Updates 3/13

[zonebreaker]

just saw piaa had villa maria 47 canevin 30. whichever score, though, vm is still very good. Forest Hills-Villa Maria game should be good. hopefully IUP instead of slippery rock!

[zonebreaker]

boys A: visionquest 68 vincentian 61. figured visionquest might win one or two after seeing them defeat nc

boys A: west middlesex needed two ot's to get by johnsonburg. big surprise that it was so close. interested to see how lincoln park-west middlesex goes on Friday

any word on shade-lincoln park?

[sppawfan]

shade lost down by 30 late to lincoln. Fyock got his 1000 point tonight. Congrats to ryan and to shade and to the c.t girls. Both had tough draws. Probably the two best teams. Also congrats to f.h. girls making it to the elite eight.

[Ghost]

Final: Montour 50, New Castle 43 in OT. Wow, NC was undefeated (28-0) and ranked #2 in the state.

[Coach]

Wow, New Castle going down is a pretty big surprise this early.... Titan, did you think it could happen?

[6 Sports]

In case anyone missed the highlights from last night, Forest Hills, Township, Johnstown, Shade in that order....

http://www.wjactv.com/videos/news/piaa- ... rls/vGXx9/

[WPIAL~Titan]

I definitely thought that NeCaHi could lose. Montour was the only team in the west that could slow them down enough to make that happen with 6'3" PG Devin Wilson. Wilson is the real deal, he will be a low to mid-major D1 PG in college. NC was averaging something like 78ppg and the score was 40-40 at the end of regulation.

To illustrate how slowly the game was played, Montour took only 26 shots and made 16, according to the PG article from this morning. That's 62% from the field and the game went to OT. Normally, if a team shoots 62%, they win by a lot.

In playoff basketball, every possession counts. Teams like NC who rely on running and pressing can be slowed down at this time of year because everyone who is left playing is very very good.

NC is moving up to AAAA next year and they will be more than competitive with 5-6 key players retunring, they may even be the pre-season WPIAL #1 team in AAAA.

[psycho]

zonebreaker, congrats to FH girls. Their AAU play in summer is paying off. Glad to see their coach follow the same template as the westy and mccort girls who built their programs with real AAU summer competition. I hope they go all the way.

It can be done. Several years ago the mccort team beat #1 ranked Villa Marie in the AA semi final when Villa had a bunch of kids who played at the next level and couple D1 players including Kayla McBride who starts at Notre Dame. The competition FH will face in Canevin is not close to that level but I am sure the game will be intense. FH has a very legit shot at getting to the final four.

titan, montour is terrific. they controlled the tempo to perfection in this game. the coaching cream really rises to the top at this time of the year. the point guard is legit mid major. best of luck to them rest of the way.

[WPIAL~Titan]

Indeed, Montour is an excellent team. I saw them play very early last season. As you recall, Montour made the PIAA AAA final last year. Even though they lost to Shaler by about 20 in the game I saw them play, you could tell that they were solid.

This year's team is really helped a lot by the transfer of Lewis from North Catholic. He's 6'5" and bulky and makes a world of difference for them in the post. Add him with two other D1 athletes (Wilson and Buechele) and you have a top notch bball team

At this time of year when you're down to the final 16 teams in the state in each class, let's be honest: EVERY TEAM is good and can beat ANYONE ELSE.

The teams who have an excellent point guard who can control the tempo of games, spread out other teams, and defend well and can get physical, whether it's m2m, zone, or pressure can do well. It's not always the teams with the best athletes or the most talent who advance, unless you're a team like Chester who has just ridiculous talent and athletes.

There is a lot of pressure at this time of year, and coaching really comes into play too. Every possession becomes extremely important. That's why you see a lot of games with scores in the 40s and 50s.

[sportsfan1000]

I thought the private school supporters would be all over this one. That kid from Montour that transfered from North Catholic has been ineligible all year because it was determined he transfered for athletic intent. Where are you Jack Daniels???