My PIAA All Tournament Team (Boys)

Post by **Coach** » March 22nd, 2004, 10:49 am

After watching the championships games these are my selections for an All Tournament team:

Forward #21 Akida McLain- Penn Hills
McLain is headed to Boston College on a full scholarship next season, and he showed glimpses of his future at the state tournament this weekend. The 6'7" McLain went 7-14 from the floor and 4-4 from the foul stripe to total 18 points. McLain was also huge on the glass as he pulled down a team high 14 rebounds, and many of those were of the offensive nature which gave Penn Hills some nice looks on second chances.

Forward #13 Brett Manney- Holy Ghost Prep
The 6'3" forward was the best player on the floor in the AAA game even though he played on the losing team. Manney shot 69% from the floor going 9 of 13 for 20 points. Brett also pulled down a team high 7 rebounds. Without Manney's contributions, Moon might have beaten HGP by 10+.

Forward #15 John Geiger- Sto-Rox
Geiger was a spark plug for the AA champions of Sto-Rox. Geiger was only 3-9 from the field, but the 6'4" Senior was not afraid to keep going at the rim. This put him on the line 11 times (the second most attempts in the game was only 3) and he made 10 of them, many in clutch situations. In total, John scored a game high 18 points. The fiery Geiger also pulled down 9 rebounds for the Vikings.

Guard #13 Adam DiMichele- Sto-Rox
DiMichele was in charge of the AA game from the opening tip. This Penn State football recruit looked as if he could play for DeChellis' basketball squad. The 6'1" senior PG was 8-19 from the floor for 16 points. The most amazing statistic though were his 13 rebounds. DiMichele had some hops and he needed it with all those big boys on the floor.

Guard #3 Tim Crossin- Bishop O'Reilly
Crossin scored more points than anyone in any of the championship games as he went 9-15 from the floor and 10-12 from the foul line to score 31 points. Crossin was also a tremendous defender as he had a number of steals that were converted into points. O'Reilly fans are lucky because Mr. Crossin will be back for yet another season as he is only a junior.

WPIAL~Titan · Post by **WPIAL~Titan** » March 22nd, 2004, 11:51 am

Good choices. Hard to argue with them. Moon's MJ Knight had a heckuva 4th quarter, though, didn't he?

If there was an honorable mention, I'd definitely include Knight and Harvey from Penn Hills. Both have D1 quickness and athleticism...Too bad Knight is 5'7" tall and will end up at a PSAC because of this. Harvey will be playing WR at a major D1 after he graduates in '05. PSU has already offered.

Knight, McClain and Harvey are the types of athletes that would come along once in a century at most D-5/6 schools and all 3 are on the same HS hoops team at AAAA PHills. Amazing, isn't it?

WT

snaphooker22 · Post by **snaphooker22** » March 22nd, 2004, 4:06 pm

I agree that it is a heck of an athletic team.

Penn Hills has tons of players to choose from every year.

You need to quit comparing WPIAL schools to dist. 5 and 6 man. We know we are usually not as good. And we know the reason for that is we don't have as many people. I can't wait til next year when the Philly schools join the PIAA. We'll see just how good the WPIAL is then. Can you say Franklin Learning Center? Or Simon Gratz? Strawberry Mansion? wooops.

WPIAL~Titan · Post by **WPIAL~Titan** » March 22nd, 2004, 4:19 pm

Hey, I believe you were the poster who said you "were not all that impressed with Penn Hills's guards." Well, were you impressed Saturday night?

Don't be so sure about Philly...Chester High competes with some of the best from Philly every year.

The REAL kicker is going to be the fact that some of those Philly Public League schools who have AA and AAA enrollment will be playing WITHIN their class and choosing NOT to play up!!! Some of those schools have kids walking the halls who are such good athletes and are not even on teams who could pick up a team on their own and win 5 or 6-AA.

Imagine a Philly Public League school against District 5 and 6 AAs. Can you say, "Mercy rule in the 1st quarter and Leave the women and children at home!"????

WT

snaphooker22 · Post by **snaphooker22** » March 22nd, 2004, 4:29 pm

It always has to come back to little old D5 and 6. Also, how many private schools do we have compared to them? And how many potential recruits do they have to choose from? It isn't even close.

snaphooker22 · Post by **snaphooker22** » March 22nd, 2004, 4:30 pm

And no I was still not impressed with their guards. Who on Parkland's team even looked like they could guard them? Although I did see Austin Scott in attendance, they should have suited him up.

Get Harrisburg against PH and we would see how impressive they are when the Cougars run them ragged.

HOLLYWOOD · Post by **HOLLYWOOD** » March 22nd, 2004, 4:53 pm

WPIAL Titan,

Get a clue, saying that Philly schools will not give Pittsburgh and the West some trouble??? I think Philly has better players and teams than an all-star team from Pittsburgh. D 5 and 6 can't compete, heck they should just not even play hoops anymore!!! All I have to say is no more talk on these boards until you know what the heck you are talking about since you are not from the D 5 and 6 area now!!

Post by **Head Roadie** » March 22nd, 2004, 5:41 pm

Can't we all just get along???!!!! Everytime W~T says D5 or 6 please translate to D9 or 10/ D 2 or 4 if it makes you feel better.... We're all the same when it comes to A and AA basketball. He uses 5/6 because this is a 5/6 message board. Don't take it so personal. Substitute West Forest (D10) or Canton (D4) everytime W~T brings up the Hyndmans and Fannett-Metal's of the world. Bottom line is you could sub D1 or D3 for the WPIAL also. Districts 1,3, and 7 are the "have's" and the rest of us, for the most part, are the "have nots"

Bottom line is W~T knows his stuff about HS hoops (and sports in general) and if you don't take things so personally you could appreciate that. And even though I know it's hard for him to do and he might throw me in the Mon River for saying this....He's said positive things about our athletes, coaches, etc. to me in conversation as well....even Nas!!!

I know there is no question he's one of the top 2-3 guys I can have an intelligent conversation about regarding HS hoops teams and players in this state and I appreciate that.

Enough of my monthly mediation....out.

Post by **Coach** » March 22nd, 2004, 5:59 pm

I get frustrated by it too though HR. The guy rags us all the time. An A or AA school here is in hickville Titan. We aren't claiming to have state champs or all that, but teams can be good "around here" without comparing them all the time. Teams like Monesson and Rochester and schools in the WPIAL have athletic city type kids. They are schools that are poor, but at the same time the poor kids out there often turn to sports as a way out. Around here, the poor turn towards ragging on athletes. We also have a bunch of kids that do have to go home and work on the farm and stuff like that. We just aren't a city. An A school in or close to the city will almost always have much better hoop talent than we have around here.

I know his comparisons can be taken to other districts too, but those districts still have schools from the Erie region. We have Altoona and Johnstown and State College as our "cities" and you can see the private schools around them doing well. Carroll, Guilfoyle, and McCort often do very well because they can get the kids that are more upper class which often translates into a better athlete because their parents can do more for them. Our bigger schools like Altoona and State have won titles too, but they never get mentioned by the Titan or us for that matter. The fact is, many people don't care as much about the big time hoops around here because that isn't what we see on a daily basis.

I understand we aren't that great or anything, but it doesn't need rubbed in everytime a post is made. You see AAAA WPIAL ball nearly everytime you watch hoops. We see two tiny A schools from hickville going at it...WE KNOW THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!

Enough said...get back on topic please

WPIAL~Titan · Post by **WPIAL~Titan** » March 22nd, 2004, 6:16 pm

...Hey, I HAVE indeed accomplished my objective in this thread!!!!!!

I stirred the pot enough on this topic to get a few feathers ruffled.

Isn't one of the goals of this messageboard to provide a forum for discussion and debate about hs sports?

Congratulations, gentlemen, you took WPIAL~Titans bait!

Hasn't Head Roadie taught you guys any better???

Coach, don't take things so personally. I do have some strong opinions (which if you combined them with $0.99, you'd get a large coffee at Sheetz--Which, by the way, was invented in District 5/6 territory!) and sometimes they're dead wrong. More often than not, though, my opinions are informed and based on reality rather than perception. I always enjoy voicing my strong opinions about hs sports and even moreso enjoy a well-informed, cogent, coherent rebuttal.

BTW, Coach, I hope that you read my apology to you above regarding Saturday night. I was trying to do 3-4 things at once and watch my son. Sorry I was distracted, and I honestly wasn't intentionally giving you the brush off.

Here's the deal, Coach: I invite you and Head Roadie out to our camp at Canoe Creek this summer (June 25-July 2, you pick the evening)and we'll sit around the campfire and talk hs sports as long as you want...and the food/drink will be one me!

Hollywood and snaphooker22, you may come, too.

BTW, Head Rodie, I appreciate your vote of confidence.

You guys who know HR don't know how good you have it...Head Roadie is a textbook of PA HS hoops knowledge and one heckuva great guy to boot.

Hey HR, wanna sit in the front row, center court with me next year beside all the WPIAL brass??? ;)

WT

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