Many high school coaches want their teams to participate in either a tip-off or holiday tournament so players become accustomed to competing in games on consecutive days.

The idea is that they could face that situation in the WPIAL or PIAA playoffs.

But playing games on three consecutive days three times in the same season is a bit much.

That is exactly what the Chartiers Valley boys' team will do, however. The Colts have already managed the feat twice and won all three each time.

Chartiers Valley (14-1, 4-0) played three consecutive game Dec. 13-15 at the KSA Disney Classic in Orlando, Fla., and then did it again Jan. 3-5 when the Colts defeated Brentwood, Trinity and Bethel Park.

Those would have been the only triple plays, but the Colts were invited to take part in the Pittsburgh Hoops Classic at Duquesne University's Palumbo Center and shifted its Feb. 4 game against Upper St. Clair to 3 p.m. Jan. 27 as part of the classic.

That means the Colts will play Trinity Jan. 25, Greensburg Salem Jan. 26 and then Upper St. Clair.

"It was a chance for us to play at Palumbo and I jumped at the opportunity," Chartiers Valley coach Tim McConnell said.

Not so coincidentally, Palumbo is also the site of the WPIAL championship games.

Playing three consecutive days doesn't allow for any preparation time for the second and third games, save for quick scouting reports and words of encouragement, which is OK with McConnell.

"We pretty much just worry about what we have to do and not what the other team is doing," he said.

Now there is no question the rankings in high school basketball are only arbitrary and when whittled down are nothing more than the opinion of us lame-brain sportswriters.

But, a lot of people do put some weight into them and I thought something needs to be mentioned:

In the latest PIAA state rankings, which are compiled by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the Serra Catholic boys' team (11-1, 5-0) earned the No. 1 ranking in Class A while the Serra girls' team (7-3, 3-1) is ranked No. 7.

Serra is one of just four schools in the state whose boys' and girls' teams both were ranked in the top 10, joining Bethlehem Liberty (Class AAAA), Hopewell (Class AAA) and Farrell (Class AA boys, Class A girls).

The Bethel Park boys' junior varsity and varsity home basketball games scheduled for Friday, Jan. 18 against Peters Township have been moved from 6 and 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 and 7 p.m.

Many times it isn't that one player who can help lead a team to great heights, but the effort of a solid 1-2 punch. Seems this season, Keystone Oaks is a program that has offered -- just about better than anyone else -- a potent tandem with 6-1 senior guard Jimmy Taylor and 6-3 junior swingman Corey Bellovich.

After Tuesday's 71-43 victory against Ringgold, Taylor is averaging 19.7 points per game while Bellovich is averaging 18.4 for a Golden Eagles team that is 9-7 overall but more importantly 4-0 in Section 4-AAA and tied for first place with Chartiers Valley.

On top of that, both players are closing in on the 1,000-career-points barrier. Taylor needs 19 points to reach that plateau and Bellovich needs 93 to reach the milestone.

We have located former McKeesport basketball star Ryan Sturgess, the subject of the last search committee.

Several e-mails indicated that Sturgess is alive and well. I even got one from his father, Paul, which said:

"My wife and I are pleased, and surprised, to see that someone remembered -- maybe not so much the springboard accident. Ryan is doing well. He is back in McKeesport, teaching computer science for the McKeesport Area School District. He is the coach of the junior varsity basketball team and an assistant for the varsity team.

"Once a Tiger, always a Tiger!"

So there we have it, Sturgess is accounted for and good for him for giving back to his community.

Now to this week's subject -- here is an all-points bulletin for Ruben Montanez.

A native of Puerto Rico, Montanez played just one season at the former Bishop Boyle High School in Homestead for coach Fran Mannion. Even though he played just one season with the Lancers, he earned a scholarship to Duquesne where his final season was 1972-73.

So it is up to you to let me know and, in this space next week, I'll post Montanez's whereabouts ... if someone can confirm them.

Please send me your e-mail responses with your name and hometown to the address listed below by Monday morning.