History a part of WPIAL title matches
Individual and team marks are on the line
This is the first year since 1981 that not all WPIAL boys basketball championship games will be played at either a college facility or the old Civic Arena. All six games will be played at either Peters Township or North Allegheny High Schools Friday, Saturday and Monday.
But championship sites aren’t what make this year’s group of title games unusual. It’s the fact that all six championship games include something of historical significance.
Consider:
• When Pine-Richland played Upper St. Clair Friday night in the WPIAL Class 6A championship, Pine-Richland’s Bob Petcash had a chance to be the first coach in 25 years to win a title in the largest classification in his first season. The previous time it happened was 1996 and the first-year coach then was, coincidentally, Upper St. Clair’s Danny Holzer, who is still at the helm of the Panthers.
• In Class 5A Saturday, New Castle plays Chartiers Valley and Ralph Blundo could become only the fourth coach to win seven or more WPIAL titles. The others are Farrell’s Ed McCluskey (11), Blackhawk’s John Miller (8) and Midland’s Ed Olkowski (8). Chartiers Valley coach Brandon Sensor is trying to win his first championship and New Castle also is trying to overtake Farrell for most titles in WPIAL boys history. Both have 13.
• In Class 4A Monday, Lincoln Park and North Catholic are meeting in a title game for the third consecutive year. In more than 100 years of WPIAL basketball, that has happened only two times before (New Castle and Hampton 2012-14, and New Castle-Quaker Valley 2017-19). Also, Lincoln Park is the first team in WPIAL history to play in a championship game six consecutive years.
• In Class 3A Monday, South Allegheny is in the championship for the first time while Ellwood City is in the final for the first time since 1986, and only the third time overall. Ellwood City has never won a title.
• In Class 2A Saturday, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart plays Greensburg Central Catholic and OLSH is trying to become only the 10th team in WPIAL history to win three championships in a row. OLSH
also is trying to become only the 20th team since 1950 to win a WPIAL title with an undefeated record.
• In Class 1A, Bishop Canevin played Rochester Friday night and Bishop Canevin was trying to win its first championship while Rochester was trying to complete the biggest turnaround in WPIAL history. Rochester was winless (0-21) a year ago.
Here is a look at the four championships that will be decided Saturday and Monday.
Class 5A
New Castle (20-2) vs. Chartiers Valley (22-3) is a most intriguing game because they split two games this season — with each winning easily on the other’s home floor. They meet again at 8 p.m. Saturday
at North Allegheny.
Chartiers Valley’s Brayden Reynolds undoubtedly will be a key. He scored 42 points and had six 3-pointers when Chartiers Valley won at New Castle. Chartiers Valley shot 67% in the game.
But when New Caste blew out Chartiers Valley in the first meeting, New Castle shot 52%.
“We wanted to play Chartiers Valley again. It’s not redemption, but we just wanted to play them again,” New Castle junior guard Mike Wells said. “It’s kind of like when we played Quaker Valley [in a title game] three years in a row. Chartiers Valley is our Quaker Valley this year.
“I think we’ve gotten a lot better defensively since we played them last. I think defense will be key to the game.”
Class 4A
When North Catholic beat Lincoln Park in the Class 3A title game a year ago, who could have predicted they would meet again in the Class 4A championship the following year? Both teams were bumped up in class and play at 8 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny.
Each team had only one returning starter from last year, although Lincoln Park still was expected to be strong.
“I wasn’t too sure we’d have a team like we had last year,” North Catholic forward Andrew Ammerman said. “A lot of the younger guys are stepping up and helping us have a team like we did last year.”
Ammerman is a 6-foot-7 senior and a force inside, but Lincoln Park (17-5) starts 6-5 Dakari Bradford, 6-7 Joe Scott and 6-8 Montae Reddix. Outside shooting by North Catholic (18-4) could be a key.
Class 3A
South Allegheny (17-4) has never been in a WPIAL title game, and the previouis time Ellwood City (13-4) was in a title game, coach Steve Antuono was in the seventh grade. That was 1986, when Blackhawk and Sean Miller beat Ellwood City and Dan Aloi, 71-70, in a memorable title game.
You would think South Allegheny is a definite favorite. The Gladiators are the No. 1 seed for the tournament and Ellwood City is No. 11. Ellwood City is certainly a surprise finalist, but the Wolverines are peaking at the right time. The title game is 5 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny.
“We have the ultimate respect for them and, as much as anybody, they’re playing their best basketball,” South Allegheny coach Tony DiCenzo said. “When you get to this point, throw that seeding out the window.”
Ellwood City freshman Joseph Roth, a 64 forward, has averaged 23 points in four playoff games and his matchup against South Allegheny’s 6-7 Omar Faulkner will be an interesting one to watch.
Class 2A
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (20-0) takes a 36-game winning streak into Saturday’s title game against Greensburg Central Catholic (16-3), 5 p.m. at Peters Township. Greensburg Central Catholic has allowed only 48.3 points in three WPIAL playoff games, but OLSH has outscored teams, 75-44, this season. This is the fourth WPIAL championship game that OLSH point guard Dante Spadafora has started.