Scholastic note book...
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THE CHOPS
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- Location: SCOTTDALE, PA.
Scholastic note book...
Scholastic Notebook
11/30/2007 - from MSA Sports ...
Basketball season starts in Pennsylvania tonight (Friday), and one of the more interesting things to watch in WPIAL boys’ action this season will be how some coaches will do after changing jobs.
* At Hopewell, the new coach is Ron Rowan, a former NBA player who turned around Ambridge’s program over the past few seasons. Last year, Ambridge made it to the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals for the first time since 1984. Ambridge also won a section title for the first time since 1972. Rowan inherits a pretty good team at Hopewell. Senior guard Mark Javens, son of the old coach, Mark Sr., and junior forward Drew Falletta were the team’s leading scorers last season. Also back is 6-6 Ryan Turnley, a Pitt football recruit.
* At New Castle, the new coach is Mark Stanley, who came from just down the road at Union High School. Stanley enjoyed success at Union in his eight seasons. He won a WPIAL Class A title in 2003 and also made it to the PIAA title game that year. New Castle missed the playoffs last year for the first time in John Sarandrea’s 15 seasons as coach. Sarandrea won four WPIAL titles and eight section titles at New Castle and had a 304-109 record. New Castle certainly is good enough to return to the playoffs this season. Watch for Tyrone Steals, a junior guard and the son of former Aliquippa star, Tyrone Steals Sr.
* At Ambridge, the new coach is Bill Minear, who has been out of coaching the past three seasons. Minear won 155 games in eight seasons at Sto-Rox before resigning after the 2004-05 season. Minear applied for a number of jobs in the area over the past three years and was close to getting some. He won two WPIAL titles and one PIAA championship at Sto-Rox.
EA Watch
East Allegheny was a team to watch in football because of the addition of some players from Duquesne, which closed this summer. The East Allegheny basketball team also is worth watching because of some Duquesne players.
Darrale Dunn and Malik Washington are two former Duquesne students who will probably start on the EA basketball team.
If Duquesne was still open, the Dukes probably would have had the No. 1- or No. 2-ranked team coming into this season.
The Duquesne players made a big impact in football, leading the Wildcats to the WPIAL playoffs after EA was 1-9 a season ago. The basketball team at East Allegheny is in the same situation. The Wildcats were 4-20 last year. They play in WIAL Class AA Section 1 along with Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic, among others.
Going Long
Two members of the Long family graduated from North Catholic, but there will still be a front four of Longs on the team this year.
Mike and Fran Long, who are cousins, are the two who graduated. Juniors Joe and Matt Long, and sophomore Jesse are all back this season. They are all cousins. And making the Long list a little longer is freshman Marty Long, who is Matt’s brother.
And remember, the coach of North Catholic is Dave Long. He is dad to Joe and uncle to all of the other Longs.
Back Home
Mike Mastroianni won a WPIAL Class AAAA title last season at Bethel Park, but resigned after the season and became coach at Quaker Valley, his alma mater. This is Mastroiann’s second stint at Quaker Valley. He won a WPIAL title in his first time around.
Don’t be surprised if Quaker Valley makes some noise this year. The Quakers looked pretty decent in spring and summer leagues and have some talented players.
Bloodlines
Hampton’s Jodie Luther, a junior, is one of the top inside players in WPIAL Class AAA girls’ basketball. Her brother, Bill, could see significant minutes this season on the Hampton boys’ team.
Maybe it’s a case of talent in the genes. The Luthers’ mother is a Shanahan, the sister of four brothers who all played college basketball. The most well-known was Brian Shanahan, a 1,000-point scorer at Duquesne.
The Luthers also are cousins to current Norwin star Mike Shanahan.
Making his Point
Does Beaver Falls’ Todd Thomas have a shot at the WPIAL career scoring record someday?
Tom Pipkins, a 1993 Valley graduate, has the record with 2,838. That’s a lot, but Thomas, a junior, scored a little over 1,100 in his freshman and sophomore seasons at Beaver Falls. He averaged 20 points a game last year. If he ups his average to maybe 26-27 this year, he could have around 2,000 points after this season.
With another big senior season next year, who knows. What will help Thomas’ point total is that Beaver Falls should be very good the next two years. The Tigers are expected to make deep runs into the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs, which means more games and more points.
One to Watch
Looking for a game to watch on opening night? Maybe you should head down to Ambridge for the Bridgers’ tipoff tournament. The first game of the night at 6 p.m. could be an interesting one as Aliquippa takes on Schenley.
Aliquippa has some inexperienced players, but they also have 6-6 Jonathan Baldwin, one of the best players in the WPIAL this season. Schenley is the defending PIAA Class AAAA champion. Although stars DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy graduated, Schenley still has one of the best players in the area in guard Deandre Kane.
Schenley also has back Greg Blair, DeJuan’s younger brother who was a starter last year.
About Kane
Schenley’s Kane made a verbal commitment to Duquesne University this summer. But new Schenley coach Kevin Reid said Kane did not sign a binding letter of intent with the Dukes during the recent week-long early signing period.
So Kane’s future appears to be up in the air.
Where Are They Now?
There is a lot of basketball in this notebook, but a former WPIAL football player needs mentioned. Jeannette graduate Davonte Shannon, who plays defensive back at the University of Buffalo, was named to scout.com’s freshman All-American team.
That is a significant accomplishment because the team inclues players from Georgia, USC and many other big-time schools.
But another WPIAL player was named to the team – former Woodland Hills tight end Rob Gronkowski, who now plays at the Unviersity of Arizona.
11/30/2007 - from MSA Sports ...
Basketball season starts in Pennsylvania tonight (Friday), and one of the more interesting things to watch in WPIAL boys’ action this season will be how some coaches will do after changing jobs.
* At Hopewell, the new coach is Ron Rowan, a former NBA player who turned around Ambridge’s program over the past few seasons. Last year, Ambridge made it to the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals for the first time since 1984. Ambridge also won a section title for the first time since 1972. Rowan inherits a pretty good team at Hopewell. Senior guard Mark Javens, son of the old coach, Mark Sr., and junior forward Drew Falletta were the team’s leading scorers last season. Also back is 6-6 Ryan Turnley, a Pitt football recruit.
* At New Castle, the new coach is Mark Stanley, who came from just down the road at Union High School. Stanley enjoyed success at Union in his eight seasons. He won a WPIAL Class A title in 2003 and also made it to the PIAA title game that year. New Castle missed the playoffs last year for the first time in John Sarandrea’s 15 seasons as coach. Sarandrea won four WPIAL titles and eight section titles at New Castle and had a 304-109 record. New Castle certainly is good enough to return to the playoffs this season. Watch for Tyrone Steals, a junior guard and the son of former Aliquippa star, Tyrone Steals Sr.
* At Ambridge, the new coach is Bill Minear, who has been out of coaching the past three seasons. Minear won 155 games in eight seasons at Sto-Rox before resigning after the 2004-05 season. Minear applied for a number of jobs in the area over the past three years and was close to getting some. He won two WPIAL titles and one PIAA championship at Sto-Rox.
EA Watch
East Allegheny was a team to watch in football because of the addition of some players from Duquesne, which closed this summer. The East Allegheny basketball team also is worth watching because of some Duquesne players.
Darrale Dunn and Malik Washington are two former Duquesne students who will probably start on the EA basketball team.
If Duquesne was still open, the Dukes probably would have had the No. 1- or No. 2-ranked team coming into this season.
The Duquesne players made a big impact in football, leading the Wildcats to the WPIAL playoffs after EA was 1-9 a season ago. The basketball team at East Allegheny is in the same situation. The Wildcats were 4-20 last year. They play in WIAL Class AA Section 1 along with Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic, among others.
Going Long
Two members of the Long family graduated from North Catholic, but there will still be a front four of Longs on the team this year.
Mike and Fran Long, who are cousins, are the two who graduated. Juniors Joe and Matt Long, and sophomore Jesse are all back this season. They are all cousins. And making the Long list a little longer is freshman Marty Long, who is Matt’s brother.
And remember, the coach of North Catholic is Dave Long. He is dad to Joe and uncle to all of the other Longs.
Back Home
Mike Mastroianni won a WPIAL Class AAAA title last season at Bethel Park, but resigned after the season and became coach at Quaker Valley, his alma mater. This is Mastroiann’s second stint at Quaker Valley. He won a WPIAL title in his first time around.
Don’t be surprised if Quaker Valley makes some noise this year. The Quakers looked pretty decent in spring and summer leagues and have some talented players.
Bloodlines
Hampton’s Jodie Luther, a junior, is one of the top inside players in WPIAL Class AAA girls’ basketball. Her brother, Bill, could see significant minutes this season on the Hampton boys’ team.
Maybe it’s a case of talent in the genes. The Luthers’ mother is a Shanahan, the sister of four brothers who all played college basketball. The most well-known was Brian Shanahan, a 1,000-point scorer at Duquesne.
The Luthers also are cousins to current Norwin star Mike Shanahan.
Making his Point
Does Beaver Falls’ Todd Thomas have a shot at the WPIAL career scoring record someday?
Tom Pipkins, a 1993 Valley graduate, has the record with 2,838. That’s a lot, but Thomas, a junior, scored a little over 1,100 in his freshman and sophomore seasons at Beaver Falls. He averaged 20 points a game last year. If he ups his average to maybe 26-27 this year, he could have around 2,000 points after this season.
With another big senior season next year, who knows. What will help Thomas’ point total is that Beaver Falls should be very good the next two years. The Tigers are expected to make deep runs into the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs, which means more games and more points.
One to Watch
Looking for a game to watch on opening night? Maybe you should head down to Ambridge for the Bridgers’ tipoff tournament. The first game of the night at 6 p.m. could be an interesting one as Aliquippa takes on Schenley.
Aliquippa has some inexperienced players, but they also have 6-6 Jonathan Baldwin, one of the best players in the WPIAL this season. Schenley is the defending PIAA Class AAAA champion. Although stars DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy graduated, Schenley still has one of the best players in the area in guard Deandre Kane.
Schenley also has back Greg Blair, DeJuan’s younger brother who was a starter last year.
About Kane
Schenley’s Kane made a verbal commitment to Duquesne University this summer. But new Schenley coach Kevin Reid said Kane did not sign a binding letter of intent with the Dukes during the recent week-long early signing period.
So Kane’s future appears to be up in the air.
Where Are They Now?
There is a lot of basketball in this notebook, but a former WPIAL football player needs mentioned. Jeannette graduate Davonte Shannon, who plays defensive back at the University of Buffalo, was named to scout.com’s freshman All-American team.
That is a significant accomplishment because the team inclues players from Georgia, USC and many other big-time schools.
But another WPIAL player was named to the team – former Woodland Hills tight end Rob Gronkowski, who now plays at the Unviersity of Arizona.