ProfessorBriggs.com

PROFESSOR'S PROVERBS -- MARCH 31, 2017

It's hard to believe, but winter sports season has come and gone and we're now headlong into spring sports locally. The sneakers and singlets have been put away and the bats, racquets and relay batons have been dug out of the closet.

Spring sports are always a fun time of year, although schedules can get quite hectic due to the weather. One of my favorite events to cover/work are championship track events, either District 10 (high school), the Mercer County Championships or the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championships (local college). There's a lot going on and you get to see a lot of great performances on the track and in the field.

The caliber of athletes that we have in our area is evident throughout the school year, be it football, soccer, basketball, etc. But track and field seems to be the greatest example of that over the course of time. We are fortunate to have great sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, throwers, distance runners and everything in between. Every year, it seems as if Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium is flooded with Mercer County area athletes.

Another great thing about track and field is that everything is pretty much objective. Fastest time wins. Longest throw or jump wins. You don't have to listen to people grouse about officials (e.g. "WE HAD EIGHT FOULS AND THEY ONLY HAD ONE IN THE SECOND HALF!" or "THEY DIDN'T GIVE OUR PITCHER THE CORNER").

While it's now spring, it's not too late to take a look back at this past basketball season. Our local schedule began December 9 and ended, as we thought it might, in Hershey. Congratulations to Kennedy Catholic's boys basketball team on repeating as PIAA champion with its 73-56 win over Girard College last Thursday afternoon.

George Abraham and I had the chance to see Kennedy on opening night against a very good Butler team that reached the District 7 finals and state quarterfinals in Class 6A. From watching that game, anyone with basic basketball knowledge knew that Kennedy was very capable of finishing its season at the GIANT Center in Hershey.

> It would be great if we had some form of All-Mercer County teams in boys and girls basketball to honor a First Team and Second Team. We have (allegedly) All-Region teams and the Erie Times-News has an All-District 10 team, which are both great.

Heck, make it a dinner/banquet/awards ceremony! You could honor All-County honorees, Player(s) of the Year, Coach of the Year, championship teams, other milestones (1,000 points, etc.). I think it would a terrific addition to have such a program. They do it in Trumbull County. You'd get a lot of publicity from various media (print, radio, television) as well as social media.

Longtime readers probably remember that I used to produce my own set of awards in basketball, including Professor Briggs' "Favorite Five" -- the five players I enjoyed watching the most. Some people might ask "Why don't you do that again?" The answer is pretty simple -- it's in my best professional interests not to.

As you know, my career is working as sports information director at Grove City College. Grove City is part of the NCAA, which has some guidelines in place regarding recruits and electronic media. Grove City sometimes recruits young men and women from our area. I would not want to do something that could get me in trouble or by proxy, cause issues for the College.

Here's an example: Let's say "Player X" at Greenville is a good basketball player. Grove City, Westminster, Thiel and W&J are all actively recruiting Player X. At the end of the year, Player X is probably one of the best 12 players in the area and I name Player X as an All-Mercer County player. Certainly a candidate for an All-County team but not a lock.

Those at Westminster, Thiel and W&J could maybe say that I was trying to leverage Player X by honoring X. If I honored X, it would be because I thought X deserved it, not as a means of getting X to Grove City. However, the other schools could very easily have that impression and that could cause complications in the future.

Now, if I tweet "Player X led Greenville with 17 points," that's OK because I'm simply reporting facts. It's a fine line and I want to stay far away from stepping on or over it.

> This past basketball season, I had the call on 49 high school basketball games on radio, 25 boys games and 24 girls games. I am pretty sure that's a personal record, one that I took great enjoyment in. I called 41 different teams and had six different broadcast partners: George Abraham, Brian Brown, Chris Burtch, Don Fee, Bob Greenburg and Brandon Phillian.

Playoff travels this year did not include any trips to traditional sites Edinboro and Meadville. I did get to go to Warren, Pa., however. I also went to DuBois for the Kennedy Catholic-Juniata Valley girls state quarterfinal. It was a great vantagepoint from which to call a game. But with the crowd in the bleachers, good luck if you have to use the rest room. No one had to worry about being chilly, that's for sure.

While I don't do individual "people" awards, I can still list some other notable honors for the season.

Favorite Playoff Site: Prep-Villa Events Center, Erie -- The broadcast location is at midcourt at the top of the bleachers. The facility is immaculate, the view is even better. The Prep-Villa folks did it right. Not too big, not too small; Aesthetically pleasing without being gaudy.

Favorite Regular Season Site: Hickory -- Midcourt location in the press box is a great view. Easy to get in and out.

Entertaining Game That I Forgot I Called: Kennedy Catholic 79, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School 68, January 14, 2017 at Slippery Rock University -- Both teams ended up in Hershey but Kennedy's balance and depth paid off in the win. Drew Magestro (19), Maceo Austin (18) and Clay O'Dell (17) all scored in double figures for Kennedy, which held Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School ace Nelly Cummings to 12 points.

Most Unlikely Turnaround: Wilmington 69, Chartiers-Houston 33, March 11 at Sharon High School -- Wilmington trailed 10-0 early and 16-3 late in the first quarter. I remember thinking, "This ain't good." Then Tyler Kish hit a three-pointer in the final moments of the first quarter to give the Greyhounds life. The final tally: a 66-22 run over the final 25 minutes. Wilmington outscored the Buccaneers 26-5 in the second quarter, capped by Joey Pezzano's three at the horn. It reminded me of the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII.

Five Best Games I Called This Year: I know there were other "great" games this season, this list is limited to games I had the good fortune of broadcasting.

Honorable Mention: Kennedy Catholic-Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School; Farrell (82-78 win) vs. Youngstown East (Dec. 30, finals of boys Dresch-McCluskey Christmas Tournament); Hickory (72-65 win) vs. Wilmington (Dec. 20, boys); Reynolds vs. Maplewood (51-48 win in D-10 boys first round February 17 at Reynolds).

5-Grove City (35) vs. Sharon (34) -- January 4 at Grove City (B) -- Just because a game is low scoring does not make it a bad or boring game. Sharon and Grove City swapped the lead throughout much of the first three quarters before Grove City took a 32-26 lead into the final quarter. Grove City missed the front end of three straight bonus situations in the fourth quarter but Sharon's last chance shot missed the mark. Isaac Thrasher's three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter accounted for all of the scoring for the Eagles, who went on to win the Region 5 title.

4-Wilmington (59) vs. West Middlesex (51) -- March 3 at Slippery Rock University (B) -- Getting to see Wilmington win its first-ever District 10 basketball title puts that game on the list. Every time it appeared that West Middlesex, the program with championship pedigree, would make a run, Wilmington had an answer in the fourth quarter. There have been D-10 title games with closer margins, better finishes, buzzer beaters, etc., but seeing the unadulterated joy of the Greyhounds is a memory that will not soon fade.

3-Sharpsville (35) vs. Wilmington (33) -- February 25 at Mercer (G) -- This District 10 quarterfinal game featured a classic finish as Sharpsville freshman Claire Staunch scored with four seconds left. Wilmington's Lauren Frederick had tied the game with a three-pointer about a minute earlier after the Greyhounds had trailed by 10 at halftime and by eight (27-19) after three quarters. It was the rare playoff game in which the upstart (Wilmington) was not the underdog. It was a tough way for Wilmington's magical season to end but a great building block for the senior-less Sharpsville girls.

2-Rocky Grove (39) vs. Greenville (36) -- February 14 at Greenville (B) -- It's not often that a conference/league/region title comes down to a winner-take-all game in the season finale. That's what we had in Greenville on Valentine's Day, however. Both teams came in at 12-1 in Region 2. Greenville was looking to rebound from its first loss while Rocky Grove aimed to avenge a beating from Greenville in the first meeting in Venango County. It was tight throughout -- the slower pace and lower score significantly added to the drama. Every possession meant so much. The game built to a crescendo from the opening tip to the very end, much like a great boxing match. Interestingly, the teams went in opposite directions in the playoffs. Greenville won the D-10 Class 3A title and reached the western quarterfinals. Rocky Grove won its playoff opener, then lost a very similar style of game to West Middlesex in the D-10 semifinals and never seemed to recover from it.

T1-Kennedy Catholic (42) vs. West Middlesex (39) -- December 15 at Kennedy Catholic (G)
T1-West Middlesex (52) vs. Kennedy Catholic (48) -- January 23 at West Middlesex (G)

These two outstanding squads played a pair of classic games during the regular season. Trying to differentiate between the two games is impossible as both merit the top spot. The games had a lot of similarities as the home team rallied to win each game. The first meeting featured Gillian Fisher's three-point play in the closing moments to give Kennedy the lead and eventual win. West Middlesex led 33-25 after three quarters but Kennedy outscored the Reds 17-6 over the final eight minutes.

Five weeks later, West Middlesex earned its first-ever win over Kennedy as Delaney Dogan scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the second half. Kennedy, which entered the game 14-0, led 24-19 at halftime. You could tell that it meant a lot for West Middlesex to finally get that first girls basketball win over Kennedy. The WM-KC rivalry has been very spirited for a long time -- these two teams played a pair of great, fierce games without any nonsense.

> Special thanks to Bob Greenburg for the opportunity to be able to call games on Sports Radio 96.7 and News/Talk 790. I am very thankful to be able to do radio work (calling games, production, hosting shows, etc.) in our area. Bob does a great deal of work behind the scenes with sales, programming, etc., to make everything go smoothly when air time rolls around 7 p.m.

Also, many thanks to the generous sponsors who enable the stations to be able to broadcast games and shows. Thank them, and consider visiting them for your needs (banking, financial planning, automotive, etc.).

> In upcoming weeks, I'll have further thoughts on PIAA structuring and the new committee that is forming to examine things. In the meantime, keep the cards and letters coming to ryanbriggs@zoominternet.net. Follow me on Twitter @professorbriggs