These champions will cry tears of joy

The Dribbler witnessed a few special moments Monday and Tuesday watching WPIAL teams punch their tickets to Chocolatetown, U.S.A.

Hershey’s Kisses fell from the sky like rain as players, coaches and fans celebrated joyous moments.

It got The Dribbler thinking: Have you ever realized that those kisses are shaped like flat-bottomed tear drops? Call them tears of joy. For nearly a century — 98 years to be exact — the PIAA has been contesting basketball championships. Harrisburg Tech beat Bellevue (now part of the Northgate School District) in a 38-34 thriller at Penn State way, way back in 1920. One year later, McKeesport became the first WPIAL team to win a PIAA title when it upended Williamsport, 24-21.

A lot has changed since, including the number of classifications jumping from one to six. But some things have stayed the same, like WPIAL teams winning PIAA titles. This year there are six WPIAL teams — three boys and three girls — playing for gold medals.

Here’s hoping more tears of joy are on the way.

The Dribbler heads into the title games with a 73-29 (.715) record.

Here are his PIAA championship picks (all games at Giant Center, Hershey):

Boys

Class 6A: Pine-Richland vs. Reading, 8 p.m. Saturday — The Dribbler wonders if Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackermann called up Allderdice coach Buddy Valinsky sometime in the past few days for some advice. Allderdice defeated Reading in last year’s PIAA semifinals after holding star guard Lonnie Walker to six points. Walker, a Miami recruit and McDonald’s All-American, scored 35 in Tuesday’s semifinal win against Archbishop Ryan. This is a very tough assignment for the Rams, but The Dribbler just has a feeling. Winner: Pine-Richland.

Class 5A: Meadville vs. Archbishop Wood, 8 p.m. Friday — Shout out to District 10, which like the WPIAL has three boys teams in the finals. Meadville is one of them, and the Bulldogs have eliminated WPIAL foes Chartiers Valley, Franklin Regional and Mars along the way. Super senior Armoni Foster is slicker than an Armani suit. However, Archbishop Wood is just playing too well. The Vikings have won all their playoff games by at least 25 points. Winner: Archbishop Wood.

Class 4A: Erie Strong Vincent vs. Imhotep Charter, 2 p.m. Saturday — Strong Vincent has turned The Dribbler into a believer. One by one, the Colonels took out teams from the WPIAL’s most loaded 4A section. Beaver Falls, New Castle and finally Quaker Valley in the semifinals. Imhotep Charter, though, is on another level.

The Panthers are ranked among the top 10 in the country in several polls. South Carolina recruit David Beatty is very good. Winner: Imhotep Charter. Class 2A: Sewickley Academy vs. Constitution,

2 p.m. Friday — If you wanted to learn a thing or two, you should have gone to Philadelphia University Tuesday for the semifinal between Constitution and Math, Civics and Sciences. Talk about a full course load. If knowledge is power, you might have left that gym feeling like the Incredible Hulk. Sewickley Academy is strong academically and is having a marvelous season on the court, but it won’t have enough answers to pass its toughest test of the season. Winner: Constitution.

Girls

Class 6A: North Allegheny vs. Boyertown, 6 p.m. Friday — North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said before the season that he thought his team was the fourth or fifth best in 6A … in the WPIAL. A few months later, the Tigers are 28-1 and playing for their first PIAA title. This team has no big stars and doesn’t have a high-scoring offense. Instead, the Tigers rely on balance and a suffocating defense. That formula will carry them to the title. Winner: North Allegheny. Class 5A: Trinity vs. Archbishop Wood, 6 p.m.

Saturday — Rumor has it that Archbishop Wood has its own private locker room at Giant Center. When you play in the state final for the seventh time in eight seasons, there should be some perks, right? Trinity has had a tremendous season. The Dribbler believes the Hillers might be able to hang with Archbishop Wood for a half or even three quarters, but at some point Wood will lay the wood. Winner: Archbishop Wood.

Class 3A: Bishop Canevin vs. NeumannGoretti, noon Saturday — Archbishop Wood, Imhotep Charter, Neumann-Goretti … Don’t these teams play for state titles every year? When Neumann-Goretti beat Seton-LaSalle in the 2015 final, the Saints were ranked No. 1 in the country (the Rebels beat them one year earlier). Neumann-Goretti isn’t quite as good this season, but having two guards headed to high-major Division I schools is a luxury few teams have. Winner: Neumann-Goretti.

Class 1A: Juniata Valley vs. Lebanon Catholic, noon Friday — The Dribbler admits he has not seen either of these teams play and he knows little about them overall. Juniata Valley beat WPIAL champ Winchester Thurston by 15 points in the second round, which is pretty impressive. Winner: Juniata Valley