News and notes from WPIAL and City League ...

It seems certainly clear the Mt. Lebanon boys have firmly established themselves as the No. 1 team in Class AAAA of the WPIAL. But who is next in line? It might be best to pull names out of a hat.

No team has taken firm hold of the No. 2 spot in the rankings this year. It's like there is Mt. Lebanon -- and then everyone else. Gateway was No. 2 at one point, but the Gators have had a few uninspiring efforts. Butler has lost three of four. North Allegheny has shown promise at times and is now ranked No. 3. McKeesport has won seven of eight, but the loss was at home to Gateway.

The No. 2 team right now is Central Catholic, which has won eight of its past nine.

Here is an opposing coach's take on the Laurel Highlands boys, who are ranked No. 3 in Class AAA. "Physically, they have nice overall size and the Ethan Mildren kid brings a lot of dimensions. I don't know if they're good enough to play with Chartiers Valley and Hampton. It's still hard to tell. The [non-section] schedule did not bring them into the best competition, but I think they are at least a top three or four team in Triple-A."

Mount Pleasant boys' coach Tom Traynor recently got his 600th career victory (college and high school combined). He won almost 100 games as Pitt-Johnstown's coach in the 1960s. He also was highly successful at Hempfield and has been Mount Pleasant's coach since 2001. He has been a head coach for 47 seasons.

"If my health stays good and they want me back, I'd like to coach again next year," said Traynor, a retired teacher.

• Despite losing its first game of the season, the Mt. Lebanon boys stayed in USA Today's top 25 teams in the country at No. 23. The Blue Devils dropped out of the top 25 in Maxpreps.com.

• Butler's Olivia Bresnahan (Florida State recruit) is making a good case to be WPIAL player of the year.

• The Upper St. Clair boys are in danger of not making the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

It wasn't all that long ago the Cornell girls' basketball team had trouble scoring 20 points in a game and rarely won a game. From 2002-03, Cornell was 8-104. Now look at Cornell. Heading into Thursday night's game, the Raiders were 10-9 overall, 6-3 in section and in good shape for a playoff berth.

• Beaver Falls graduate Lance Jeter has started every game for Nebraska and is tied for ninth in the Big 12 Conference in assists with 4 a game. He is averaging 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds.

• Moon graduate Brian Walsh has played in only 11 games at Xavier.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.