It wouldn't matter to Chartiers Valley coach Tim McConnell which team he had, he figures he would win a PIAA title.

Chartier Valley High School will again be the site for the Hoops for the Cure all-star game. This year's contest is 6 p.m. March 28 and is a who's who of the WPIAL's top seniors.

It is the 13th year for the celebration of basketball and proceeds will again go to the Nathan S. Arenson Fund for pancreatic cancer research. During the past 12 years the event has raised more than $1 million.

This year's game has the Class AAA all-stars taking on a team of WPIAL all-stars. McConnell, who guided the Colts to a 24-4 record this past season, wouldn't mind having either team for five months.

"We'd win a state championship," he said. "This is the eighth year we've had the all-star game [with the event] and it's the best field of players we've ever had. People who come are going to see a pretty good game."

For the first couple years of the Hoops for the Cure, it was just players from the Chartiers Valley School District getting together for some basketball. But the all-star contest has grown over the years and is now one of the better postseason affairs in Western Pennsylvania.

"It has become a big deal," said McConnell, who does most of the leg work for the all-star game. "All I can tell you is that no one we called about playing in it said no."

Greensburg Salem's Paul Sapotichne and Keystone Oaks' Mike Pfeuffer will guide the Class AAA all-stars, while Moon Area's Jeff Ackermann and McKeesport's Corey Gadson will coach the WPIAL team.

Players on the Class AAA roster are Blackhawk's Antoine Childs, Hopewell's Mark Javens, Ryan Hart and Jimmy Taylor of Keystone Oaks, Greensburg Salem's Aaron Allen, Chartiers Valley's Anthony Poletti, Montour's Christian Wilson, Steel Valley's Ryan Sabo, Laurel Highlands' Kaleb Ramsey and Steve Cress of Mars.

The WPIAL team will feature Xavier University recruit Brian Walsh and teammate Keir Jeter of Moon Area, Matt McKenna and Brandon Sams of WPIAL Class AAAA champion Central Catholic, Norwin's Mike Shanahan, Upper St. Clair's Dan Simpson, Pine-Richland's Brett Matson, Seneca Valley's John Fitzpatrick and Davon Alexander and Quentin Harding of McKeesport.

McConnell said he might have to find a replacement for Cress who isn't sure he will be able to get back in town in time for the game. And Walsh is now iffy with a knee injury incurred during last week's PIAA semifinal.

The all-star contest will be followed at 8 p.m. by a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chartier Valley alumni. There will also be raffle prizes throughout the night, the big giveaway of two tickets to the Super Bowl.

The next big date for WPIAL basketball fans is April 25. WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley is shooting for that as the release date for the league's section realignment for the next two seasons.

O'Malley said he would like to present all of the WPIAL's winter sports alignments and schedules to the league's board of control to be voted on at a meeting April 24.

It will be interesting to see which teams the WPIAL puts where in the new alignment.

Although the basketball steering committee doesn't need any help, we decided to come up with our own alignment. So, here is how we see the boys' alignment shaking out for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.

Class A has 27 teams, so we have four sections, three with seven teams and one with six. We'll just calling them Sections A, B, C and D.

• Section A: Neshannock, Frew Mill (it's back), Union, Lincoln Park, Western Beaver, Monaca and Beaver County Christian.

• Section B: Clairton, Serra Catholic, Winchester-Thurston, Saint Joseph's, Leechburg, Elderton, Geibel.

• Section C: Avella, Beth-Center, Carmichaels, Bentworth, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, West Greene.

• Section D: Cornell, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Sewickley Academy, Quigley, Trinity Christian, Vincentian.

With 44 teams, putting together the sections in Class AA was a little tougher, but this is how we see it.

• Section A: Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, New Brighton, Rochester, Riverside, Mohawk, Laurel, Shenango.

• Section B: Freedom, Avonworth, Northgate, North Catholic, Shady Side Academy, Summit Academy, Springdale.

• Section C: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Freeport, Jeannette, Greensburg Central Catholic, Ford City, Riverview, West Shamokin.

• Section D: Brentwood, East Allegheny, Seton-La Salle, Steel Valley, South Fayette, South Allegheny, Wilkinsburg.

• Section E: Bishop Canevin, Burgettstown, Carlynton, Fort Cherry, Quaker Valley, South Side Beaver, Sto-Rox.

• Section F: Brownsville, California, Chartiers-Houston, Charleroi, Frazier, Monessen, Washington.

With 35 teams, Class AAA was easy to do with five sections of seven teams.

• Section A: Ambridge, Beaver, Blackhawk, Center, Ellwood City, New Castle, Hopewell.

• Section B: Chartiers Valley, Keystone Oaks, Moon Area, Montour, Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny, West Mifflin.

• Section C: Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, McGuffey, South Park, Trinity, Uniontown, Waynesburg.

• Section D: Deer Lakes, Hampton, Highlands, Kittanning, Knoch, Mars, Valley.

• Section E: Belle Vernon, Derry Area, Greensburg Salem, Indiana, Mount Pleasant, Southmoreland, Yough.

Class AAAA was by far the easiest to do with 28 teams in four sections.

• Section A: Albert Gallatin, Connellsville, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford.

• Section B: Central Catholic, Gateway, Kiski Area, McKeesport, Penn Hills, Plum, Woodland Hills.

• Section C: Butler, Fox Chapel, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shaler.

• Section D: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Ringgold, Upper St. Clair.

When April 25 rolls around, find an old copy of this column out to check and see how close we came.