BleacherCoaches.com

Okay I'll be a real man and admit I was completely wrong about this Trojan team. They are explosive and have lots of good players.Despite their lack of workouts and practices, they came together and have been a solid team I'm still not sold on Coach for the long term, but his debut has certainly been a hit. Cliff Eddins may certainly be one of the top 2-3 athletes left in AAA basketball this year. He can shoot better then last year and his quickness is unmatched by anyone. Also the throw downs from the 6 foot guard are quite impressive. Throw in the ball handling and consistent scoring from Agurs and Watson, and the athletic big guys Thompson, Hasselrig, and Alkwaun Williams. Plus sharp shooter Konar off the bench. This team can definitely win a few games in the state tournament. If they happen to run into Chartiers Valley, they probably will take a beat down. But theres no shame in that because just about everyone else has suffered beat downs at the hands of TJ McConnell and Char Valley. But I wish this team best of luck and they certainly have a bright future.

I think Jtown could actually give Char Valley problems with their athleticism and comfort level in playing uptempo. The issue would be could Jtowns PG and guards handle the constant pressure. I think Jtown could pressure CV.

CV traps and pressures all over the floor. They play very fast and average around 82ppg. That constant pressure would be a nightmare for Jtown to play against. McConnell is very good, but I think Jtown has players athletic enough to guard him...The question would be guarding him in a disciplined way (ie-not going for fakes, etc.)

With that said, I doubt if CV-Jtown will happen...Assuming CV will be the WPIAL champ, they wouldn't meet until the western semis...If CV gets the 7-2 seed, they couldn't meet until the western finals.

WPIAL AAA is exceptionally weak outside of Char Valley and Hampton. Jtown is more talented than any WPIAL team except those two teams.

Also, let's be honest: NOBODY out of the western half of the boys' AAA bracket has a prayer against Archbishop Carroll or Neuman-Goretti. Jtown would lose to those 2 teams by 30. They lost to ALTOONA for God's sake. I'll give the western bracket champ 15, maybe even 18 against either of those two teams. Archbishop Carroll embarassed Greensburg-Salem last year by 21, but that game could've been 35+ if AC had kept their foot on the gas.

Johnstown is going to struggle if the team they are playing has good guards. If you can handle Johnstown's pressure, then they lose their advantage. example 1. They lost to Forest Hills this year. Why? because Luke Gallagher is a very very good guard that can score. So the unlikeliness of Johnstown playing Char. Valley is high, If it were to come to that, Char Valley can score and have guards that can handle the pressure, Luke Gallagher is good....TJ McConnell is that much better.


And as for Western Pa. not having a chance, I disagree. This year's Chartiers Valley is legit. They can play with those guys. They are my state championship pick.

And for AAAA, I'm going to take Mt. Lebanon. Although Mt. Lebo's loss this year was at the hands of Archbishop Carroll, I still think they are capable of beating just about anyone. They beat the #4 player in the country's team. They went to Florida and beat good teams. I think MT Lebanon and Chartiers Valley are both capable of winning it all.....As for lower classifications,

AA WPIAL is usually top of the line. But they seem to be lacking a little this year. Jeanette Aliquippa and Beaver Falls are all down. North Catholic is not nearly as good as they were the past two years.


A. Sewickley's Tom Droney(Davidson recruit) is going to carry this team pretty far. I think he may take them to Penn State to have a matchup against Pitt recruit John Johnson of Girard College.

As much as I hate to say it Johnstown will have a tough fight their first round game. They will play the loser of York Suburban(22-4) and Susquehanna Twp.(15-9). It will more than likely be Susquehanna Twp. and they have athletic kids to match up with Johnstown. I hope I'm wrong but Johnstown's recent history against district 3 is not very good.

yeah two years ago against Steel High and last year against Lancaster Catholic