Scholastic Notebook...
Posted: January 28th, 2006, 11:13 pm
Scholastic Notebook ..............
1/28/2006 -
It’s not as if the Montour boys’ basketball team is having a bad season. The Spartans head into the Jan. 27th game against Ambridge with a 13-5 record. But with a few points here or there, Montour could actually be undefeated.
It’s hard to imagine a team in the state that has had as many tough losses as Montour. The Spartans’ five losses are by a total of "10" points. One loss was in double overtime and two were in overtime.
“We’ve won a few close games, too,” said Montour coach Frank Guerra. “I told our guys that just a play or two in clutch situations, hitting a shot or making a good pass, and who knows what our record could be.”
Montour has lost to Brentwood, 51-49; Blackhawk, 71-70; Hopewell, 72-71; Moon, 81-77; Canon-McMillan, 67-65.
Montour is 4-3 in W.P.I.A.L. Class (AAA) Section #2 and battling for the fourth and final playoff spot with Ambridge.
Although the many close losses are tough to deal with, there is a positive side to this. It was only two years ago that Montour couldn’t even get close. The Spartans were 2-22 in the 2003-04 season.
“We’re not happy just being close,” Guerra said. “But the kids know we’re right there. I tell them that if they can continue to improve and work hard, we’ll get the job done.
“No one can say now that Montour is weak or that Montour is this and that. We’ve demonstrated that we can compete with anyone in Triple-A.”
Quips Rolling...........
The season started off badly for the Aliquippa boys’ basketball team when it lost to Quaker Valley, 87-56, on opening night. But there might not be a WPIAL team in any classification playing better than the Quips lately.
Aliquippa has won "14" games in a row. During that time, the Quips are averaging 80 points a game. They have been particularly hard to stop recently, averaging 85.8 points over the past five games.
They Rate....................
One of the top girls’ basketball teams in the country is in Pittsburgh. At least that’s what USA Today http://www.SI.com say.
Oakland Catholic is ranked No. #2 in the country by USA Today and No. #11 by SI.com. Oakland Catholic has a big game Saturday night against Regina, Ohio, which is ranked No. #9 in the Midwest by USA Today.
Still Coaching
For the previous "25" winters, Harry Jenkins was in a Fox hole. He was Fox Chapel’s boys’ basketball coach for a quarter century, compiling a 316-270 record.
He retired after last season, but coaching is still in his blood, just on a different level. Jenkins is now an assistant coach for Scott Lang at LaRoche College.
Back Soon...................
Quaker Valley star guard Amir Johnson is expected to return to the team in the final week of the regular season.
Johnson, a senior guard, suffered a broken hand in a game Dec.19th and hasn’t played since.
Johnson was off to a tremendous start, averaging 30.9 points in seven games. Quaker Valley has performed admirably in his absence, but the Quakers were blasted by South Fayette, 84-48, this past Tuesday.
Quaker Valley is now 14-5 overall and 6-2 in section. South Fayette and Bishop Canevin lead the section with 6-1 records.
Next, Please..........................
The revolving door at South Allegheny continues to turn and Mike LeDonne is the next one to step through it.
LeDonne was hired as South Allegheny’s football coach earlier this week. He will be the Gladiators’ fourth coach in the past five seasons. He succeeds Frank Cortazzo, who was not brought back after going 2-18 the past two seasons. Pat Risha and Jim Ward were the coaches in the two seasons before Cortazzo.
LeDonne is a former head coach at Elizabeth Forward. He was most recently an assistant coach at Serra under Rich Bowen.
Jennings Decides............................
Trinity running back Ben Jennings, who led the entire W.P.I.A.L. in rushing last season, will attend Mercyhurst.
Left Off....................................
It’s always interesting to see what Pennsylvania players made the Big "33" all-star football game. The roster was announced last weekend.
But it might be more interesting to see who didn’t make the game. There are some players in Pennsylvania who were pretty heavily recruited, but weren’t selected to the Pennsylvania team.
Some were surprised Mechanicsburg quarterback Zach Frazer didn’t make it. He is a Notre Dame recruit who set a state single-season passing record as a junior. But his production went way down as a senior.
The two Pennsylvania quarterbacks are Downingtown East’s Pat Devlin (Penn State recruit) and South Park’s Connor Dixon (Michigan State). Frazer had a bigger reputation than Dixon, but Dixon helped South Park to a P.I.A.A. Class (AA) title and is also a good runner.
Also not on the Pennsylvania roster was Harrisburg linebacker Jeremiha Hunter, who has a number of Division I college offers.
From the W.P.I.A.L., Woodland Hills receiver Wesley Lyons and Trinity tight end/offensive lineman Andrew Miller are two Division I recruits who were not selected. That might be surprising to some. Lyons is headed to West Virginia and Miller to Ohio State.
“I was a little disappointed, but I can’t do anything about it,” Lyons said. “We didn’t have the best passing game this year.”
Players are selected for the game by a committee of coaches, who review films of all players.
Where Are They Now ????????????????????????????????????????
North Allegheny graduate E.J. Kusnyer is a freshman guard at Centenary, a Division I college in Louisiana. Kusnyer has started four games and is averaging 2.7 points while playing 7.9 minutes.
Centenary plays in the Mid-Continent Conference and has a 4-15 record.
"THE CHOPS".
1/28/2006 -
It’s not as if the Montour boys’ basketball team is having a bad season. The Spartans head into the Jan. 27th game against Ambridge with a 13-5 record. But with a few points here or there, Montour could actually be undefeated.
It’s hard to imagine a team in the state that has had as many tough losses as Montour. The Spartans’ five losses are by a total of "10" points. One loss was in double overtime and two were in overtime.
“We’ve won a few close games, too,” said Montour coach Frank Guerra. “I told our guys that just a play or two in clutch situations, hitting a shot or making a good pass, and who knows what our record could be.”
Montour has lost to Brentwood, 51-49; Blackhawk, 71-70; Hopewell, 72-71; Moon, 81-77; Canon-McMillan, 67-65.
Montour is 4-3 in W.P.I.A.L. Class (AAA) Section #2 and battling for the fourth and final playoff spot with Ambridge.
Although the many close losses are tough to deal with, there is a positive side to this. It was only two years ago that Montour couldn’t even get close. The Spartans were 2-22 in the 2003-04 season.
“We’re not happy just being close,” Guerra said. “But the kids know we’re right there. I tell them that if they can continue to improve and work hard, we’ll get the job done.
“No one can say now that Montour is weak or that Montour is this and that. We’ve demonstrated that we can compete with anyone in Triple-A.”
Quips Rolling...........
The season started off badly for the Aliquippa boys’ basketball team when it lost to Quaker Valley, 87-56, on opening night. But there might not be a WPIAL team in any classification playing better than the Quips lately.
Aliquippa has won "14" games in a row. During that time, the Quips are averaging 80 points a game. They have been particularly hard to stop recently, averaging 85.8 points over the past five games.
They Rate....................
One of the top girls’ basketball teams in the country is in Pittsburgh. At least that’s what USA Today http://www.SI.com say.
Oakland Catholic is ranked No. #2 in the country by USA Today and No. #11 by SI.com. Oakland Catholic has a big game Saturday night against Regina, Ohio, which is ranked No. #9 in the Midwest by USA Today.
Still Coaching
For the previous "25" winters, Harry Jenkins was in a Fox hole. He was Fox Chapel’s boys’ basketball coach for a quarter century, compiling a 316-270 record.
He retired after last season, but coaching is still in his blood, just on a different level. Jenkins is now an assistant coach for Scott Lang at LaRoche College.
Back Soon...................
Quaker Valley star guard Amir Johnson is expected to return to the team in the final week of the regular season.
Johnson, a senior guard, suffered a broken hand in a game Dec.19th and hasn’t played since.
Johnson was off to a tremendous start, averaging 30.9 points in seven games. Quaker Valley has performed admirably in his absence, but the Quakers were blasted by South Fayette, 84-48, this past Tuesday.
Quaker Valley is now 14-5 overall and 6-2 in section. South Fayette and Bishop Canevin lead the section with 6-1 records.
Next, Please..........................
The revolving door at South Allegheny continues to turn and Mike LeDonne is the next one to step through it.
LeDonne was hired as South Allegheny’s football coach earlier this week. He will be the Gladiators’ fourth coach in the past five seasons. He succeeds Frank Cortazzo, who was not brought back after going 2-18 the past two seasons. Pat Risha and Jim Ward were the coaches in the two seasons before Cortazzo.
LeDonne is a former head coach at Elizabeth Forward. He was most recently an assistant coach at Serra under Rich Bowen.
Jennings Decides............................
Trinity running back Ben Jennings, who led the entire W.P.I.A.L. in rushing last season, will attend Mercyhurst.
Left Off....................................
It’s always interesting to see what Pennsylvania players made the Big "33" all-star football game. The roster was announced last weekend.
But it might be more interesting to see who didn’t make the game. There are some players in Pennsylvania who were pretty heavily recruited, but weren’t selected to the Pennsylvania team.
Some were surprised Mechanicsburg quarterback Zach Frazer didn’t make it. He is a Notre Dame recruit who set a state single-season passing record as a junior. But his production went way down as a senior.
The two Pennsylvania quarterbacks are Downingtown East’s Pat Devlin (Penn State recruit) and South Park’s Connor Dixon (Michigan State). Frazer had a bigger reputation than Dixon, but Dixon helped South Park to a P.I.A.A. Class (AA) title and is also a good runner.
Also not on the Pennsylvania roster was Harrisburg linebacker Jeremiha Hunter, who has a number of Division I college offers.
From the W.P.I.A.L., Woodland Hills receiver Wesley Lyons and Trinity tight end/offensive lineman Andrew Miller are two Division I recruits who were not selected. That might be surprising to some. Lyons is headed to West Virginia and Miller to Ohio State.
“I was a little disappointed, but I can’t do anything about it,” Lyons said. “We didn’t have the best passing game this year.”
Players are selected for the game by a committee of coaches, who review films of all players.
Where Are They Now ????????????????????????????????????????
North Allegheny graduate E.J. Kusnyer is a freshman guard at Centenary, a Division I college in Louisiana. Kusnyer has started four games and is averaging 2.7 points while playing 7.9 minutes.
Centenary plays in the Mid-Continent Conference and has a 4-15 record.
"THE CHOPS".