ProfessorBriggs.com
THE Sports
Authority in Mercer County!
Note: This does not reflect the opinion of Grove City College, WSAJ-FM, The Herald, or their respective sponsors and supporters.
Professor's Proverbs -- March 8, 2009
The first full weekend in March is often one of the most exciting for fans of scholastic winter sports. The PIAA Wrestling Championships finished up Saturday night in Hershey after three great days and nights of action at the GIANT Center. Meanwhile, the first round of the girls and boys state basketball tournaments went on with plenty of fanfare Friday night and Saturday.
On the mats, Mercer County produced a record 14 placewinners at the Class AA state championships. Grove City senior Caleb Kolb capped a perfect season by winning the Commonwealth title at 171 pounds. Kolb, who will continue his career at Nebraska, finished the season 39-0. While Kolb was the only state champ from the county, 13 other Countians made their way onto the medal stand in Hershey.
Team-wise, Reynolds took third with 58.5 team points while Grove City finished seventh at 38.5 points. Greenville (37) placed 10th while Sharon (28) took 18th in Class AA.
To put the success of Mercer County in perspective, the entire WPIAL (District 7) had 17 total placewinners in Class AA. There are 32 total Class AA wrestling programs in District 7 while Mercer County has 11.
To read more in-depth about the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships, check out Lynn Saternow's story in the Sunday Herald.
> Mercer County teams went 3-2 in the opening round of the state basketball tournaments this weekend. Friday night, Kennedy Catholic's boys held off District 9 power Keystone 40-30 while in Class AAA, Farrell rolled past Oliver 84-71. In girls' "AA" action, Greenville stunned District 7 runner up Seton-La Salle, 41-34.
Saturday, the Kennedy Catholic girls fell to West Forest and Reynolds' boys dropped a heart-breaking 65-62 decision to defending state champion Jeannette.
Overall, the opening round turned out to be pretty successful for Mercer County and in general, District 10. Of the 12 districts in the Commonwealth, only three had state playoff records over .500 in both boys and girls competition last week (including preliminary play-in games). District 1 (13-7 girls, 12-7 boys), District 5 (3-2 both girls and boys) and District 10 (7-3 girls, 6-5 boys).
|
District |
Girls Record |
Boys Record |
Total Record |
Pct. |
|
1 |
13-7 |
12-7 |
25-14 |
.641 |
|
2 |
4-7 |
2-7 |
6-14 |
.300 |
|
3 |
12-9 |
10-11 |
22-20 |
.524 |
|
4 |
2-6 |
7-2 |
9-8 |
.529 |
|
5 |
3-2 |
3-2 |
6-4 |
.600 |
|
6 |
8-4 |
4-8 |
12-12 |
.500 |
|
7 |
14-15 |
18-10 |
32-25 |
.561 |
|
8 |
0-4 |
1-4 |
1-8 |
.111 |
|
9 |
2-6 |
1-7 |
3-13 |
.188 |
|
10 |
7-3 |
6-5 |
13-8 |
.619 |
|
11 |
7-2 |
3-6 |
10-8 |
.556 |
|
12 |
2-11 |
8-6 |
10-17 |
.370 |
ANALYSIS: Rough week for the Pittsburgh City League (District 8). The lone win for D-8 came in a AAA boys play-in, where Oliver beat Valley ... Four of District 7's boys wins came in play-in games; District 7 went 14-9 in first-round boys games ... Remember how many folks thought the Philadelphia schools would dominate the Commonwealth in basketball? Well, in "AAAA" boys, the top three teams from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic, Southern Philadelphia and North Catholic) all lost Saturday in the first round ... District 7 girls had a rough time in Class AA, going 2-6 Friday night ... District 7 champion Sto-Rox slipped past District 6 No. 3 Marion Center 43-39 and 7-5 Washington downed District 9 champ Cranberry, 61-50 ... Other than that, it was a rough night for the mighty WPIAL ... Greenville, District 10's No. 3 entry, downed WPIAL runner-up Seton-La Salle ... Also falling were 7-3 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 7-4 South Fayette, 7-6 Riverside, 7-7 Jeannette and 7-8 Beaver ... District 10 girls "AA" went 3-0 with the wins coming against WPIAL foes ... The same can be said for District 10 "AAA" girls, who swept three games against District 7 teams ... Included in that was 10-3 Franklin toppling District 7 champion New Castle, 52-46 ... Overall, District 10 is 10-5 so far in the state playoffs against the WPIAL ... D-10 is 2-1 against District 9, 0-2 against District 6 and 1-0 against the Pittsburgh City League.
UPSETS: One of the biggest upsets of the weekend involved a western region team toppling a team from the east. In Class A girls, District 6 No. 4 Bishop Carroll (13-13) knocked off District 3 titlist Lebanon Catholic 39-30. Bishop Carroll, which is located in Ebensburg, now faces Philadelphia-based Girard College in the eastern quarterfinals. Bishop Carroll is one of two District 6 teams alive in the eastern bracket as D-6 runner-up Northern Cambria whipped Lancaster Country Day 60-37 ... Some would say West Forest's win over Kennedy Catholic would be a big upset but Professor Briggs disagrees. A minor upset maybe, but keep in mind West Forest is 25-3 and won the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference, which is a pretty fair girls basketball league at the small-school level ... Washington High clipped District 10 boys AA champ Fairview 44-41. The Little Prexies won their section and were 22-4 coming in. So while 7-8 beating 10-1 looks like a huge upset, Washington is not your prototypical "8 seed." I'd classify that one much like the Kennedy-West Forest game -- a minor upset.
TOPPLED: Professor Briggs' vote for biggest upset in the west has to be the Franklin girls toppling District 7 champion New Castle at North Allegheny Saturday, 52-46 ... Some pundits considered New Castle to be a basketball tour de force in Class AAA but Franklin found a way to win. Franklin's victory shows how strong District 10 girls basketball is in Class AAA ... In the east, Class AAAA boys saw District 1's eighth-place entry, Central Bucks South, defeat District 12 champion Roman Catholic 62-57 ... In the west, District 7 champion Peters Township lost to 7-5 Central Catholic. In the District 7 quarterfinals, Peters Township downed Central Catholic 62-54 February 21.
LOOKING AHEAD: Plenty of interesting matchups abound in the regional quarterfinals as both the east and west both have eight teams left in the respective classes. Tuesday night in "AAA" boys, Hampton squares off with General McLane in what should be a real dandy. Highlands-Farrell may see a team score 80 points and lose! In the east, Philadelphia power Neumann-Goretti (25-2) will look to advance in "AAA" against Susquehanna Township (23-5).
Class AAAA girls features a heavyweight battle in the western quarterfinals as undefeated Mount Lebanon will face McDowell.
Wednesday night, Professor Briggs is intrigued by the Class A girls game between Tussey Mountain (22-5) and Ferndale (20-6). It will also be interesting to watch the two District 6 teams in the east -- Bishop Carroll and Northern Cambria -- fare in Class A. Class AA boys has a marquee matchup in Beaver Falls-Jeannette. North Catholic-Mercyhurst should be a fun battle in "AA" boys too.
In Class AAA girls, most eyes in our area will focus on the Franklin-Mercyhurst western quarterfinal matchup. Quad-A boys has an old-time classic matchup between Williamsport and Chester. In our area, Central Catholic clashes with Cathedral Prep in a western quarterfinal.
> Keep the cards and letters coming at at ryanbriggs@zoominternet.net