Fans often get hung up on numbers.

A full scholarship to a Division I college is considered better than a full scholarship to a Division II college. Ambridge girls' coach Kim Tirik said that isn't necessarily the case.

"Sometimes, it's not all it's cracked up to be," she said.

That's why Tirik is pleased that her star player, Kiki Brown, has accepted a scholarship to California University of Pennsylvania.

Brown, a 5-foot-8 guard, was the WPIAL's second-leading scorer during the regular season, averaging 25.8 points per game. She received some interest from Duquesne University early on, but it came down to a choice between California and Edinboro.

"I told Kiki that it's a full ride and she isn't going to have to pay anything, and that's the most important thing," Tirik said. "Plus, she'll be going to an outstanding program and at the very least have a chance to play for the PSAC title every year."

Brown also has a chance to see a lot of playing time as a freshman. California has three senior players -- Katie Benick, Emily Briggs and Amanda Evans -- who will be leaving the program.

"I told her, 'Look at the Moon kids [who have gone to Division I programs]. They're playing 5 to 10 minutes and averaging one or two points a game. You're used to playing a lot and will get a chance to play a lot,'" Tirik said.

"The thing is, she likes [coach] Darcie [Vincent]. After sitting down and talking with Darcie for a long time Kiki said she sounded just like me," Tirik said. "She'll only be an hour away from home and, from a selfish standpoint, I'll get a lot of opportunities to go see her play."

The WPIAL is one of the few districts in the PIAA that has its teams play "follow-the-leader" through its playoffs for qualifying and seeding purposes for the PIAA tournaments.

By that formula, the team that loses to the WPIAL champion is the No. 3 team from the WPIAL in the PIAA tournament and the team that loses to the runner-up is the No. 4 team.

That's fine when, as in boys' and girls' Class AA, all eight teams that advance to the WPIAL quarterfinals earn spots in the PIAA field. It's not right when, as in Class AAAA and AAA, only six schools from the WPIAL advance to the PIAA tournament.

Why not have the teams that lost in the quarterfinals in those classifications play off for the WPIAL's No. 5 and No. 6 spots in the PIAA field. That way there wouldn't be a coach -- for example, Upper St. Clair's boys' coach Danny Holzer -- sitting in the stands at a semifinal wearing a McKeesport sweatshirt. Holzer needed McKeesport to defeat Central Catholic for his team to qualify for the PIAA tournament. By the way, that didn't happen.

All the WPIAL would have to do would be to have the quarterfinal losers play two games -- a doubleheader at a neutral site -- to decide the No. 5 and No. 6 teams for the PIAA tournament.

OK, so the crowd for that doubleheader would probably be small and the WPIAL would probably want to schedule it on an off night from its championship games. The point is, it could be done.

When asked if any thought had been given to doing something like that, WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley said "No."

His reasoning is that the WPIAL plays follow-the-leader through playoff brackets in its other sports -- baseball, softball, etc. -- to decide seedings for the PIAA tournaments and wants to keep things the same.

That doesn't make it right and it's not 100 percent correct. As long as an even number of teams advance to the PIAA, no games are played. But in baseball and softball, where three teams from the WPIAL advance, a game is played to decide the No. 3 team. Why should basketball be different?

Here's a good example of why basketball games should be played out to determine PIAA spots.

In boys' Class AA, Farrell lost to Girard in the District 10 semifinals. Farrell then defeated Fairview in a consolation game and entered the PIAA tournament as the No. 3 team from District 10. North East beat Girard in the District 10 final.

If District 10 did the same follow-the-leader system as the WPIAL, Farrell's season would have ended when North East beat Girard. Instead, Farrell earned a spot in the PIAA field and knocked off WPIAL runner-up Beaver Falls in a first-round game.

Should Beaver Falls reach the PIAA Class AA boys' tournament next season, the Tigers won't have to worry about going against former Section 3 rival Farrell.

Farrell (24-4) knocked off Beaver Falls, 82-71, in the first round of the tournament this past Saturday. The two schools used to knock heads in basketball and football in the 1960s and '70s.

Farrell is expected to be good again next season (no surprise) in basketball, as is Beaver Falls. But Farrell, a Class A school, has asked to play in Class AAA for the next two seasons.

It is unusual for a school to move up two classifications in a sport.