North/West Xtra: Predicting the playoff brackets
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It is that time of year again. No, it's not the time of year to pack the Christmas decorations away in the attic. That doesn't happen until April.
It's time to lend a helping hand to the WPIAL Basketball Steering Committee as it gets ready for the league's version of March Madness.
Frantic February, a.k.a. the WPIAL basketball playoffs, will tip-off next week. There's a good chance some preliminary-round games will be played a week from today. The tournament will begin in earnest Feb. 17.
The WPIAL basketball pairings meeting when the league will reveal the playoff brackets for boys and girls teams to the world is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday -- that's Valentine's Day for all the male coaches out there who are married or have girl friends and have blinders on when it comes to holidays during the season -- at the Doubletree Hotel in Green Tree. The championship games are scheduled for March 2-3 at Duquesne University's Palumbo Center.
In the past, we have provided the basketball steering committee and anyone else who believes we have a clue about high school basketball in Western Pennsylvania with our thoughts on which teams should be the top seeds. We considered not sharing our opinions this year until we discovered that the folks on the hoops steering committee consider everybody's team rankings, no matter how silly, once they enter the conference room and lock the door.
Hey, we are the first to admit that our ideas on which teams should be seeded where are just as silly as anybody's. What have we got to lose?
Enough, already. The following is one guy's opinion -- and in some cases his reasoning -- on the top seeds for this year's tournament. Records are as of Wednesday morning and yes, we realize there are some important games to be played between now and the time WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley stands before the throng at the pairings meeting. Hey, it's not a perfect world.
• Boys Class AAAA: 1. Chartiers Valley (18-2), 2. Shaler Area (19-2), 3. Woodland Hills (15-4), 4. Gateway (14-5), 5. Mt. Lebanon (16-5). Chartiers Valley gets the nod over Shaler as the top seed because its non-section schedule is better. Only three of Gateway's losses so far have come to WPIAL teams and two of those were to Woodland Hills. Watch out for Plum. Five of the Mustangs seven losses are by five points of less.
• Boys Class AAA: 1. New Castle (20-0), 2. Montour (16-2), 3. Hampton (18-3), 4. Keystone Oaks (18-2), 5. South Fayette (16-4). The top two here were easy, although Hampton is close behind Montour in our mind. Hampton's losses have come at New Castle and against Peters Township and Plum, both Quad-A schools. South Fayette is good and getting better.
• Boys Class AA: 1. Beaver Falls (19-2), 2. Monessen (20-1), 3. Sto-Rox (17-2), 4. Greensburg Central Catholic (17-4), 5. Quaker Valley (18-2). Beaver Falls is a no-brainer as the top seed and Monessen's lone loss was by one point to Imani Christian. Sto-Rox's win against Montour had to open some eyes and although Quaker Valley's non-section schedule isn't all that tough, its only losses have been to Beaver Falls.
• Boys Class A : 1. Lincoln Park (17-4), 2. North Catholic (15-4), 3. Serra Catholic (15-5), 4. Vincentian (16-3), 5. Clairton (11-6). It's hard to argue with Lincoln Park as the top seed. North Catholic has defeated talented Keystone Oaks and Kennedy Catholic. Serra's losses have come against quality opponents and Vincentian's losses were against North Catholic (twice) and at Serra. Watch out for Clairton, which has won eight of nine after the slow start because of football.
• Girls Class AAAA: 1. Oakland Catholic (21-0), 2. Mt. Lebanon (18-2), 3. Gateway (18-2), 4. Penn-Trafford (17-4), 5. Hempfield Area (17-3). Oakland Catholic is undefeated. An argument could be made for Gateway being seeded second but Mt. Lebanon has only two losses and one of those was against unbeaten Seton-LaSalle.
• Girls Class AAA: 1. Hopewell (18-2), 2. South Park (18-1), 3. Blackhawk (17-3), 4. Chartiers Valley (18-2), 5. Uniontown (17-4). Let's call Hopewell and South Park Nos. 1 and 1A. Hopewell's losses were against New Castle, when Kaylynn Waters was healthy, and at Blackhawk. South Park's loss was at Mt. Lebanon.
• Girls Class AA: 1. Seton-LaSalle (18-0), 2. Greensburg Central Catholic (14-4), 3. Riverside (15-5), 4. Deer Lakes (15-4), 5 Bishop Canevin (16-3). After undefeated Seton-LaSalle it is an all-skate. Deer Lakes has won 11 of 12 and Canevin's losses have come at Oakland Catholic, North Catholic and Seton-LaSalle.
• Girls Class A: 1. Vincentian (20-0), 2. Fort Cherry (20-1), 3. Monessen (17-3), 4. North Catholic (16-4), 5. Quigley Catholic (16-4). Fort Cherry's lone loss was to North Catholic at Ambridge and North Catholic's losses have come against Oakland Catholic, Blackhawk, Vincentian and North Allegheny. We have Quigley at No. 5 but Serra Catholic could just as easily been plugged in there.
Those who cannot attend the WPIAL playoff meeting can get a breakdown on all of the brackets by listening to the WPIAL Basketball Playoffs Show on most of the radio stations on the MSA Sports Network.
MSA operations manager Don Rebel and his team of announcers will take an in-depth look at the brackets from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday. And all of the playoff games will be broadcast on the internet -- www.msasports.net -- or by one of the network's affiliated radio stations.
Two of the three undefeated girls teams in the WPIAL will square off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. That's when Seton-LaSalle will visit Oakland Catholic in a non-section contest with nothing on the line except regular-season bragging rights.
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
