WPIAL rematches aplenty in semis
Two state semis match teams that played for district titles
Rematch is the theme for most WPIAL boys basketball teams still in the state playoffs. It’s certainly an unusual theme.
The semifinals of the PIAA playoffs are Monday and Tuesday at neutral sites around the state and seven WPIAL teams have made it to the final fours in each classification. Two of the games involving WPIAL teams will be rematches of WPIAL championships and that’s the unusual part.
Moon will play Franklin Regional in a WPIAL Class 5A championship rematch Monday night at Peters Township. In a Class 4A semifinal Monday, Lincoln Park takes on Hampton at North Allegheny in a WPIAL title rematch.
Teams that meet in WPIAL title games don’t often see each other again in the state playoffs. Over the past 40 seasons, the only two years where there have been two WPIAL championship rematches in the state semifinals are 2011 and 2010.
The 2011 season actually had three WPIAL championship rematches in the semifinals – Montour vs. South Fayette, Monessen vs. Greensburg Central Catholic and Lincoln Park vs. Vincentian. The championship rematches in 2010 were Chartiers Valley vs. Hampton, and Sewickley Academy vs. Lincoln Park.
For Moon and Franklin Regional, they had a close WPIAL championship that was won by Moon, 53-48. Moon trailed by five points after three quarters.
“This is exactly what we wanted,” Franklin Regional point guard Cooper Rankin said. “As soon as we lost to Moon and saw the state bracket, we realized we could play them again in the semifinals.”
But really, who could’ve predicted two years ago that Moon and Franklin Regional would be playing for the right to go to a state championship in 2024? In the 2021-22 season, both Moon and Franklin Regional had 7-14 records.
Moon hired Gino Palmosina the next season as coach, one year after he won WPIAL and state Class 1A titles at Bishop Canevin. Meanwhile, that harsh 7-14 season in 2021-22 was Jesse Reed’s first as Franklin Regional’s coach.
Reed is an insurance salesman and the Panthers have put a premium on winning this season. They did not make the WPIAL playoffs in Reed’s first two seasons.
“I knew the group we had when I came in could do some special things,” Reed said. “The way they worked and the talent they had, those dudes just progressed. The long hours they put in, the offseason work they did, it shows now.”
A natural question with rematches in the state playoffs is does one team have an advantage over the other the second time around? Well in those 2010 and 2011 seasons of two or more rematches, the team that lost in the five championship games came back and won the state semifinal two out of five times.
“Any time you lose a game, you want a chance to get some redemption,” Reed said. “We’re fortunate to get another opportunity, but it’s going to be a tough task. They have dudes. They’re not just Elijah Guillory [Moon’s leading scorer]. It should be exciting. I know it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
In the other championship rematch, Hampton will need more offense than when it lost to Lincoln Park in the WPIAL 4A final. Hampton’s Peter Kramer, a Lehigh recruit who averages more than 20, was held to six points and he Talbots lost, 66-51. Kramer was guarded most of the game by Lincoln Park star sophomore junior guard Meleek Thomas.
Lincoln Park is the defending state champion in 4A while Hampton is trying to make it to a title game for only the second time. The other time was 40 years ago.
Quips-Fort Cherry again
While two PIAA semifinal games match two teams that met in WPIAL championships, another semifinal pits two teams that played in the WPIAL semifinals. Aliquippa beat Fort Cherry, 55-36, in the Class 2A semis and the two meet again Tuesday at Pine-Richland in the state final four. The 36 points is the second-lowest output of the season for Fort Cherry. The Rangers are averaging 67.7 points a game.
“We’re both the same. The problem is they’re us on steroids,” Fort Cherry coach Eugene Briggs said. “We both defend real well and we both get to the basket real well. But the guys Aliquippa has are a step faster.”
A win would put Aliquippa in the title game for the third consecutive year, while Fort Cherry’s last state championship appearance was 1961. Briggs was 3 years old at the time and how’s this for coincidence? Briggs’ father, Kay, drove Fort Cherry’s team bus to the title game at the Pitt Field House. Imani Christian has talented guards in R.J. Sledge, Avery Wesley and Nate Brazil. The Saints now will face two talented guards in the PIAA Class 1A semifinals.
Facing scoring guards
Imani Christian faces Bishop Carroll of Ebensburg Monday, 7 p.m. at Hempfield. Luke Repko leads Bishop Carroll in scoring at 21.1 points a game while 5-8 sophomore Jace Casses averages 18.9.
This is the fifth time in the PIAA semifinals for Bishop Carroll. Meanwhile, Imani Christian and Lincoln Park are trying to become the ninth and 10th teams from the WPIAL to win back-toback state titles.