While nothing official has been determined, it appears as if Geneva College will help fill in at least part of the void in the holiday tournament schedule that was created by the demise of the Blackhawk Christmas Classic.

The classic, an eight-team boys' tournament, closed down after 30 years this past December. Enter Geneva and men's coach Jeff Santarsiero.

"Right now, I'd say it's 50-50 that we're going to host a tournament," Santarsiero said. "We certainly aren't trying to take the place of the Blackhawk tournament, but there is an opening with it ending. I'd say the chances are good we're going to do it."

There is also the possibility of holding a girls' holiday tournament at the same time. Both would be four-team affairs

WPIAL Class AA runner-up Beaver Falls and Poland, Ohio, one of the top teams in the Buckeye state, have expressed interest in participating. Riverside could also be a possibility.

Something Santarsiero has to work out in the coming weeks are dates for the tournament. He is looking at Dec. 18-19, Dec. 22-23 or Dec. 29-30.

"We [Geneva] are off during that time, so that's not a problem. The thing is, they usually do [refinish] the court at that time of year. It takes about three days to do the floor and then a few more to let it dry.

"If they do the floor before Christmas, then we might want to hold the tournament the following week. But it's something I'd like to do, and I think it's going to happen."

The PIAA championships are tomorrow and Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa. After the postseason, it's the all-star season.

Geneva College's Metheny Fieldhouse will again be the site for the Roundball Classic. There will be boys' and girls' all-star games April 12.

"This is the fifth year for it at our place and I think we've earned recognition of being the best all-star game around," said Santarsiero, who sets up the facilities for the Roundball. "We had a nice crowd last year, about 1,500, and we had some good players in the game. [Pitt center] DeJuan Blair was in it and he was worth the price of admission."

One of the area seniors Roundball Classic officials would like to get is Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor.

"He seems to have a crowd following him around," Santarsiero said.

Another all-star game -- the 13th annual Hoops for a Cure -- will take place at Chartiers Valley High School March 28. Colts coach Tim McConnell is helping put the game together.

"We used to have players from our section [4-AAA] play an all-star team, but when they cut the section [to seven teams] this season we decided to go Triple-A vs. the WPIAL."

Funds from the game go to pancreatic cancer research. McConnell said the game has helped raise move than $1 million.

This year's contest at 6:30 p.m. will be followed by a game between the Steelers and Chartiers Valley alumni.

There was a time when West Allegheny senior Derrik Zeroski figured he would play baseball in college. But after the basketball season he had, Zeroski, a 6-foot-1 guard, is starting to get some interest in that sport.

"We're just feeling things out right now," West Allegheny coach Josh Bears said. "There have been a couple of calls. I don't know what the level of interest is yet, and that's something we hope to find out."

Bears said he has been trying to get Clarion University coaches interested in Zeroski, who averaged 23.4 points per game, second-highest in the WPIAL, and set the school's single-season record with 562 points.

"He's athletic and his skill level improved tremendously this season," Bears said. "He's just so quick off the dribble and he can jump out of the gym."

Bears believes Zeroski, who also averaged five rebounds a game, can play point guard at the next level and would fit in at any Division II or III program. He said Zeroski played the point for West Allegheny as a sophomore.

"He made more than a few super passes," Bears said. "The thing about Derrik is that he's so athletic. He doesn't look athletic, but he is and that's why I think he can play at the next level."

Farrell doesn't compete in the WPIAL anymore, moving to PIAA District 10 two years ago. Still, the Steelers have strong ties to teams in the PG West area from their old Section 3 days.

The fact Farrell, a Class A school in size, will compete in Class AAA the next two seasons in basketball is remarkable. It's one thing for a school to move up one classification in a sport -- Aliquippa does it in football and basketball. It's something else to jump two classifications.

Farrell's reason for the move to Class AAA in boys' basketball?

"The competition," athletic director Lou Paris said. "It doesn't do us any good to go out and beat teams by 20 and 30 points. We think the competition will be better in Triple-A, so we'll try it for two years and see what happens."

Farrell, which was defeated by North East in a PIAA quarterfinal, finished the season with a 25-5 record. The Steelers won 22 games by 15 points or more.