It’s time to shine with this year’s champs

You know the song. The ball is tipped … and there you are … you’re running for your life … you’re a shooting star.

Some of the area’s elite teams and players will try to seize their One Shining Moment this weekend when they play for WPIAL championships. This is The Dribbler’s favorite time of year, but someone tried to sour his mood with a phone call earlier this week.

“Turn on SportsCenter. Your name is about to be dragged into the college basketball scandal,” said an unfamiliar voice. “You’ve been paying high school athletes and fixing games. There’s no other explanation for your success.”

The Dribbler knew it was hogwash. Just another hater coming out of the woodwork to criticize his knowledge of the hardwood.

And all the years … no one knows … just how hard you worked … but now it shows.

As he does every week, The Dribbler will give you his picks, most of which will be right on the money. No money ever changes hands, though. Assuredly no $100 handshakes. Heck, that’s more than The Dribbler makes in a week.

One shining moment … it’s all on the line … one shining moment … there frozen in time.

It’s championship time. Who will be this year’s stars?

The Dribbler likes to pick boys and girls MVPs at the conclusion of championship weekend. He thinks Mars’ Robby Carmody and Winchester Thurston’s Gia Thorpe will earn top honors. Carmody, the WPIAL’s best player, will score 40 to bring Mars its first title, while Thorpe will dazzle while helping Winchester Thurston repeat.

Here are his thoughts on this weekend’s WPIAL championships (all games will be played at Petersen Events Center):

Boys

6A: Penn Hills vs. PineRichland, 9 p.m., Saturday — To play in this game, you better put on your bigboy pants. There will be some big players on the court. Pine-Richland’s Andrew Kristofic is 6-6 and Phil Jurkovec 6-5. Penn Hills’ Keyshawn Adams is 6-6 and Daivon Stephens 6-5. Penn Hills hasn’t won a title in 15 years. Pine-Richland is about to win its third in a

row. Winner: Pine-Richland.

5A: Mars vs. Franklin Regional, 9 p.m., Friday — The real winner here is the legendary Dick Groat, who finally gets to watch some good basketball at The Pete this season. Groat’s grandson, Steve Scorpion, is Franklin Regional’s coach. Here’s guessing Groat would much rather take in Franklin Regional-Mars than any Pitt game. Winner: Mars.

4A: Quaker Valley vs. New Castle, 1 p.m., Saturday — The heck with a bus. Quaker Valley will be riding the Coletrane to Oakland on Saturday. Coletrane Washington has had an outstanding senior season. He scored 24 points in both of Quaker Valley’s regular-season wins against New Castle, and he’ll match that number again to give the Quakers the title. Winner: Quaker Valley.

2A: Sewickley Academy vs. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 5 p.m., Friday — If The Dribbler has a sophomoric attitude watching this game, don’t blame him. It’s kind of hard not to when there are so many good sophomores on the court. Sewickley beat OLSH in last year’s final and the two split their regular-season meetings. If OLSH wins this, they’re even. Winner: OLSH.

Girls

6A: North Allegheny vs. Peters Township, 7 p.m., Saturday — This game is brought to you by the letter M. With all the talented M’s involved, there should be a McDonald’s logo at midcourt. There’s Makenna Marisa. Her twin Morgan. Mills. Martindale. Morningstar. Madelyn Fischer. But, really, it’s all about the letter W. And only one team will get that. Winner: North Allegheny.

5A: Oakland Catholic vs. Gateway, 3 p.m., Saturday — The Dribbler never likes to call anyone a liar, but if someone said they predicted these two would meet in the final, he thinks there could be some fibbing going on. Gateway is the No. 7 seed and Oakland Catholic the No. 8 seed. In a game which neither team breaks 40, look for the Gators to come out on top. Winner: Gateway.

4A: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic vs. Beaver, 7 p.m., Friday — Leave it to Beaver to spoil a North Catholic-Blackhawk finals rematch. Beaver upset Blackhawk in the semifinals to reach the title game for the first time. Now Bella Posset and friends will try to take down the defending champs. As well as they’ve been playing, it won’t happen. Winner: North Catholic.

3A: Bishop Canevin vs. East Allegheny, 11 a.m., Saturday — This should be a really, really fun game. If you haven’t seen East Allegheny’s Amani Johnson play, you should check her out. She might be the WPIAL’s most exciting player. Overall, though, Canevin is just a tad bit better. The Crusaders will get a 3-pointer in the final minute to grab a narrow win. Winner: Canevin.

1A: Winchester Thurston vs. West Greene, 3 p.m., Friday — The Winchester Thurston Howells. The Dribbler knew a man who once bestowed that nickname on the school after the character from Gilligan’s Island. As The Dribbler later found out, Winchester Thurston is actually the Bears. It’s fitting because this team continues to be a bear to play. Winner: Winchester Thurston