Mike White looks back at the night the lights went out at North Allegheny ...

A power outage Tuesday night at North Allegheny forced a PIAA basketball playoff doubleheader to be moved to North Hills. The ordeal had a number of people wondering if a situation like this ever occurred before, when games were moved and played the same day or night.

Actually, a similar thing happened five years ago - and North Allegheny was involved again.

On Feb. 22, 2003, North Allegheny was scheduled to host a Saturday afternoon tripleheader in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs. Less than a half hour before the start of the first game, one of the backboards came crashing to the floor. No one was hurt, but all three games were moved to Seneca Valley and played later in the day.

On Tuesday, it was a power outage that caused the change of venue. With 6:30 left in the fourth quarter of the Greensburg Central Catholic-Our Lady of the Sacred Heart girls' game, the lights went out at North Allegheny's gymnasium. School officials were told a nearby car accident knocked down a transformer.

School officials were told the lights would be out for anywhere from an hour to five hours. So the games were moved south, down Route 19 to North Hills. The girls finished their game and then the Blackhawk boys played Greensburg Salem. The boys' game didn't finish until almost 11 p.m.

"I think this night will make for chapter 7,519 in my book that I write when I retire," said North Allegheny athletic director Bob Bozzutto, tongue in cheek .