Christmas Tournaments
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WPIAL~Titan
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
WPIAL A has a very good team in Lincoln Park. They have two guards in 6'5" jr Skrovanko and 6'5" freshman Rowan who will be absolute matchup nightmares for the Carrolls and Guilfoyles.
Don't be fooled by LP's 4-4 record, they've lost to a few AAAA teams in close games (Pine Richland and Shaler both 4 point losses), and a vrey good private school team from Alaska by 7. They also lost to a WPIAL A team Quigley Catholic by 8 in what is considered to be a pretty big upset.
Rowan is outstanding and can really shoot it when his feet are set, he has range to 30 feet. Skovranko is very athletic and can work off the bounce. Nobody in the west in A has guards who can matchup with either of these guys...and zones won't work either because Rowan can light it up.
LP is not a particularly physical team (except for a really big, strong, athletic post player 6'3" probably 230 who is raw but strong and moves well enough to be dominant in class A), nor are they very deep, but they have outstanding talent in Skovranko and Rowan. Both have a shot at being D1 players.
To me, LP has the most TALENT of any western A team. Of course, the question is wll the talent transfer to wins?
Don't be fooled by LP's 4-4 record, they've lost to a few AAAA teams in close games (Pine Richland and Shaler both 4 point losses), and a vrey good private school team from Alaska by 7. They also lost to a WPIAL A team Quigley Catholic by 8 in what is considered to be a pretty big upset.
Rowan is outstanding and can really shoot it when his feet are set, he has range to 30 feet. Skovranko is very athletic and can work off the bounce. Nobody in the west in A has guards who can matchup with either of these guys...and zones won't work either because Rowan can light it up.
LP is not a particularly physical team (except for a really big, strong, athletic post player 6'3" probably 230 who is raw but strong and moves well enough to be dominant in class A), nor are they very deep, but they have outstanding talent in Skovranko and Rowan. Both have a shot at being D1 players.
To me, LP has the most TALENT of any western A team. Of course, the question is wll the talent transfer to wins?
"Those who say it can't be done are being interrupted by those who are doing it."
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konjo78
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
D6A girls have some great teams this year. BG and BC as usual but portage very well is up there. Sleeper team may be Penns manor. But those other three are
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Crimson's Ghost
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
WPIAL, LP should beat any local team from around here. District 9 A basketball usually isn't too bad, maybe someone up there could give them a game.
In my opinion, Shade and Bishop Carroll are the best teams around in Class A.
The Shade kids play very well together. Wade Walker and Fyock are really nice players, and Medva and the younger Walker aren't slouches either.
Carroll may get hit hard when they play teams like that, because they start three guards under 5-10. The one positive for Carroll is that they start 4 underclassmen, so they may have a run in them next season.
In my opinion, Shade and Bishop Carroll are the best teams around in Class A.
The Shade kids play very well together. Wade Walker and Fyock are really nice players, and Medva and the younger Walker aren't slouches either.
Carroll may get hit hard when they play teams like that, because they start three guards under 5-10. The one positive for Carroll is that they start 4 underclassmen, so they may have a run in them next season.
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zonebreaker
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
Kongo the north penn that blairsville just beat is a really small d4 school. Just looked it up on piaa site. They are a and have 79 total girls in grades 9 through 11. Liberty is also single a with 79 girls. That is so small. Why is a very good blairsville team traveling so far to play little a schools. Crazy
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zonebreaker
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
Titan, I was going to say d10 west middle sex would take lp out after they lost to them by 2 in state quarters I think bc I seem to remember them having a lot back but that could be completely wrong.
But wm moved up to aa this year... Saw they opened year by losing to beaver falls by 10. Who is best in wpial aa?
But wm moved up to aa this year... Saw they opened year by losing to beaver falls by 10. Who is best in wpial aa?
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konjo78
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
I was wrong on north Penn but liberty is AAAA. I mean they could of stayed and rompted over local teams. Can't wait for them to win D6 by 40 points so I get backed up
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zonebreaker
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
Konjo I will be rooting for blairsville. D6 is a lot better than d4so I'm sure Blairsville will just take a d6 championship by 1 point. I can understand leaving district but leave district for good competition not cupcakes.
Liberty is also really small single a school. I'm talking between harmony and blacklick small. Not aaaa.
Liberty is also really small single a school. I'm talking between harmony and blacklick small. Not aaaa.
Last edited by zonebreaker on December 30th, 2012, 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Portage Alum
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
Konjo,
BG is really in a class by themselves this year in D6A girls, their highly talented senior class has been playing together for 4 years now. Portage is real good and may have the team to test them, but BG is the clear-cut favorite for a D6 and state title. Penns Manor, Claysburg, Juniata Valley, United, and Conemaugh Valley are other contenders. I don't know why you mentioned BC in this race, they have been down for a few years and are still a couple years away from being in the mix - they got whacked by a mediocre-to-poor Heights team yesterday that was missing a number of girls.
BG is really in a class by themselves this year in D6A girls, their highly talented senior class has been playing together for 4 years now. Portage is real good and may have the team to test them, but BG is the clear-cut favorite for a D6 and state title. Penns Manor, Claysburg, Juniata Valley, United, and Conemaugh Valley are other contenders. I don't know why you mentioned BC in this race, they have been down for a few years and are still a couple years away from being in the mix - they got whacked by a mediocre-to-poor Heights team yesterday that was missing a number of girls.
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zonebreaker
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Re: Christmas Tournaments
Portage you r right about the d6a girls outlook. Think bg will make title game after huge disappointment last year. Not for sure if they will win it though. Nice to see success portage is having after struggling for so many years.Portage Alum wrote:Konjo,
BG is really in a class by themselves this year in D6A girls, their highly talented senior class has been playing together for 4 years now. Portage is real good and may have the team to test them, but BG is the clear-cut favorite for a D6 and state title. Penns Manor, Claysburg, Juniata Valley, United, and Conemaugh Valley are other contenders. I don't know why you mentioned BC in this race, they have been down for a few years and are still a couple years away from being in the mix - they got whacked by a mediocre-to-poor Heights team yesterday that was missing a number of girls.
Re: Christmas Tournaments
zonebreaker and konjo,
Have to agree with zonebreaker. With Blairsville talent, why would they want to waste two non-conference games on weak teams when there are so many cupkakes on their conference schedule? Unless, of course, it is coaches desire to get as many W's as possible against weak teams. There is alot of this mindset in the HS coaching ranks and it really hurts competitive kids. You see it all the time. The problem comes in late February when some competition starts to show up and the team has to "adjust" to play real teams. This is a very difficult adjustment to make if you have seen no competition all year.
My guess is that this is the best tournament they could get into after their new coach took the job. Maybe next year they can schedule Villa, BG, Altoona, Mt Lebo, etc for their NC games. I think this team is of that calibre. Playing these top teams and getting a loss or two would better serve the kids come playoffs. If the PIAA does something to stop the Serra recruiting machine, this Blairsville team could easily win a state title.
Have to agree with zonebreaker. With Blairsville talent, why would they want to waste two non-conference games on weak teams when there are so many cupkakes on their conference schedule? Unless, of course, it is coaches desire to get as many W's as possible against weak teams. There is alot of this mindset in the HS coaching ranks and it really hurts competitive kids. You see it all the time. The problem comes in late February when some competition starts to show up and the team has to "adjust" to play real teams. This is a very difficult adjustment to make if you have seen no competition all year.
My guess is that this is the best tournament they could get into after their new coach took the job. Maybe next year they can schedule Villa, BG, Altoona, Mt Lebo, etc for their NC games. I think this team is of that calibre. Playing these top teams and getting a loss or two would better serve the kids come playoffs. If the PIAA does something to stop the Serra recruiting machine, this Blairsville team could easily win a state title.