Luck of the draw no gift for Canevin
By winning the WPIAL championship last Friday, Bishop Canevin won the right to represent WPIAL Class1A in the PIAA playoffs. Butof the six WPIAL champions that will play in the PIAA quarterfinals Friday and Saturday, Bishop Canevin looks like it might have the toughest draw.
Bishop Canevin lost to only one Class 1A team this season and the Crusaders face that same team again Friday. Bishop Canevin (16-5) plays at home against Berlin Brothersvalley, a strong team from Somerset County that has a 24-1 record. One of those 24 victories came Jan. 23 when the Mountaineers beat visiting Bishop Canevin, 71-63.
Berlin Brothersvalley averages 77 points a game and is led by Elijah Sechler, a 5-foot11 senior guard who averages 20.9 points and has scored 1,480 in his career. The Mountaineers also have a pair of 6-3 seniors who average in double figures – Abe Countryman (12.7) and Will Spochart (10.8). The team is coached by Tanner Prosser, a former WPIAL player at Brentwood High School.
Bishop Canevin coach Gino Palmosina knows his team will have its hands full against Berlin Brothersvalley. What makes matters a little worse for the Crusaders is they won’t have two starters who played the first time against Berlin Brothersvalley. Jaden Gales and Kai Spears played in the regular season, but are ineligible for the postseason under the PIAA’s new transfer rule. Gales transferred from Nazareth Prep this year and Spears from Pine-Richland.
“Obviously, not having those two makes it more difficult than the first time,” Palmosina said. “This team is one of the best-coached teams I’ve ever seen. They’re very disciplined and don’t make too many mistakes.”
The two teams were actually supposed to play in the quarterfinals last year, but the PIAA canceled the
playoffs after the second round because of the COVID19 pandemic. Berlin Brothersvalley was 28-1 at the time and had just defeated WPIAL champion Vincentian.
You can tell what Berlin Brothersvalley’s goal is this season just by looking at the school district’s web site. The first thing that pops up is a picture of the basketball team with the words “Unfinished Business” underneath.
Standing in the way right now is Bishop Canevin.
“I think our kids are really excited, to be honest,” Palmosina said. “We actually played them in a tipoff tournament last year, too, and they gave it to us a little bit. We were excited to get another chance at them last year, but it didn’t work out because of the pandemic.
“This season, we felt we didn’t play our best up there. We have another shot at them and we can make it to the semifinals of the state playoffs. The kids are excited. The last couple days of practice, they’ve been focused and tuned in.”
Everyone is home
For the first time since 1971, the PIAA will take only district champions to the playoffs. The PIAA cut down the number of teams in the tournament because of the pandemic. The PIAA also decided to give teams at the top of the bracket a home game through the semifinals, as long as they were playing a team from a contiguous district. It turns out that all six WPIAL boys champs will play at home in the quarterfinals.
If WPIAL teams win, some will also get a home game in the semifinals, but a few might have to play at neutral sites.
WPIAL notes
• As the WPIAL champion in Class 6A, Upper St. Clair should be representing the league in the PIAA playoffs. But as of earlier this week, Upper St. Clair’s status for Saturday’s PIAA game was up in the air. The players and the team were quarantined after a player tested positive for COVID-19 Saturday.
• Upper St. Clair athletic director Kevin Deitrick and coach Danny Holzer said there was a chance the team still might play, but it might not be known until Thursday or Friday. If Upper St. Clair can’t play, WPIAL runner-up Pine-Richland will replace Upper St. Clair. No matter who plays, they will face either Erie or Altoona, which played Tuesday night. Erie (18-3) won its first District 10 championship this year. Altoona headed into the game with a 3-12 record.
• WPIAL champ New Castle will play Cathedral Prep Friday. Cathedral Prep is 147 and has 6-5 sophomore center Khalil Horton. But the Ramblers lost their best player from last year when 63 guard Michael Lucarotti, a second-team all-state selection, transferred to ISA in Willoughby, Ohio.
• Many feel Our Lady of the Sacred Heart might have the best chance of any WPIAL champ to win a PIAA title. OLSH plays Saturday in the Class 2A quarterfinals against the winner of Wednesday night’s game between Karns City (22-2) and Conemaugh Township (14-5). If OLSH wins, it will play in the semifinals against either
Kennedy Catholic (22-2) or Portage ( 20- 2). Kennedy Catholic has a formidable team, but the Eagles lost their coach in early February when Dustin Golub, in his first year, resigned after being charged with three counts of tax evasion. Assistant Ryan Anderton took over.
Strong in the east
As usual, eastern Pennsylvania has a number of strong teams, and a number come from District 12 (Philadelphia Catholic and Public Leagues).
Some of the District 12 championship games were played Wednesday night. In Class 6A, Archbishop Wood met Lincoln, but Wood was a heavy favorite. Wood already won the Catholic League for only the second time in school history, and the team is loaded with talent. Wood lost to Moon in the Class 5A championship two years ago and some of the players from that Wood team are still around.
Exactly how good is Wood? Well, consider that four seniors are headed to Division I colleges. Rahsool Diggins, a 6-3 point guard, is rated the No. 46 senior in the country by Rivals.com and is a University of Connecticut recruit. Jaylen Stinson (6-foot guard) is going to James Madison, Marcus Randolph (6-4 forward) is headed to Richmond and Daeshon Shepherd (6-5 forward) is a La Salle recruit.
Another perennial power from Philadelphia is Math Civics & Sciences, who played West Catholic Wednesday for the District 12 Class 3A championship. MCS features Nisine Poplar, a senior who has signed with Miami.
If OLSH would get to the PIAA Class 2A title game, there is a decent chance it could face Sankofa Freedom or Constitution, who also played Wednesday for the District 12 championship. Constitution beat OLSH in the 2018 PIAA final and Sankofa Freedom beat Vincentian in the 2019 Class 1A final.