charges and played college football.

* Here's a name to keep in mind as Trinity searches for a football coach - Todd Young.

Young has spent the past 12 years at Washington & Jefferson College, and is the Presidents offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

* Here's a few names that pop into mind when thinking about the Observer-Reporter All-District boys basketball first team: Zach Challingsworth (South Fayette), Jaisen Irwin (Monessen),Christian Koroly (Trinity), Earl Pinkney (Monessen), Gabe Pritz (Peters Township), Gannon Walls-Mitchell (Bentworth),  Josh Wise (Washington) and Joe Yamber (Avella).


On the girls side, possibilities are Beka Bellhy (Fort Cherry), Jessica Dorazio (Bentworth), Erika Ford (South Fayette), Carolena Gasbarro (Fort Cherry), Morgan Kurtz (Trinity), Jessie Merckle (Fort Cherry), Mariah Ward (Monessen) and Sammie Weiss (McGuffey).

Basketball team chooses faith over championship chase

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas agency has turned down a request by an Orthodox Jewish school in Houston to reschedule a championship game potentially involving its boys’ basketball team because the game time falls during the Sabbath.
The Beren Academy advanced to the semifinals in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’ 2A tournament with a 23-5 record and was scheduled to play Dallas Covenant at 9 p.m. on Friday.
Beren players observe the Sabbath between Friday night and Saturday night and won’t play basketball during those hours.
The academy appealed to TAPPS to have the game time moved, but the agency’s nine-member board unanimously voted it down.
Dallas Covenant will instead play Kerrville Our Lady of the Hills, the team that Beren defeated in the regional final. The Beren team, meanwhile, will continue practicing this week, hoping that TAPPS moves the game time to earlier Friday.
“They say the inconvenience of rescheduling the games outweighs any other factors,” Beren coach Chris Cole said Tuesday. “I don’t know where that decision goes. That’s a decision for people who are a little higher than I am. The main thing for us is to do the best we can, keep working hard and just be hopeful. We feel like it’s still Tuesday, and things can still happen.”
TAPPS director Ed Burleson said Tuesday that he doesn’t expect the agency to reverse course. He said he has received hundreds of emails and phone calls, some from as far away as Canada, accusing him of bigotry and anti-Semitism since word spread of the agency’s decision.
Burleson said the decision had nothing to do with religion, but rather has to do with the organization’s longstanding policy not to change the playoffs date — a rule that has been in place since TAPPS’ inception in 1978.
Beren joined TAPPS last year, and Burleson said the school was told then to not expect TAPPS to adjust its postseason schedule.
“We think it’s clear-cut,” Burleson said. “They were advised, up front, that TAPPS would not change that, and they chose to join TAPPS anyway. There was never any indication from TAPPS that their appeal would be approved.”
Cole, the coach since the 2002-03 season, acknowledged that he was aware of the possibility of such scheduling conflicts but was still hoping TAPPS would make an exception.
“It was our feeling that we could complete the playoffs,” Cole said. “There was no reason we saw (not to compete), other than changing the game times. We felt like we could make those changes, and the request was reasonable.”
Cole argued that there was a precedent to Beren’s request. Last year, the soccer team at Arlington Burton Adventist Academy reached the TAPPS semifinals and faced a similar conflict with the Sabbath.
Burleson said the logistics were much easier for the soccer tournament, which has one classification and is played on a single field. The basketball tournament involves five classifications for both boys’ and girls’ teams for a total of 40 teams playing 30 games in two days.
“It’s a big affair and requires a lot of planning and scheduling and coordination to play that many games in that narrow amount of time,” Burleson said. “We have to rent facilities and we’re limited in the amount of time we have to rent those facilities.”
TAPPS is comprised of 220 schools, and Cole said the benefits of joining outweighed the drawbacks when Beren decided to apply for membership. He says most schools have been “very understanding and accommodating” in adjusting game times to allow the Beren players to observe the Sabbath.
Only now, they realize they’ll have to watch others vie for a championship that could’ve been theirs.
“I will feel disappointed, and I think it’d be silly to feel something different,” senior guard/forward Isaac Buchine said.
The lure of championship glory, though, isn’t enough to uproot the players’ deep-seeded beliefs. The enrollment at Beren is only 274, and most of the students have grown up together, in a culture where faith and religion trump virtually everything else.
“There’s nothing in the Jewish religion that doesn’t want us to play basketball,” Beren senior point guard Isaac Mirwis said. “But it’s tradition, it’s principle, and we stick true to our principles and that’s what makes an identity ... God doesn’t take a week off from us, so we can’t take a week off from God.”
Harry Sinoff, the Beren headmaster and a rabbi, thinks that his school’s request is reasonable and he doesn’t understand why TAPPS remains so rigid.
“It’s good for basketball, it’s good for sports,” Sinoff said. “Inclusion is good for sports.”

Who will make the WPIAL championship games?

Blogger's note: Check back later today for a notebook with topics ranging from Ed Dalton at McGuffey to the return of Russ Moore at Waynesburg to WPIAL basketball and more.

As an unbiased observer, there are still times when a performance by a team or individual can energize and even inspire.

It's a rarity for a crafty veteran such as myself, but Saturday's game between Peters Township and Pittsburgh Central Catholic served as a reminder of what can make high school athletics a special thing.

Count me among the many who didn't give Peters Township much of a chance to beat talented PCC. The odds were stacked against the Indians. Junior guard Trent McPherson was unavailable. Junior forward Gabe Pritz had 11 stitches in his left ear. PT players and head coach Gary Goga were subjects of conversation on talk radio and television news. Some of the conversation was not flattering.

All things pointed toward a PCC rout.

Not so fast.

Credit Goga with having undermanned PT prepared. Strong performances came from Kevin Glod, Nick Parello and J.C. Brush, while Pritz turned in the best first half of his varsity career.

At halftime, Pritz - going against PCC's big front line - had 22 points and nine rebounds. Peters Township led thought much of the first half. And the Indians led 35-31 when a collision with a PCC defender popped the 11 stitches out of Pritz's ear.

Pritz was unable to return. Glod played the entire second half in foul trouble. Smartly, PCC attacked inside and eventually took control in the fourth quarter.

Still, it was one incredible postseason performance. With only one senior (Glod) in the rotation, PT will enter the 2012-13 season with increased expectations.

In the WPIAL quarterfinals, I went 26-6, including a spiffy 14-2 record in girls games. That improves the postseason record to 98-34, a .742 win percentage.

Here's who is getting to the A.J. Palumbo Center this weekend:

AAAA - Shaler over Pittsburgh Central Catholic; Gateway over Butler
AAA - New Castle over Beaver; Montour over Hampton
AA - Monessen over Greensburgh Central Catholic; Beaver Falls over Sto-Rox
A - Lincoln Park over Vincentian Academy; North Catholic over Cornell

Girls
AAAA - Oakland Catholic over Baldwin; Mt. Lebanon over Upper St. Clair
AAA - Hopewell over Chartiers Valley; South Park over Blackhawk
AA - Seton-La Salle over Keystone Oaks; Bishop Canevin over Steel Valley
A - North Catholic over Riverview; Fort Cherry over Vincentian Academy

Picking the winners, WPIAL quarterfinals

Butler over Chartiers Valley?

Seneca Valley over Mt. Lebanon?

Peters Township over Woodland Hills?

When it comes to the WPIAL Class AAAA boys basketball playoffs in 2012, expect the unexpected. No. 2 Chartiers Valley - my championship pick - along with No. 3 Mt. Lebanon and No. 4 Woodland Hills all lost first-round games. The upsets not only blew open the bracket, it shows how difficult predicting playoff games can get.

Through the first round of boys games, the record is a solid but far from standout 34-14. A .708 win percentage is impressive in baseball, but when it comes to picking playoff winners, it's a bit shabby.

Through the first round of girls games, it's almost an identical 34-15 for a .694 win percentage.

Boys
Class AAAA
Shaler over Plum, Pittsburgh Central Catholic over Peters Township, North Allegheny over Butler, Gateway over Seneca Valley
Class AAA
New Castle over Mars, Trinity over Beaver, Montour over Blackhawk, Hampton over Central Valley
Class AA
Monessen over Shady Side Academy, Greensburg Central Catholic over Northgate, Beaver Falls over Jeannette, Quaker Valley over Sto-Rox
Class A
Lincoln Park over Sewickley Academy, Vincentian Academy over Serra Catholic, North Catholic over Union, Clairton over Cornell

Girls
Class AAAA
Bethel Park over Oakland Catholic, Baldwin over Shaler, Mt. Lebanon over Pine-Richland, Hempfield over Upper St. Clair
Class AAA
Hopewell over Elizabeth Forward, Chartiers Valley over Uniontown, South Park over South Fayette, Blackhawk over New Castle
Class AA
Seton-La Salle over Beaver Falls, Keystone Oaks over Greensburg Central Catholic, Bishop Canevin over Avonworth, Steel Valley over New Brighton
Class A
North Catholic over St. Joseph, Riverview over Monessen, Vincentian Academy over Winchester Thurston, Fort Cherry over Cornell

Twitter Thursday

It's a short week ... but on to the Tweets.

Amanda Balzer, @mandabalz
Feb. 23
"Everyone tune into KDKA tonight at 6:40 to watch my sister @ashbalz earn her extra effort award #itskindofabigdeal"

Chris Dugan, @CDuganOR
Feb. 22
"On way to basketball game, passed the North Huntingdon McDonald's. #memories"

Ashley Hull, @A_Hull12
Feb. 21
"Is it sad that I would totally put my daughter into pageants like toddlers and tiaras? #loveit"

Jeremy Merich, @JEMmerich007
Feb. 22
"Do something today that your future self will thank you for #realtalk"

Brent Williams, @Bweezy_13
Feb. 20
"I would do anything to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates #Hometown #Dreams"

Hiller Hooligans, @HillerHooligans
Feb. 23
"I thought McGuffey was illiterate....then Beaver started tweeting us"

Jordan Drew, @JayyDrew_33
Feb. 23
"Let it be clear wherever LeBron goes that's the team I like. #TeamBandWagon"

Doug Wilson, @Dougie_Fresh055
Feb. 23
"Still shocked that CV lost. Tim McConnell was probably so pissed that he made his players carry the bus home instead of riding it"

Joe Hough, @avellaeagle
Feb. 21
"New sec 3 class A....clairton, monesson, geible, mapletown, carmichales, avella # lotsoftravel!"

Casey Guernsey, @caseguerns
Feb. 22
"Um, I'm pretty sure I could keep up with these contestants on jeopardy #EASY"

Statement from Pritz family regarding punching incident

Media Release

February 23, 2012

The Pritz family, and especially Gabriel, is very grateful to his teammates, coaches and
the Pittsburgh community for the outpouring of support shown following the injury
sustained during the Peters Township- Woodland Hills basketball game on Saturday,
February 18, 2012.

Although we hoped this would be “old news” by this time, the continuing coverage has compelled us to issue this note of gratitude and clarification regarding Gabe’s role in the incident.

No words were exchanged between Gabe and Shakim the entire game. They competed

cleanly and intensely through 3 ½ quarters of play.In Shakim’s own words in his apology to Gabriel he stated,

“You were a cool dude on the court I had no problem with,therefore I had no reason to hit you.” The McKeesport Daily News having spoken directly to Shakim

reported that “Alonzo said Pritz was not his intended target.”

He expressed this previously in his statement to the California University Police.Gabe did not hear any racial slur from either team during the contest and certainly he didn’t make any. He is a victim in an unfortunate incident.

We remain watchful of Gabriel’s health and healing and are so grateful that he was notmore severely hurt during this incident. We continue to pray for Shakim and his family
as we are certain this has been a difficult time for them. And we hope the broader
community can now focus on the conclusion of the WPIAL Basketball Playoffs as
Gabriel just wants to get back to being a student and a basketball player. Go Indians!

WPIAL press release regarding boys basketball game between Monessen and Brentwood

From the WPIAL office:

"After carefully listening to and considering the testimony and evidence presented by no less than nine witnesses over the span of approximately three hours (Tuesday) concerning the Feb. 3 boys basketball game between Brentwood High School and Monessen Sr. High School, the WPIAL Board of Control consisting of seventeen members with hundreds of years of collective educational and/or amateur athletic experience issued a decision letter (Wednesday) morning to Brentwood and Monessen.

In the decision letter, the Board determined that Brentwood administrators and security officials took swift, decisive and appropriate action in addressing the limited disturbances which took place prior to, during or after the game, including but not limited to, the immediate ejection and subsequent suspension of the two students dressed in banana costumes because they ran onto the court in violation of contest and school rules. Thus, neither Brentwood, Monessen nor any of their respective employees or representatives will be subject to penalties such as suspension, probation or public ensure as a result of the events that took place prior to, during or after the game.

The Board made no specific findings based upon the substantial testimony and evidence presented that any Brentwood student, student-athlete or fan in fact used racial slurs or engaged in racially insensitive behavior. However, the Board also found that a strong perception exists within the Monessen community that Brentwood students and/or fans have engaged and/or will continue to engage in racially insensitive behavior. Whether the perception is well-founded based upon alleged events which occurred on Feb. 3 or prior to thereto is irrelevant. The fact that such a perception exists is a problem that the Board strongly believes must be dealt with swiftly and proactively.

To their credit, both school districts expressed the desire to work proactively together, with WPIAL's assistance, to prevent any similar situations from occurring in the future and turn what has thus far been a negative experience into a positive one. As a result, the Board directed the Brentwood and Monessen high school principals to work cooperatively with each other and their student bodies in formulating a joint action plan designed to (a) promote the spirit of sportsmanship that WPIAL expects at all contests; (b) promote the fact that all individual must be treated with dignity and respect at all WPIAL contests; (c) make clear that Brentwood, Monessen and WPIAL will not tolerate the use of racial slurs or other forms of racial intimidation at WPIAL contests; and (d) make clear to students and student-athletes that the use of racial slurs or other forms of racial intimidation at WPIAL contests will lead to their immediate ejections from a contest and perhaps other disciplinary measures.

The joint action plan must be submitted for the Board's review and approval on or before June 1. A member of the Board has been tasked with assisting Brentwood and Monessen in formulating the joint action plan and monitoring their efforts. The Board member will be meeting with the respective principals within the next three weeks to discuss a strategy going forward. WPIAL's offices have been made available to both school districts for purposes of meeting and formulating the joint action plan."

WPIAL girls basketball alignment

Class AAAA
Section 1
Albert Gallatin
Connellsville
Hempfield
Kiski Area
Latrobe
Laurel Highlands
Norwin
Penn-Trafford
Section 2
Fox Chapel
Franklin Regional
Gateway
McKeesport
Penn Hills
Plum
Woodland Hills
Section 3
Butler Golden
North Allegheny
North Hills
Oakland Catholic
Pine-Richland
Seneca Valley
Shaler
Section 4
Baldwin
Bethel Park
Canon-McMillan
Chartiers Valley
Mount Lebanon
Peters Township
Upper St. Clair

Class AAA
Section 1
Freeport
Hampton
Highlands
Kittanning
Knoch
Mars
Valley
Section 2
Ambridge
Blackhawk
Central Valley
Ellwood City
Hopewell
New Castle
West Allegheny
Section 3
Derry
Greensburg-Salem
Indiana
Mount Pleasant
Southmoreland
Uniontown
Yough
Section 4
Belle Vernon
Brownsville
Elizabeth Forward
Ringgold
Thomas Jefferson
Waynesburg
West Mifflin
Section 5
Keystone Oaks
Montour
Moon
Quaker Valley
South Fayette Lions
South Park
Trinity Hillers

Class AA
Section 1
Apollo-Ridge
Burrell
Deer Lakes
Elderton
Ford City
Leechburg
West Shamokin
Section 2
Beaver Falls
Laurel
Mohawk
Neshannock
New Brighton
Riverside
Shenango
Section 3
East Allegheny
Greensburg Central Catholic
Jeannette
Riverview
Springdale
Shady Side Academy
South Allegheny
Section 4
Bishop Canevin
Brentwood
Chartiers-Houston
Fort Cherry
Seton-La Salle
Steel Valley Ironmen
Wilkinsburg
Section 5:
Bentworth
Beth-Center
Burgettstown
Charleroi
McGuffey
South Side Beaver
Washington
Section 6
Avonworth
Beaver
Carlynton
Freedom
Northgate
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Sto-Rox

Class A
Section 1
Aliquippa
Cornell
Quigley
Rochester
Sewickley Academy
Union
Western Beaver
Section 2
Eden Christian Academy
Ellis School
Imani Christian Academy
North Catholic
St. Joseph
Trinity Christian
Vincentian Academy
Section 3
Avella
California
Carmichaels
Jefferson-Morgan
Mapletown
West Greene
Section 4
Clairton
Frazier
Geibel
Monessen
Serra Catholic
Winchester Thurston

WPIAL boys basketball alignment

Class AAAA
Section 1
Albert Gallatin
Connellsville
Hempfield
Kiski Area
Latrobe
Norwin
Penn-Trafford
Section 2
Fox Chapel
Franklin Regional
Gateway
McKeesport
Penn Hills
Pittsburgh Central Catholic
Plum
Woodland Hills
Section 3
Butler Golden
Hampton
New Castle
North Allegheny
North Hills
Pine-Richland
Seneca Valley
Shaler
Section 4
Baldwin
Bethel Park
Canon-McMillan
Moon
Mount Lebanon
Peters Township
Trinity
Upper St. Clair

Class AAA
Section 1
Freeport
Highlands Golden Rams
Indiana
Kittanning
Knoch
Mars
Valley
Section 2
Ambridge
Beaver
Blackhawk
Central Valley
Ellwood City
Hopewell
West Allegheny
Section 3
Derry
Greensburg-Salem
Laurel Highlands
Mount Pleasant
Southmoreland
Uniontown
Yough
Section 4
Belle Vernon
East Allegheny
Elizabeth Forward
Ringgold
Steel Valley
Thomas Jefferson
West Mifflin
Section 5
Chartiers Valley
Keystone Oaks
McGuffey
Montour
South Fayette
South Park
Waynesburg

Class AA
Section 1
Apollo-Ridge
Burrell
Deer Lakes
Elderton
Ford City
Summit Academy
West Shamokin
Section 2
Aliquippa
Beaver Falls
Laurel
Mohawk
Neshannock
New Brighton
Riverside
Shenango
Section 3:
Greensburg Central Catholic
Jeannette
Riverview
Serra Catholic
Shady Side Academy
Springdale
South Allegheny
Section 4
Bishop Canevin
Brentwood
Burgettstown
Chartiers-Houston
Fort Cherry
Seton-La Salle
Washington
Section 5
Bentworth
Beth-Center
Brownsville
California
Charleroi
Frazier
Jefferson-Morgan
West Greene
Section 6
Avonworth
Carlynton
Freedom
Northgate
Quaker Valley
South Side Beaver
Sto-Rox
Class A
Section 1
Cornell
Lincoln Park
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Rochester
Union
Western Beaver
Section 2
Aquinas Academy
Eden Christian Academy
North Catholic
Quigley
Sewickley Academy
Vincentian Academy
Section 3
Avella
Carmichaels
Clairton
Geibel
Mapletown
Monessen
Section 4
Imani Christian Academy
Leechburg
St. Joseph
Trinity Christian
Wilkinsburg
Winchester Thurston