West Xtra: District tournaments will showcase talent of top WPIAL players
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Lincoln Park 6-foot-10 senior Devontae Watson, driving to the basket against Vincentian in last season's WPIAL Class A championship game, is one of the feature players at this year's C.J. Betters RBA Holiday Classic at the Community College of Beaver County Golden Dome Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Talk about one-stop shopping.
OK, it's more like one-stop viewing.
By all accounts there are at least seven Division I college recruits in the boys ranks in Western Pennsylvania this high school basketball season. Three of them will be at the same place Tuesday and Wednesday, and two will be going against each other.
The three players are Beaver Falls' 6-foot-8 Sheldon Jeter, Lincoln Park's 6-10 Devontae Watson and Highlands' 6-2 Micah Mason. Their teams are in the field for this year's C.J. Betters RBA Holiday Classic at the Community College of Beaver County's Golden Dome in Center Township outside Monaca.
There are eight boys teams and four girls teams in this year's Betters Holiday Classic. It would be tough to find a better holiday tournament in terms of talent.
The boys portion of the tournament will again be divided into Blue and Gray divisions, with four teams in each division. There is no true tournament champion, just division winners.
"We'd like to have a champion but most schools do not want to commit to playing in a three-game tournament," said Dave Ambrose, the Betters Holiday Classic director. "They don't want to limit their exhibition schedule to three games in three days and we understand that."
The Blue Division games on Tuesday will have Hopewell taking on Cumberland Valley from near Harrisburg at 4 p.m. with Aliquippa meeting South Fayette at 5:30 p.m. The Gray Division games that day will have Highlands taking on Central Valley at 7 p.m. and Beaver Falls tangling with Lincoln Park at 8:30 p.m. in the feature contest.
The Blue Division winners will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday with the Gray Division winners meeting at 8:30 p.m. the same day.
The Lincoln Park-Beaver Falls contest should be interesting. Beaver Falls, with Jeter, has been touted as one of the teams to beat in the WPIAL in Class AA. Lincoln Park, with Watson who is headed for Temple, is the favorite to win the WPIAL Class A crown.
Both teams are more than one-man shows, however. Beaver Falls also has 6-6 Royce Watson, 6-0 Drew Cook and 6-1 sophomore Elijah Cottrill. Lincoln Park also has 6-6 sophomore Ryan Skorvanko, 6-0 Trey Hosack and 6-4 Jaylyn Cottrill.
Mason, who has signed with Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference, is worth the price of admission, which is $6 for adults and $4 for students. One ticket is good for all the games each day.
Mason averaged 33.3 points per game last season and scored 64 in one contest.
It's highly unlikely Mason will scored that much in any of the tournament games, given the quality of the field, but he is fun to watch. He also averaged 8.6 assists a game last season.
And for those football fans out there, Rushel Shell, the all-time leading rusher in the state, is on the Hopewell basketball team this season. Plus Aliquippa, is, well, Aliquippa and has a solid team.
"We really wanted to get Shaler in this year because it has Geno Thorpe [a junior who has verbally committed to Penn State]," Ambrose said. "We're hoping to maybe get them next year."
There is a little different format for the tournament teams that lose the first night. Instead of the two losers in the Blue and Gray division playing on Wednesday, the teams will cross over. The Hopewell-Cumberland Valley losers will play the Beaver Falls-Lincoln Park loser. And the Aliquippa-South Fayette loser will play the Central Valley-Highlands loser. Those games will be at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively, Wednesday.
In the girls portion of the tournament, New Brighton will play South Fayette at noon Tuesday with Cornell meeting Central Valley at 1:30 p.m.
"We've been happy with the crowd we've gotten in past years," said Ambrose, noting that this is the Betters Holiday Classic's 20th anniversary. "It's not like it was before when holiday tournaments were a big attraction. But we've had quality teams come in over the years and that has made us attractive.
"Where else are you going to see three Division I prospects at the same place outside of the [WPIAL] playoffs?"
There are other holiday tournaments/showcases worth checking out.
The Montour Showcase is Wednesday and Thursday and has an interesting field.
Defending WPIAL Class AAA champion Montour will meet South Park at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with Clairton, fresh off its PIAA Class A championship football game victory, meeting Fox Chapel at 6 p.m. Montour is scheduled to play Clairton at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
In the girls portion of the Mars tournament, Hopewell will play Moon Area at 3 p.m. Tuesday with Mars meeting Sto-Rox at 6 p.m. The consolation and championship games are Wednesday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively.
The boys games Tuesday have Northgate meeting Seneca Valley at 4:30 p.m. and Mars playing Sto-Rox at 7:30 p.m. The boys championship game is 6 p.m. Wednesday.
First Published December 22, 2011 12:00 am
