Highlights from Saturday's PIAA basketball playoffs. Check back as the night goes for other games.

BOYS

North Allegheny 84, State College 76: North Allegheny fell behind by 23-5 in the first quarter, but came back for the win. North Allegheny is known for its 3-point shooting, but the Tigers had only five 3-pointers in this game. Sean Hennigan scored 22 points for North Allegheny and the Haus bros combined for 25 - Adam with 15 and David with 10. Ryan Sekunda had 27 for State College before fouling out.

Beaver Falls 92, Bald Eagle Area 48 - What else is new. Another blowout for Beaver Falls. When will the Tigers get tested in the posteason? They have played five postseason games (WPIAL and PIAA) and not one team has come within 28 points. This time, Tigers were "hotshots" as they made 13 3-pointers. Drew Cook and Zach Miller both made four 3-pointers. Cook finished with 20 points, Elijah Cottrill 18 and Zach Miller 16. Micoy Nathan added 15 and Danny "struttin'" Stratton added 12. Th escore was 51-25 at halftime.

Lakeview 44, Quaker Valley 40: Quaker Valley led at halftime, 26-23, but scored only 14 points in the second half. Burke Moser had 14 and Nelson Westwood 10 for Quaker Valley.

New Castle 68, Gateway 48: The Red Hurricanes led by 43-18 at halftime and cruised in the second half. Shawn Anderson had 18 points to lead New Castle and Malik Hooker added 15. Anthony Richards scored 12, all on 3-pointers. Delvon Randall had 20 for Gateway. New Castle made 8 of 16 from 3-point range.

Erie Cathedral Prep 79, Seneca Valley 54: An impressive victory for the District 10 Ramblers. But not surprising. This team is good. They could be headed for a quarterfinal showdown with New Castle next Saturday. Cathedrarl Prep plays Hampton in the second round while New Castle will play the State College-North Allegheny winner. New Castle will have its hands full with Cathedral Prep.

Against Seneca Valley, Cathedral Prep made 8 of 10 3-pointers in the first half to grab an 11-point lead. The Ramblers blew out Seneca Valley in the second half.

Hampton 50, Perry 41: An ugly game. Hampton struggled in the second half against Perry's 2-3 zone. After leading by 32-20 at half, it was turnover city in third quarter for Hampton. Nine turnovers in third quarter. Perry cut the lead to 36-35 early in the fourth quarter and failed to take the lead on two possessions. Collin Luther big 3-pointer with 5:43 left put Hampton ahead by 39-35. Perry never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Collin Luther finished with 19 points, including nine in the fourth. 6 of 6 from line in the fourth. Twin brother Ryan had 15 and David Huber 10.

Daron Clark had 19 for Perry and Shakeem Cox 10. Perry shot 34 percent (18 of 53) from the field and was 0-12 from 3-point range.

Conemaugh Township 53, Brentwood 49: Dylan Boyer had five 3-pointers and 24 points to lead Conemaugh Township. Jason Pilarski had 20 for Brentwood.

Greensburg Central Catholic 66, Penn Cambria 56: Zach Herman and Brian Graytok both scored 21 to held the Centurions to the win. Graytok had 18 in the first half.

Bishop McCort 62, Burrell 43: Nemo Trexler had 24 points for Bishop McCort (insert "Finding Nemo" lines here, like "Burrell's defense had trouble finding Nemo." Matt Hess had 14 and Alex White 12 for Burrell.

Chester 74, Cumberland Valley 43 - The two-time defending champion Clippers roll.

GIRLS

South Park 71, Hickory 44: Allison McGrath, Shelby Lindsay and Halie Torris combined for 61 points as the WPIAL AAA champion Eagles crushed Hickory. McGrath scored 22, Lindsay 20 and Torris 19. Torris had five 3-pointers.

Hopewell 45, Villa Maria 28: Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 24 points and went over 2,400 for her career to lead Hopewell. She now has 2,407. Walker-Kimbrough also had five rebounds, nine steals and three assists. Villa Maria's Karlee McBride, an Indiana Hoosiers recruit, scored 18. Here sister starts at Notre Dame. Villa Maria was 0 of 15 from 3-point range.

Kennedy Catholic 45, North Catholic 36: North Catholic was a state finalist last year, but the Trojanettes go out in the first round this year. North Catholic's Lauren Wolosik was held to 11 points. She came in averaging 26.6. Abby Goetz led North Catholic with 15. Alex Ricketts had 17 for Kennedy Catholic. North Catholic made only 5 of 23 field goals in the second half.

Serra 67, Cochranton 43: The Sieg sisters were the leading scorers as the Eagles rolled to an easy win. Megan Sieg scored 14 and Katie Sieg had 11 and nine rebounds. Serra was 12 of 15 from the free-throw line.

Elizabeth Forward 51, Central Valley 44: Dana Buck scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half to lead Elizabeth Forward to the win. Seairra Barrett had 22 and Madi Rown 12 for Central Valley.

Hopewell 45, Villa Maria 28 - Shatori Walker-Kimbrough went over 2,400 points for her career and led Hopewell to the win.

Varsity Blog program note: I will have live blog from tonight's PIAA basketball playoff tripleheader at Hempfield: Vincentian vs. Bishop Carroll boys at 5 ..... Chartiers Valley vs. Gateway girls at 6:30 ..... Chartiers Valley vs. Johnstown boys at 8:00. If you have a score update or report, tweet with #piaa or send to @mwhiteburgh

Here are my picks for tonight's and tomorrow night's second-round games involving WPIAL teams:

BOYS

Class AAAA - New Castle over North Allegheny; Erie Cathedral Prep over Hampton.

Class AAA - Chartiers Valley over Johnstown; Montour over Girard; General McLane over Beaver.

Class AA - Beaver Falls vs. Mercyhurst Prep; Greensburg Central Catholic over Lakeview.

Class A - Vincentian over Bishop Carroll; Lincoln Park over Ridgway; Clairton over Smethport.

GIRLS

Class AAAA - Mt. Lebanon over Penn-Trafford; Gateway over Chartiers Valley.

Class AAA - Blackhawk over Forest Hills; South Park over Hopewell; Franklin over Elizabeth Forward.

Class AA - Bishop Canevin over General McLane; Sharpsville over Burrell; Seton-LaSalle over Greensburg Central Catholic; North East over Mohawk.

Class A - Vincentian over Berlin Brothersvalley; Bishop Guilfoyle over Serra.

Live blog from Tuesday night's PIAA second-round tripleheader at Hempfield High School. 5 p.m. - Vincentian vs. Bishop Carroll boys .... 6:30 Chartiers Valley vs. Gateway girls .... 8 p.m. Chartiers Valley vs. Johnstown boys. ... If you have a score or note from another game, tweet with #piaa or send to @mwhiteburgh

CHARTIERS VALLEY VS. JOHNSTOWN (boys)

FINAL SCORE: Chartiers Valley 65, Johnstown 38

9:58 p.m. - Do I really have to continue with updates? It's 59-26 CV. I think Spencer Casson has triple double.

9:44 p.m. - And former Hempfield coach Bill Swan sitting about 5 feet behind CValley bench. I think he's trying to give Tim McConnell pointers. Don't think McConnell wants to listen.

9:43 p.m. - Is this ugly enough? Chartiers Valley now leads 47-16. Spencer Casson with nine blocks.

Smethport beats Clairton, 37-35. What a run of sports success for that Clairton senior class.

HALFTIME: Chartiers Valley 34, Johnstown 14

Matty McConnell 13 points first half. Mike Boyulos 17. Coach Tim McConnell about to lose it near halftime over one of his players. I wouldn't want to be that player in the locker room at the half.

Spencer Casson has nine points and six blocks for CV.

Girls AAAA: End of 3rd quarter and Mt. Lebanon leads Penn-Trafford, 46-25. It will be Lebo-Char Valley again in quarterfinals.

9:12 p.m. - Johnstown little guards still can't figure out that you might not want to go challenge 6-6 Spencer Casson in lane. Now has 6 blocks.

9:11 p.m. - Matt McConnell just hit 3. Has 13 points already. CV rolling, 24-7, with 6:37 left in half.

9:08 p.m. - END OF FIRST QUARTER: Chartiers Valley 19, Johnstown 6

Can't see Johnstown coming back. Don't have ballhandling to handle CV pressure and don't look like can shoot much either. Spencer Casson 5 blocks for CV in first quarter.

General McLane beats Beaver, 69-54.

9:02 p.m. - Will Char Valley pull away? Colts now lead 14-4 with 3:08 left. 

9:00 p.m. - Johnstown 2 of 10 from field. And ugly shots also. Mike Boulos three-point play and CV leads, 11-4.

8:57 p.m. - CV's Spencer Casson "Human Eraser" so far. Three blocks so far. 5-4 CV 

8:54 p.m. - Funny Tim McConnell subs out Dom Castello 27 seconds into game. He missed a 3 and turned it over. 

8:52 p.m. - Finally game starts.

General McLane leads Beaver 50-31.

8:47 p.m. - Tip in about two minutes.

Final score in Class AAA boys: Montour 48, Girard 38. Rob Julian of Montour finishes with seven 3's and 24 points.

CHARTIERS VALLEY VS. GATEWAY GIRLS

FINAL: Chartiers Valley 53, Gateway 42

Kassidy O'Keefe with 17 and Alexa Golden 15 for CV. Gateway Katey Wilson had 15 and Jada Epps 12.

8:27 p.m. - By the way, in case didn't mention. CValley playing without leading scorer, Mariah Wells. Left foot is in a boot.

8:24 p.m. - Char Valley scores off own missed free throws. It's now 46-38 with less than two minutes left.

I think maybe Girard might want to be aware of where Montour's Rob Julian is. He hit three more 3-pointer in the third, now has seven overall, and Montour leads Girard, 33-24, after three.

In AAAA girls, Mt. Lebanon 13, Penn-Trafford 1 after first.

8:20 p.m. - Timeout with 2:36 left in fourth and Char Valley leads, 44-38.

8:14 p.m. - Gateway scores and cuts lead to 40-37 with 3:54 left. A media timeout???? I forgot they had them in PIAA playoffs.

Smethport leads Clairton, 10-7, at end of first quarter.

General McLane leading Beaver, 34-18, at halftime as Jaymon Mason has 21. This from Tom Reisenweber.

8:09 p.m. - 5:02 left in game and Char Valley leads, 39-35

8:04 p.m. - Gateway has sliced deficit to 37-31. 3-pointer by Katey Wilson and then two free throws. 7:14 left in game.

Mohawk and North East girls tied, 39-39, after three.

END THIRD QUARTER: Chartiers Valley 37, Gateway 26 

Montour leads Girard, 24-13, at half. Robbie Julian destroyed Girard in second quarter with 14 points, 4 3's.

Maverick Rowan scored 20 to lead Lincoln Park boys against Ridgway. Elijah Minnie held to four.

This Char Valley game was supposed to start at 8. It might not start until 8:30 or 8:40. Antoher example of how WPIAL and PIAA shouldn't post game times 1 1/2 hours apart, especially in tripleheader. Should put at least 1:45 between.

7:52 p.m. - Gateway has cut deficit to 30-21 with 3:31 left in third.

After first quarter, General McLane leads Beaver, 15-12.

From Kyle Piper: Rob Julian three 3-pointers to start second quarter and Montour takes 15-6 lead on Girard. Wil Scuilli be knocking down some next?

7:48 p.m. - Char Valley laeds, 30-15, with 5:30 left in third.

Mohawk leads North East, 29-20, at half

End of first quarter: Montour and Girard are tied, 6-6

In Class AA girls: Burrell 45, Sharpsville 18

Final in Class A boys: Lincoln Park 51, Ridgway 34

HALFTIME: Chartiers Valley 25, Gateway 13

7:30 p.m. - Char Valley leads, 23-10, with one minute left in half.

7:23 p.m. - Gateway really struggling offensively. Chartiers Valley has taken 22-7 lead.

In Class A boys, Lincoln Park struggling to score. Leads Ridgway, 33-27, after third quarter.

In Class AA girls, Bishop Canevin advances with 54-36 victory against General McLane.

END OF FIRST QUARTER: Chartiers Valley 13, Gateway 5

7:15 p.m. - No surprise that a WPIAL Quad-A team is struggling to score in playoffs. Been happening all year. It took Char Valley four minutes, 5 seconds to score. But the Colts have turned it up some in this game. Now lead, 16-7.

Jeannette star Ciara Gregory in the house. WPIAL leading scorer. Good to see her. She's big fan of all WPIAL sports.

VINCENTIAN VS. BISHOP CARROLL

FINAL SCORE: Bishop Carroll 92, Vincentian 85

A key to the game in second half was Bishop Carroll had 13 turnovers, but when the Huskies didn't turn it over, they cracked Vincentian's traps and got easy shot after easy shot, whether on drives or passes to the inside. 

Bishop Carroll 6-5 junior Marcus Lee had 33 points and 14 rebounds. He was 13 of 14 from the field. All from within 6 feet. Scott Rarick 27 points. 

For Vincentian Ryan Wolf had 27 points, Jim Kenna 20, Matt Rathz 14 and Tony DiNardo 11. Wolf was 11 of 27 from the field. Vincentian finished with 13 3-pointers.

Great season. Great run. Great job by George Yokitis - and Royals should be pretty good again next year with some key returnees.

Has to be one of the highest-scoring PIAA games in a while. 

6:30 p.m. - But we're not done yet. Jim Kenna hits 3. Brings Vincentian, 86-80, with 53 seconds left. Never know with these guys.

6:28 p.m. - Been great year by Vincentian. Boy, they play hard. Don't fun much offensively as far as sets, but just play.  Looks like they will suffer only second loss.

6:26 p.m. - 6-5 Marcus Lee now has 31 points. 13 of 14 from field. Every shot within 6 feet.

6:23 p.m. - Ryan Wolfe with spin and basket and BC leads, 79-72, with a little less than two minutes left. Bishop Carroll much better job against Vincentian's full-court press this half. Most of BC's points this half layups or in-close shots after handling the pressure.

6:20 p.m. - 77-70 with three minutes left.

6:18 p.m. - It's starting to get away from Vincentian. 77-68 Bishop Carroll 6-5 Marcus Lee now with 29.

6:10 p.m. - Bishop Carroll has opened up 71-64 lead.

END OF THIRD QUARTER: Bishop Carroll 65, Vincentian 61. BC went on a small run at end of third and just scored first basket of fourth to take a six-point lead.

6:04 p.m. - 3 by Tony DiNardo ties it, 61-61, with 37 seconds left in third quarter.

6:02 p.m. - Bishop Carroll has gone zone.

6:00 p.m. - Vincentian ahead, 55-53, with three minutes in third.

5:54 p.m. - Bishop Carroll pressures full-court constantly also.

5:51 p.m. - Vincentian's "Fisch" couple nice plays to start the third quarter. Starting to look like his father, Ron, in his glory years at North Catholic. Vincentian goes up 50-44.

5:46 p.m. - Will this game end up in the 90s?? It could.

14 turnovers in first half for Bishop Carroll.

HALFTIME STATS: Vincentian got off 38 shots and made 17. 6 of 18 from 3-point range. Tony DiNardo hit two big 3-pointers in final two minutes. Then Ryan Rolf scored to make it 46-42. BC got a basket to make it 46-44 at half.

Ryan Wolf 14 pts. first half. Jim Kenna nine. Tony DiNardo eight.

Marcus Lee has 17 for Bishop Carroll. Nothing but putbacks and layups. He's 6-5 forward who can do damage inside. 10 points for Scott Rarick. 

Vincentian turning over Bishop Carroll a ton with presses. Bishop Carroll 18 of 33 from field and 8-8 from line and 2-3 from 3.

5:37 p.m. - What is this an NBA game? HALFTIME: Vincentian 46, Bishop Carroll 44

5:32 p.m. - Pressure never stops from Vincentian and it comes in different forms. diamond press. Man-to-man press with face guarding. Then trapping in half court when press is broken. But Bishop Carroll likes the pace apparently. BC leads 42-39 one minute left in half.

5:28 p.m. - 3-pointer by Brandon Martinazzi and BC has opened up 36-28 lead.

5:26 p.m. - Tony DiNardo, one of Vincentian's top players, quiet so far. Two points. Four shots.

5:24 p.m. - Bishop Carroll up with 5:30 left in half.  29-28

5:23 p.m. - Marcus Lee hurting Vincentian on inside. An athletic forward. Has 13 points so far.

5:18 p.m. - End of first quarter: Vincentian 23, Bishop Carroll 22. Ryan Wolf 10 points for Vincentian. Two 3-pointers. Looks like we're headed for game in 80s.

5:13 p.m. - 19-16 Bishop Carroll. 

5:07 p.m. - This is up and down. Already 9-7 Vincentian with five minutes left in first quarter. I put my head down to type, I miss a shot.

4:55 p.m. - Interesting game. Vincentian's only loss this year was to Bishop Carroll. This should be an up-and-down game. Bishop Carroll won earlier this season, 83-81.

How about this for small world? Was just informed that Vincentian coach George Yokitis played football at Blacklick Valley. One of his coaches was the grandfather of Brandon Martinazzi, who is a starting guard for Bishop Carroll.

The new football coach at Canon-McMillan High School has NFL playing experience and was drafted by the Steelers.

The school hired Ron Coder as the new coach this afternoon. Coder, an offensive lineman, played at Penn State and was a third-round draft pick of the Steelers in 1976. He played with Seattle from 1976-79 and St. Louis iin 1980. He missed the 1978 season with a back injury.

Canon-McMillan athletic director Guy Montecalvo has known Coder for decades. The two played together at Penn State.

Coder takes over a program that has won only five games in the past four years. Two years ago, Canon-McMillan was winless. But Coder knows what it takes to win a championship. So what if it was in womens football. Coder coached the Pittsburgh Passion womens team to the 2007 league championship.

Rowan gets honor

Maverick Rowan is one of the best freshman basketball players in the country - at least according to MaxPreps.com.

MaxPreps recently released its freshman All-American team and Rowan, a ninth-grader at Lincoln Park in Beaver County, was named honorable mention. Only 26 players around the country were named to the teams - first, second, third and honorable mention.

Rowan, a 6-foot-6 guard and an excellent shooter, averaged 22.6 points a game this season. He was the third-leading scorer in the WPIAL during the regular season.

Rowan is pictured with his sister, Madi, who was a senior guard at Central Valley and earned a Division I scholarship to New Hampshirte. 

Rowan is considered a Division I prospect for the future. It's a nice achievement for him to make the MaxPreps All-American team. Rowan, though, isn't your average high school freshman in age. He already is 16 and will turn 17 in July. As a senior, he will be eligible to play, but by only a few days. Under PIAA rules, a student-athlete is ineligible as a senior if he or she turns 19 before July 1.

Central and South Park rate

The Prep Baseball Report came out yesterday with its state rankings and two WPIAL teams are ranked No. 2 in their respective rankings. 

Central Catholic is No. 2 in Class AAAA while South Park is No. 2 in Class AAA.

Philadelphia and the NBA

An interesting piece by Kevin Askeland of MaxPreps.com on what cities produce the best current NBA talent. They are subjective rankings, but Philadelphia ranks fourth behind Los Angeles, Indianapolis and Chicago.

Askeland's top five current NBA players from Philadelphia are Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Kyle Lowry, Tyreke Evans and Markieff Morris.

Bryant (pictured) played at Lower Merion and led Lower Merion to a state championship as a senior. Lower Merion defeated Erie Cathedral Prep in the title game.

I remember watching that game and Erie Prep double-teamed Bryant. If he got the ball and dribbled, they would send another defender at him. 

He finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Gateway's search for a football coach is over. Donnie Militzer was hired tonight by a 7-2 vote of the Gateway school board.

Militzer was an assistant coach at Carlynton the past two seasons. He also has been an assistant at Bishop Canevin, Peters Township, Carnegie Mellon University and Washington & Jefferson College.

He takes over for Terry Smith, who resigned in January to become an assistant at Temple University. Gateway took three months to hire a coach. Sources have said Gateway had some trouble getting a qualified candidate to take the job.

Militzer said he got involved after Gateway re-posted the job a second time.

"My whole family is excited," Militzer said. "When we found out [about getting the job], there was a big celebration."

Militzer will continue with his full-time job as vice-principal at St. Thomas More, a Catholic grade school in Bethel Park.

Some items that fell off my laptop ...

First off, did you know Montour star athlete Devin Wilson has a twin brother in the NBA?

That's right. His name is Klay Thompson, a sharpshooting guard for the NBA's Golden State Warriors. You can't convince me that Wilson and Thompson weren't separated at birth - like Chris Paul and Cliff Paul.

Check it out:

By the way, Thompson and Stephen Curry are worth watching in these NBA playoffs. When they both have the shooting stroke? Wow. Especially Curry.

Maybe Devin can get some shooting tips from his twin brother, Klay.

OK, onto some other items.

How they rated in high school

It's always interesting to look at the top picks in the NFL draft and look back to how they were ranked in high school.

Looking at the top five picks in this draft and old rankings by Rivals.com, the No. 1 pick was a two-star player in high school, the No. 2 and 3 were four-stars, the No. 4 was not rated at all and was 100 pounds lighter and the No. 5 pick lived in Ghana and did not play high school football.

Here's the scoop. No. 1 pick Eric Fisher of Rochester Hills, Mich. was rated with two stars (five is the highest). He was an offensive lineman who played college foootball at Central Michigan and is a great example of how it is tough to predict offensive linemen's futures. It is so hard to predict how they will progress, will they add much more weight and muscle, etc.

No. 2 pick Luke Joeckel was a four-star offensive lineman out of Arlingon, Texas.

No. 3 pick Dion Jordan was a four-star tight end from Chandler, Ariz. He was drafted as a defensive end.

No. 4 pick Lane Johnson was not rated by Rivals.com. He was a quarterback at Groveton, Texas. Have you heard of kids putting on the freshman 15? How about the freshman 25, sophomore 25, junior 25 and senior 25? Johnson was 6-6, 202 pounds in high school. Now he's a 6-6, 303-pound offensive tackle.

No. 5 pick Ziggy Ansah lived in Ghana.

What also is interesting is a check at how the top-ranked players from previous classes are doing. The No. 1 player in 2009 was Bryce Brown, who signed with Tenessee out of high school, eventually transferred to Kansas State, but didn't have much of a college career. He was drafted in the seventh round last year and made the Phiadelphia Eagles for the 2012 season.

Rivals' No. 1 player in 2008 was Jeannette quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

But it is only fair to point out that there are many cases where players are ranked highly and DO live up to the ranking. For example, in 2009, the No. 2 player in the country was receiver Reuben Randle, who went to LSU and was drafted in the second round last year by the New York Giants.

The No. 3 player in 2009 was offensive lineman D.J. Fluker, who was the No. 11 pick in this year's draft out of Alabama.

The No. 4 player was Sheldon Richardson, who was the No. 13 pick in this year's draft out of Missouri.

The No. 5 player in 2009 was quarterback Matt Barkley, who went to USC and slipped to a fourth-round pick this year.

Spencer for hire?

Spencer Stefko resigned as Chartiers Valley's girls basketball coach a few weeks ago. Stefko enjoyed success at Chartiers Valley, but he might not be without a job for long. He is one of the candidates for the Seton-LaSalle girls job. It might be a few weeks before Seton-LaSalle makes a hire.

Seton-LaSalle is expected to be strong again next year with the return of Naje Gibson and Cassidy Walsh. The Rebels will also have Yacine Diop, who figures to be one of the top players in the state. Diop was ruled ineligible to play this season by the WPIAL and PIAA after transferring from Oak Hill Academy with alleged "athletic intent."

How good is Diop? Well she is a 5-10 guard who is ranked the No. 47 player in the country by Hoopgurlz.com and the No. 7 guard.

Seton-LaSalle has played in the WPIAL Class AA championship five years in a row.

New Duquesne coach has WPIAL ties

Duquesne's previous womens basketball coach had strong ties to Western Pennsylvania. Suzie McConnell-
Serio was a veritable legend to the Pittsburgh area womens basketball community.

But Duquesne's new coach also is from Western Pa. OK, he can't come close to matching McConnell-Serio's reputation in the area, but Dan Burt played basketball at Trinity High School in Washington.

Memorable race

Jim Faiella is the unofficial WPIAL girls track and field historian. He knows "EVERYTHING" and has been compiling the WPIAL girls track honor roll for decades. He points out a rather unusual 1,600-meter race last week in the Shaler-North Hills meet last week.

Shaler's Brianna Schwartz, North Hills' Mary Malone and her sister, Shannon, all broke five minutes in the 1,600. Faiella believes it probably is the first time in WPIAL history that three girls have broken five minutes in a dual meet. Schwartz won with a 4:55.2, Mary Malone was second at 4:55.8 and Shannon third at 4:57.2.

Consider this: Only 20 girls are known to have broken five minutes in the history of the WPIAL - and there were three in this dual meet. Schwartz is No. 6 on the all-time list at 4:54.15, Mary Malone tied for eighth with the 4:55.8 and Shannon Malone 10th at 4:56.17.

It should be interesting when all three run in the Baldwin Invitational this Friday and again in the WPIAL championships in a few weeks.

One day after it was announced that Highmark and West Penn Allegheny Health System have merged, the WPIAL and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced an agreement that gives the WPIAL soccer championships a home at Highmark.

All six of the WPIAL soccer championships - boys and girls - will be at the new Highmark Stadium, a 3,500-seat stadium next to Station Square on the South Side. The stadium's primary tenant is the Pittsburgh Riverhounds pro soccer team.

Under the plan this year, two soccer championships will be played Friday, Nov. 1 and four on Saturday, Nov. 2. (Pictured is a shot of Highmark Stadium during a Pittsburgh Passion football game).

"With the incomparable views of Pittsburgh's skyline as a backdrop, Highmark Stadium will set the stage and create and unforgettable moment with each youth participant," Melissa Lazar, president and CEO of Highmark Stadium, said in a release. 

Highmark Stadium also hopes to play host to one WPIAL boys and one girls soccer game per week. Highmark hopes to attract some of the WPIAL's top teams to the games. Would schools be willing to move one of their top section games to the stadium?

More on Highmark Stadium: Central Catholic is close to finalizing a deal to have its home football games at Highmark. Stay tuned on that one.

You wonder if the WPIAL would ever have maybe a Class A or AA playoff game at Highmark? It does seat only 3,500 but that would be perfect size for some of those playoff games. It seemingly isn't big enough for a big AAA or AAAA playoff game. A big question, though, is parking.

Check this out

***Baldwin has a 6-9, 280-pound sophomore lineman named Sterling Jenkins. He apparently opened some eyes at the Rivals Camp Series (sort of like a combine) Sunday at Montour. 

*** The Peters Township baseball team missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2002. The Indians are in danger of missing again. They are 4-4 in Class AAAA Section 4. Bethel Park is 6-2, Canon-McMillan 5-2 and Mt. Lebanon 5-2. Only three teams make the playoffs and teams in Section 4 play only 10 section games.

*** You want to see a possible basketball star of the future? Take a look at this YouTube video of Seventh Woods (yes, that's his real name). He is only 14 and a freshman and his highlight tape has people buzzing. IT HAS OVER 6 MILLION HITS ON YOUTUBE. He averaged 19 points a game this past season for Hammond High School in Columbia, S.C. Yeah, he reminds me of myself when I was 14. (ha ha)

Seriously the kid is amazing.

{youtube}http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If7Hrcf04Dw{/youtube}

Some items that fell off my laptop

Serra baseball player Wayne Hydak had an unforgettable inning a few weeks ago against Geibel. Actually, it was one that would put him in the national record book.

Hydak, a senior who plays first base and pitcher, had nine RBIs - yes, 9 - in the first inning of a 25-0 win against Geibel. Hydak had a grand slam, three-run double and two-run single all in that inning. Unheard of? Almost.

A check of the National Federation of State High School Association record book shows that Hydak's nine RBIs would be the second-highest total in an inning - ever. In the entire U.S.

According to the NFHS, the national record is 10 in an inning, by William Campbell of Middlesboro, Ky., in the first inning of a 1984 game. Hydak (pictured) would be next. A number of players had eight RBIs in an inning.

It should be pointed out the NFHS record book uses only records that are reported to the NFHS by schools. Has some else had nine RBIs in an inning? It's hard to say. But think of it: In order to have nine RBIs, a player must bat three times in an inning. That's crazy.

Serra would have to report Hydak's mark to the NFHS in order to be part of the record book.

Geibel's woes

Serra and Hydak aren't the only ones to give the Geibel baseball team trouble this year. The Gators are 1-13 and have been outscored 224-40. Nineteen of Geibel's runs were scored in a 19-17 victory against Clairton.

Clairton allowing 19 runs? Think of this: The Clairton football team has allowed 19 points or more only five times in the past four seasons.

Another for record books

The athletic talents of Hopewell's Shatori Walker-Kimbrough have been well-chronicled. But she added to her resume of impressive feats at the Baldwin Invtitational track and field meet last Friday.

Walker-Kimbrough, a senior and a Univeristy of Maryland basketball recruit, long jumped 19 feet, 3 1/2 inches to finish first. She became only the third girl in WPIAL history to reach 19 feet. She also is an excellent volleyball player. Can you say athlete of the year?

Walker-Kimbrough has a ways to go to reach the best long jumpers in WPIAL history. According to WPIAL girls track and field historian Jim Faiella, Nikita Lewis of South Park jumped 19-11 1/2 in 1998 and Cassie Richards of Winchester Thurston also jumped 19-11 1/2 in 2001.

Baldwin's 6-8, 295-pound lineman

It's hard not to notice Baldwin's Sterling Jenkins on the football field. He's a 6-8, 295-pound junior. And he is getting noticed by more colleges lately.

In the past week and a half, Jenkins has received scholarship offers from West Virginia, Michigan and Virginia. This was after he attended a one-day camp (combine) put on by Rivals.com at Montour High School two Sundays ago.

I have never seen Jenkins play. Reportedly, he is "raw" but has loads of potential.. And with that size, you can bet more offers are likely to come his way.

A $1 million scoreboard

You think they take their high school football in Texas seriously, or what? One high school is about to purchase a $1 million scoreboard for its stadium.

Weslaco Independent School District plans to buy the new 27 by 48 foot scoreboard, which would be the biggest for a high school in the country. Now get this: The school thinks the scoreboard will pay for itself in 10 years.

According to an article in the Valley Morning Star the school currently makes $82,000 annually from advertising and marketing revenue from its current scoreboard. Wow. And apparently there is a waiting list for advertisters.

OK. Back by popular demand, it's time for a version of that wildly popular...

"I"M JUST SAYIN"

The WPIAL baseball committee meets tomorrow to determine playoff pairings, seedings and scheduling. Here's to hoping the committee finally stops the practice of scheduling the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals so far apart that teams can throw their No. 1 pitcher in every one of those games.

Seriously, what level of baseball - from Little League on up - has a playoff tournament where a team can throw its ace pitcher in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. But the WPIAL has allowed it to happen in recent years because of the time it puts between those three rounds. I know a lot of people, including coaches, who think that's wrong. Shouldn't it be about who has the best team, not who has the best No. 1 pitcher?

For example, Seneca Valley won the Class AAAA title last year after receiving a bye to the quarterfinals. Ace Matt Smith pitched the quarterfinals, semifinals and final. Teams with byes in the past have really been at an advantage. But this year, only the No. 1 seed in Class AAAA should have a bye this year because there are at least 16 teams in every classification of playoffs except Class AAAA, which has 15.

Wait, my phone is ringing. Oh, it's WPIAL czar Tim O'Malley. Apparently he wants to know how to schedule the playoffs. I'll be happy to give him the plan that should be forwarded to WPIAL baseball committee Bob Bozzuto.

Here goes: Have preliminary-round and first-round games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Use Thursday and Friday if needed because of rain. Play the WPIAL quarterfinals Monday, May 20 and the semifinals May 22. Use May 23, 24 and 25 if it rains. The finals already are scheduled for May 28 and 29. That way, a No. 1 pitcher could work the quarterfinals and be available for the finals.

Now, some with the WPIAL will say they don't want to schedule the quarterfinals and semifinals May 20 and 22, because if it rains they might have to push back games to Friday and Saturday of that week. They might claim they don't want to mess with schools that have proms or graduation. Understandable. But hold on a second. WPIAL volleyball championships are scheduled for May 24. And what about all the track and field athletes that are in Shippensburg May 24 and 25 for the PIAA championships? Why can they deal with proms and graduations, but not baseball teams?

So c'mon, WPIAL, and do the baseball schedule differently this year.

More "I'm Just Sayin" 

**** A little groggy again today after staying up late and watching "Inside the NBA" on TNT. To me, it's better than any sitcom on television. Barkley, Kenny "The Jet", Shaq and Ernie have just the right combo of serious insight and humor. Shaq was "breakdancing" on the set the other night.

**** Phil Shar (pictured) is back coaching girls basketball. Thomas  Jefferson athletic director Bill Cherpak said the school has hired Shar as its new coach.

At West Mifflin, he was in-out-in again-out again Phil Shar. He coached West Mifflin for 19 seasons, had a 379-153 record with five WPIAL championship game appearances until the board opened his position in 2009. It has been a crazy story. Shar got his job back again in 2010, coached one year, won 17 games and the board opened his position again.

Can Shar win at Thomas Jefferson? I say yeah.

*** Speaking of Thomas Jefferson, senior quarterback Joe Carroll was the West MVP in the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association East-West all-star game this past weekend. Carroll completed 18 of 30 passes for 177 yards, but the West got handled by the East, 48-27, at Downingtown West High School. The game is supposed to be for the best players in Pennsylvania who didn't make the Big 33. 

The Daily Local News covered the game. Former Seneca Valley quarterback Jordan Brown was 6 of 13 passing for 108 yards.

*** Speaking of Brown, his brother got some good news recently. C.J. Brown is now a quarterback at the University of Maryland and the NCAA granted him an extra year of eligibility because of an injury. Brown was slated to be the starter last season but suffered a torn ACL in preseason practice. He redshirted as a freshman and then missed all of last season. He was a redshirt junior at the time. With the NCAA's decision, Brown will now have two years left. He has been named the starter for next season.

Brown's father said C.J. will graduate this spring and attend grad school in the fall to start working toward his masters degree. 

*** If you follow high school sports in the WPIAL, you might know of Don Rebel, the director of MSA Sports network and a voice heard round Western Pennsylvania on radio and internet broadcasts of many WPIAL events. Well a shoutout to his youngest son, Carson. He recently picked up his second pitching victory for the Seton-LaSalle baseball team. He's only a sophomore. Carson must get his athletic ability from his mother.

*** It's time for me to "call out" baseball coaches. They might be the worst in terms of cooperating with things that actually "help" their teams. In the past, getting them to vote for all-section teams is like asking for their right arm. despite repeated phone calls and emails. Now we're trying to get season-ending stats from the coaches to compile a list of WPIAL statistical leaders. Let's just say the coaches aren't exactly cooperating a ton.

So here's the call to those coaches. Please read below:

Hampton twin brothers Ryan and Collin Luther have let it be known they are not a package deal for colleges. The Hampton juniors don't necessarily have to go to the same college.

But if they wanted to play together in college, the opportunity is there.

Duquesne had offered a scholarship to Ryan Luther a while ago. But the Dukes also recently offered Collin Luther.

That makes three Division I colleges that have now offered both Luthers. The others are George Washington and New Hampshire.

Ryan Luther, a 6-8 forward and member of the Post-Gazette Fabulous 5, also has offers from Virginia Tech, Dayton and Holy Cross. Dayton coach Archie Miller would really like Ryan (pictured in the WPIAL final against New Castle). Davidson also is showing interest. Collin is a 6-6 guard-forward.

Does Duquesne have a shot at the Luthers? Well, their father, "Big" Bill Luther, is a Duquesne grad. (He reportedly was an intramural phenom). One of the Luthers' uncle is Brian Shanahan, a former Hampton star who scored more than 1,000 points at Duquesne.

Duquesne would like to get some local players, if they are good enough to play at that level. And it would be nice to see some local players on the roster. Duquesne will have Highlands graduate Micah Mason, who is transferring from Drake. Duquesne also has showed interest in Beaver Falls guard Elijah Cottrill.

Lastly, speaking of Drake. Coaches from Drake are now showing interest in Bethel Park senior Wyatt Haggerty, a 6-11 center. He was going to attend a prep school, possibly IMG Academy in Floria. But he might look at Drake. The Drake staff is different than the one that recruited Mason. Drake's staff was let go after this past season.

Drew Cook, who helped the Beaver Falls basketball team to WPIAL and PIAA Class AA titles, will play at the NCAA Division II level in college.

Cook has decided to play at California Univeristy of Pa. It's a nice get for Cal Pa. Cook is a 6-foot-2 guard who did a little of everything for Beaver Falls. He has an excellent mid-range game and is good at slashes to the basket. He averaged 15.3 points a game this season, was a Post-Gazette West Fabulous 5 selection and the Beaver County Times Player of the Year. He also is a good defender.

Cook started some for Beaver Falls as a freshman. During coach Doug Biega's 14 years as Beaver Falls' coach, the only others to start as freshmen were Lance Jeter, Todd Thomas and Elijah Cottrill. Cook scored more than 1,000 career points.

Baseball all-stars announced

The WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association 10th annual all-star games will be Sunday, June 9 at the Burkett Complex in Robinson.  The first game at 1 matches the WPIAL AAAA All-Stars against AAA. It is followed by Class AA vs. Class A at 4.

Eighty players will participate in the games. Franklin Regional's Dan McGrath and Nick Vento, Neshannock's Alex Welker and Quigley's Zach Chinchilla declined invitations due to prior commitments. Players will be honored at an awards banquet Jiune 10 at the Airport Marriott. The banquet is open to the public and for banquet tickets, call 412-429-0546.

Here are the players selected for the game.

Class AAAA All-Stars
Cameron Balego                Central Catholic
Anthony Colondrea             Woodland Hills
Logan Corrigan                  Bethel Park
P J DeMeo                       Central Catholic
Sebastian DeNardo            Central Catholic
Jimmy Divosevic                 North Allegheny
Jonathan Dorogy                 Seneca Valley
Tyler Dubovich                  Albert Gallatin
Kevin Forrester                 Canon McMillan
Dakota Forsyth                  Bethel Park
Frank Fortunato                 Canon McMillan
Brad Gresock                    Seneca Valley
Chris Hawkins                   Brashear
Mark Hollis                     North Hills
Zac Manuppelli                  Plum
Zach Martinelli                 Hempfield
James Meeker                    North Allegheny
Nathan Mori                     Hempfield
Shea Sullivan                   Pine-Richland
Chris Watschak                  Peters Township


Class AAA All-Stars
Mark Adams                      Elizabeth-Forward
Dave Bednar                     Mars
Brad Bisko                      Yough
Colton Booher                   Thomas Jefferson
Jake Bywalski                   South Park
Jamie Deane                     Ambridge
Ben Erdahl                      Mars
Adam Ferita                     Belle Vernon
Dom Francia                     Belle Vernon
Jake Horew                      Chartiers Valley
Dan Hoss                        Montour
Tim Hughes                      Hopewell
Logan Johnston                  Hopewell
Joey Paul                       Mt Pleasant
Nick Riotti                     Trinity
Jared Skolnicki                 Keystone Oaks
Luke Spisak                     Yough
Joey Vita                       Hampton
Chase Voltz                     Knoch
Nick Yobbi                      South Park


Class AA All-Stars
Jordan Allen                    Washington
Sam Beckey                      Freedom
Kevin Begley                    Deer Lakes
Sean Bialecki                   Greensburg CC
Garrett Brooks                  Greensburg CC
Tyler Falk                      Riverside
Adam Fredley                    Deer Lakes
Ben Herstine                    Beaver
Dylan Jones                     Riverside
Dustin Koedel                   Freeport
Paul McCullough                 Shady Side Acad
Josh Miller                     Beth-Center
Robbie Miller                   Freeport
Jake Pilewicz                   Quaker Valley
Dylan Pounds                    Chartiers-Houston
Justin Retzer                   Ford City
Brandon Ritchie                 Laurel
Austin Ross                     Beaver
Tyler Spohn                     Brownsville
Kyle Witzberger                 Fort Cherry


Class A All-Stars
John Arcuri                     St. Joseph's
Jordan Dicks                    Jefferson-Morgan
Nico DiPaolo                    Bishop Canevin
Robert DiMaggio                 Western Beaver
Jimmy Dlugos                    Bishop Canevin
Preston Falascino               OLSH
Jaime Fell                      Frazier
Brian Fisher                    California
Evan Haines                     Sewickley Academy
Chad Hazaga                     Serra Catholic
Blake Herron                    Frazier
Wayne Hydak                     Serra Catholic
Dylan Kugler                    Serra Catholic
Jason Lanoy                     OLSH
Anthony Malky                   Riverview
Tim Mulvey                      OLSH
Josh Mundell                    Carmichaels
Ryan Peluso                     North Catholic
Ben Richko                      Rochester
Tommy Shoaf                     Carmichaels

A year ago, South Park's Bill Stanley set a national high school record in the javelin when he threw 246 feet, 9 inches at the PIAA championships.

Stanley is now in college but still into busting records.

Stanley, a freshman at Ohio State pictured during his high school days, threw the javelin 246-10 at the Big Ten Conference championships this past weekend. The mark not only broke Stanley's own school record, it also set a Big Ten Conference championship meet record.

Stanley is one of the top college throwers in the country.

Wiggins chooses Kansas

The No. 1 basketball player in the country picked his college today - and for once Kentucky coach John Calipari didn't come out the winner.

Andrew Wiggins, a Canada native who played at Huntington Prep (W. Va.), signed with Kansas. Coach Bill Self landed a player who is almost a sure bet to be a "one and done" player. He also considered Kentucky, Florida State and North Carolina.

After Wiggins made his decision, Twitter started lighting up with message to him @22wiggins. This is one of those times where social media shows how many idiots there are out there when it comes to kids picking colleges. Here were a few tweets directed at Wiggins.

"Have fun with all the stupid hillbillies in Lawrence, Kansas @22wiggins ... I hope you tear your ACL's"

"@22wiggins you [expletive]!!! Why would you pick Kansas!! Hope you tear your [expletive] acl the 1st play."

Wow. It's a shame, isn't it? And there are countless other tweets similar to those.

Former Beaver Falls High School star basketball player Sheldon Jeter announced on Twitter tonight that he has decided to leave Vanderbilt due to some family issues. But he said he has not decided yet where he will transfer.

Jeter, the Post-Gazette Player of the Year in 2012, said on Twitter "due to some personal issues, I am leaving Vanderbilt University to be closer to my family."

The most natural question is he is headed to Pitt? Does Pitt want him? Well, Jeter isn't saying. 

Jeter, a 6-foot-7 forward, also tweeted "Just to clear this up, I do not know what school I will go to. That is another conversation to take place at another time with my family."

A lot might depend on what schools Vanderbilt will release him to. Vanderbilt released a statement from coach Kevin Stallings, saying "Sheldon has indicated that he'd like to play closer to home and we wish him the best."

Jeter played in 33 games for Vanderbilt this season as a freshman and made seven starts. He seemed to come on more and was a bigger factor the latter part of the season. For the year, he averaged 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds, shot 47 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range.

Notes, quotes and anecdotes from Western Pennsylvania high school sports

North Allegheny High School always seems to have a number of strong athletic teams. But what North Allegheny teams have a chance to do this spring is unheard of in the WPIAL.

Call it a drive for five.

North Allegheny has already won a WPIAL team championship this spring in track and field. Over the next week, North Allegheny could add four more championship trophies.

Tonight, the North Allegheny boys volleyball team and the boys lacrosse team will play in championship games. Next Wednesday, North Allegheny plays in the WPIAL baseball championship. Next Thursday, North Allegheny plays in the WPIAL softball championship.

Only four schools have ever won WPIAL baseball and softball championships in the same school year - Riverside in 1996, Sto-Rox in 1985, Swissvale in 1980 and North Allegheny in 2003.

Only one school has ever won baseball, softball and volleyball championships in the same spring. Coincidentally, it was North Allegheny in 2003. Also North Allegheny has won more state titles than any school in the state.

But this spring really is just the continuation of a golden sports year at North Allegheny. Before the spring started, North Allegheny already had five district championships - in football, boys cross country, hockey (PIHL title), boys swimming and girls swimming. The WPIAL doesn't sponsor water polo and although there aren't many schools in the state with water polo teams,  the North Allegheny boys did win a state title in water polo.

Think of it. If things go right for North Allegheny in the next week, it could have 10 district titles this school year. 

 It takes only one

Sorry but I have to once again go on my rant against the way the WPIAL schedules its baseball playoffs. A case in point again is Seneca Valley, which for the second year in a row will be able to use only one pitcher IN THE ENTIRE WPIAL PLAYOFFS!!!!! Sorry, but this shouldn't be softball.

This is no knock against Seneca Valley or coach Eric Semega's use of his pitchers. Seneca Valley is a strong baseball program, winning the past two WPIAL AAAA playoffs and Semega is an excellent coach. They are just taking advantage of the way the WPIAL schedules the playoffs. Because Seneca Valley received a first-round bye for the second year in a row, it will be able to use ace Connor Coward in the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship. He pitched a one-hitter in the quarterfinals and four-hitter in the semifinals.

A year ago, Seneca Valley received another bye and Matt Smith pitched the quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

Because the WPIAL puts about one week between quarterfinals, semifinals and and final, teams can use one pitcher. I still say it would show more of a team if they put quarterfinals and semifinals maybe two or three days apart. That way, one pitcher couldn't pitch both games.

The way it is now, it's turning into softball. One top pitcher can dominate the game. I mean, in the regular season, can one pitcher work three conseutive games? No. Teams are sometimes scheduled three section games in a week. So why is it so different in the postseason? It didn't used to be this way in baseball. Scheduling was different. 

B.B.'s grandson to Stanford

B.B. Flenory is a WPIAL basketball legend, starring at Valley High School in the mid 1970s and then playing at Duquesne University. He has a grandson who is a big-time football player.

Brandon Simmons plays at Timberview High School in Mansfield, Texas, and is ranked the No. 20 defensive back in the country by Rivals.co. Simmons recently committed to Stanford.

Although B.B. was a tremendous hooper, I seem to remember B.B. also playing football his senior year at Valley.

Hooker and Revis

In watching New Castle's Malik Hooker (pictured) play a spring basketball game last week, looking at his body and knowing his football-basketball pedigree, he reminds me of one other great WPIAL athlete - Darrelle Revis.

Now please, don't get me wrong. I am in no way saying Hooker will be as good as Revis. But I couldn't help but think Hooker's body resembles Revis' body in high school. They both have those thin legs below the knee. Both have pretty wide shoulders. And both stand out in football and basketball. They are both oustanding athletes. Pitt, Penn State and Michigan are a few of the schools that have offered Hooker for football.

The love of New Castle basketball

I found this interesting and also tremendous. New Castle's basketball team has been playing in a tournament at North Hills (21-team tournament). The other night, I looked on New Castle's bench and who was sitting there watching? Shawn Anderson and Antonio Rudolph.

They were both key players on New Castle's team this year (Anderson the WPIAL Class AAAA Player of the Year) but they are seniors. They will never play again for New Castle. Yet there they were, traveling an hour to watch a spring tournament game.

It shows how Anderson and Rudolph hold New Castle and coach Ralph Blundo in such high regard. A funny Anderson line: When asked why he was there watching, he said, "There's nothing else to do in New Castle."

Zero tolerance policy at Riverside

It hasn't received much attention but it really is amazing what the Riverside softball team has done this year. Riverside is 18-0 and has not allowed a run in 11 consecutive games. Riverside has shut out 16 of 18 opponents and given up six runs total in two games.

Riverside will play in the WPIAL Class AA championship next week.

PIAA makes football practice rule

The PIAA passed a rule Wednesday that limits football teams to only three practices a week where contact is allowed. This rule goes into effect after the season starts.

It really isn't a big deal. Most teams have contact practices only three days a week anyway. Many teams have contact Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and practice lightly Thursday. Games are Friday.

Top 250 material

Rivals.com recently released its rankings for the top 250 in the country. No WPIAL players were in the top 100, but three made the top 250 - Gateway's Montae Nicholson at 127, Aliquippa's Dravon Henry at 168 and Washington's Shai McKenzie at 177.

Coaching moves

Burrell named Shawn Bennis as its new boys basketball coach. Burrell made it to the WPIAL Class AA final this past season. Bennis has been a head coach at Highlands and Kiski Area and coached Micah Mason at Highlands.

Burrell also hired Josh Shields as its new wrestling coach. Burrell has won seven consecutive WPIAL AA titles.

Greensburg Salem hired Dave Keefer as its new football coach. Keefer has been a Greensburg Salem assistant.

The PIAA moved the state basketball championships back to Hershey this year - and the change helped the PIAA pocketbook.

The PIAA this week released financial information from the winter championships and the winter sports playoffs came in $67,975 above budget. One of the main reasons was the basketball playoff revenue, which was $90,758 above budget.

Part of the reason for the increased revenue in basketball was an attendance spike of 10,000 fans for the boys and girls championship games. The PIAA moved the basketball championships from Penn State to Hershey this year. Attendance at Giant Center in Hershey was 24,582 while attendance at the final year at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center was 14,421.

From 1976 through 2006 (with the exception of 1979 when the title games were played at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh), the PIAA title games were played at either Hersheypark Arena or Giant Center. The PIAA decided to move the games to Penn State in 2007. The games attracted 33,008 fans the first year at Penn State, but attendance dropped drastically in following years.

Besides ticket sales, the cost of rent at Giant Center in Hershey was much cheaper than the rent at Bryce Jordan.

Holmberg loses tiebreaker - and gold medal

The first day of the PIAA track and field championships are today at Shippensburg University and there was an interesting happening in the Class AAA girls high jump involving Hempfield sophomore Maddie Holmberg. She jumped exactly as far as the gold medalist. But Holmberg was given the silver medal because her second-best jump wasn't quite far enough.

Confused? Well, here's the story. Holmberg tied Chambersburg's Marshay Ryan for first place with a jump of 19 feet, 10 inches. In this event, if two athletes tie for first, the tiebreaker is the second-best jump. Holmberg looked in good shape with a second-best jump of 19-4. But on her final attempt of the event, Ryan jumped 19-5 and beat Holmberg for the gold.

The 19-10 by Holmberg is a monumental jump. She is only the fourth athlete in WPIAL history to clear 19 feet and her jump came close to the WPIAL best (in any meet) of 19-11 1/2, held by South Park's Nikita Lewis (1998) and Winchester-Thurston's Cassie Richards (2001).

It was a great effort by Holmberg.

Hopewell's Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who jumped 19-3 at the WPIAL championships, finished sixth at 17-11 3/4.

Other notes

***** More from the PIAA track and field championships today: Cyre Vargo of Fleetwood High School set a Class AAA championshp meet record with a of 5 feet, 11 1/4 inch in the high jump. To put that in perspective, consider that it would have placed sixth in the WPIAL Class AA BOYS championships.

***** Belle Vernon opened Dan Palm's position of baseball coach. Palm guided Belle Vernon to a spot in last year's WPIAL AAA championship game, but the program was placed on two years probation by the PIAA because of a benches-clearing fight during a PIAA playoff game last year. Palm was one of the coaches ejected from the game.

Palm also was suspended by the district for three games this year for unspecified reasons.

***** From what I know, what I hear and from looking at other sources, don't expect any WPIAL baseball players to be selected in the first few rounds of this year's draft. In fact, according to Baseball America projections, there isn't a player in Pennsylvania who ranks as a top prospect for the draft.

A great story came out of the state track and field championships at Shippensburg University today.

Gateway's Julius Rivera and Seneca Valley's Jonathan Dorogy surprised many when they finished 1-2 in the PIAA Class AAA 100-meter dash. Rivera ran 10.74 and Dorogy 10.83. 

First some historical facts to show how unusual this is. Rivera is the first WPIAL AAA 100 champ since North Hills' Andrew Johnson in 2003. Also, since the PIAA switched to metrics in 1979, this is only the second time the WPIAL finished 1-2 in the Class AAA 100. The other time was 2001 when McKeesport's Jason Williams finished first and Greensburg Salem's Akeem Vance second.

Now what makes the story even better. This is Dorogy's first season running outdoor track and Rivera wasn't even good enough to qualify for the WPIAL championships last year. Now they are the two fastest dudes in the state!!!!! Go figure.

To me, Dorogy's story this spring is simply fascinating. He is in his third year as the starting center fielder on Seneca Valley's baseball team and will go after his third consecutive WPIAL title when the Raiders play North Allegheny in the AAAA final Wednesday.

He ran indoor track in the past but never outdoor track. He decided to try outdoor track this year because it is his senior year, and he wanted to do everything possible. So he goes out and finishes second in the state in the 100. Great for that kid and it shows that athletes don't have to specialize in one sport.

By the way, if you're wondering about their futures? Well, Rivera hasn't decided on a college. You can bet winning the state will attract more colleges. Dorogy will play football at The Citdael.

Blackhawk High Schoo's Bredan McKay is the best baseball player in the state. At least that's what Gatorade says.

McKay, a junior, has been selected the Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year. And for good reason. McKay was phenomenal this season.

McKay, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound left-hander, finshed with a 7-0 record and finished with a surreal 0.09 ERA. He finished the season on a 24-inning scoreless streak. During that time, he allowed only four hits and struck out 48.

For the season, McKay pitched 53 innings and struck out 101. He allowed only three runs and only one earned. For his career, he is 22-1. He has pitched 191 innings and allowed only 13 earned runs and 18 total runs.

Besides his pitching this season, McKay also played outfield and first base. He batted better than .400 this season.

McKay still has one more year of high school but already has scholarship offers from Louisville, Wake Forest, Kent State and West Virginia, while Arizona and Florida State are interested. McKay also could be selected in next year's Major League Baseball draft.

WPIAL baseball awards

The WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association announced its players of the year, pitchers of the year and coaches of the year today. They will be honored June 10 at an awards banquet that will conclude the coaches associaton all-star weekend. On June 9 at the Burkett Complex in Robinson Township, two all-star games will be played that includes the top 80 players in the WPIAL.

Here are the WBCA award winners.

Player of the year - (Class AAAA) Danny McGrath, Franklin Regional. (AAA) Nick Yobbi, South Park. (AA) Ben Herstine, Beaver. (A) Preston Falascino, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

Pitchers of the year - (AAAA) Tyler Smith, Penn-Trafford. (AAA) Brendan McKay, Blackhawk. (AA) Brandon Ritchie, Laurel. (A) Anthony Malky, Riverview.

Coaches of the year - (AAAA) Frank Zebrasky, Canon-McMillan, (AAA) Steve Bucci, South Park. (AA) Rocky Plassio, Washington. (A) Chad Miller, Western Beaver.

The NCAA baseball tournament begins this weekend with regional play around the country and a handful of WPIAL players are on teams in the tournament this year.

Here are some of the players:

**** North Carolina State is 44-14 and hosting a regional. Leading the Wolfpack in RBIs is Tarran Senay, a senior outfielder from South Park High School. Sennay (pictured) has 49 RBIs and is batting .284. He has started 56 games.

North Carolina State's regional also includes Binghamton, William & Mary and Mississippi.

**** Connecticut made the NCAA tourney out of the Big East Conference and the Huskies' starting catcher is Max McDowell, a freshman from Norwin. He has started 44 games for Connecticut and is hitting .253 with four home runs and 25 RBIs.

**** Alex Buccilli, a graduate of Franklin Regional, plays outfield for Coastal Carolina and has started 49 games for a team that is 37-21. Buccilli is batting .287. He went to Frederick Community College before heading to Coastal Carolina.

**** Montour's Anthony Marks is a freshman outfielder for Coastal Carolina and has started nine games.

**** Ronnie Bernick, a Baldwin graduate, has started 43 games for the Canisius Griffins. Bernick, an infielder, is hitting .287 with three home runs and 27 RBIs.

**** Matt Rubino, a Hopewell graduate, is a reserve catcher for North Carolina, one of the top teams in the country with a 52-8 record. Rubino has played in 12 games.

The University of Michigan's football recruiting class of 2014 is ranked No. 1 in the country so far by ESPN. Tonight, the Wolverines' class added a Western Pennsylvania flavor.

Thomas Jefferson linebacker Chase Winovich, a heavily-recruited outside linebacker, announced tonight he will attend Michigan. His other top choices were Pitt and Ohio State, but it appeared that the final decision came down to Michigan and Pitt.

Winovich is 6 feet 4, 220 pounds and led Thomas Jefferson in tackles last season. He had scholarship offers from schools across the country.

Here are some of Winovich's comments about his decision and a few other things:

On how long he knew he wanted to go to Michigan: “It was after my third trip to Michigan a few weeks ago that I woke up the next morning, went out to breakfast, made a trip to my brothers’ house [in Toledo] when it really hit me. I said ‘Michigan is the place where I belong.’ I just got that feeling. It wasn’t something that was forced, either.”

On Ohio State, where he also visited: "It might be great for some other kids, but it just didn't fit me. Coach [Luke] Fickell, coach [Urban] Meyer and coach [Mike] Vrabel are awesome and great guys. But it just doesn't feel right."

Winovich has been to Pitt "four or five times." His last visit to Pitt came only a few days ago.

On turning down Pitt: "I went down to Pitt with an open mind. I wanted to give Pitt as fair a shot as I did Ohio State and Michigan. I found out that I really liked Pitt. They're class 'A' people. That's what is tough. It's your home city. Their coaches are so genuine in their approach to everything."

Winovich said he had a number of reasons why he chose Michigan.

On one of the factors that gave Michigan the edge over Pitt: “I think what might have helped sway Michigan was the fact that I think they have a legitimate shot at winning a national championship."

On anything else he wants to say: "I just want to say thanks to my family, friends and teammates. None of this would've been possible without them."

Pitt basketball fans longing for better outside shooting, your wishes might be granted in the form of Maverick Rowan.

Rowan is a freshman at Lincoln Park, a charter school in Midland, Beaver County. He made a verbal commitment to Pitt tonight.

Rowan is a terrific outside shooter, making seven 3-pointers in one game this season and averaging three 3-pointers a game. He averaged 22.3 points during the regular season, third-best in the WPIAL, and was one of only 26 players in the country named to the MaxPreps.com freshmen All-American team. I've seen him play a few times over the past few years, both in high school and on the AAU circuit. His parents named him after the character in the 1980s movie "Top Gun." It's appropriate because this Maverick is a gunslinger with a deadly shot. He is tall and slender with long arms  and can really stroke the 3-pointer.

Now he needs more muscle and some improvement on the defensive end, but he still has three more years of high school left for that. But he can most certainly shoot. He has put a lot of workout time and effort into being a top player.

Rowan has been playing AAU basketball this spring for the Ohio Basketball Club. Mike Bariski, athletic director and assistant basketball coach at Lincoln Park, said Ohio State has been extremely interested in Rowan. Bariski said North Carolina and some other big-time schools have also showed interest.

If you want to see Rowan play, check out some of his highlights from the Ohio Basketball Club on YouTube.

{youtube}http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBwI0DhOlNg{/youtube} 

With Rowan being only a freshman, you might not think he will be at Pitt until the 2016 season. But Rowan will be 17 next month (he repeated 8th grade). So is there any way he could possibly "reclassify," graduate high school early and get to Pitt earlier than the 2016-17 season? Just a thought. Or if you want to get crazy from the other end, think of this: He stays at Lincoln Park all four years, goes to a prep school for a year, redshirts his freshman year in college. Then he would be a 22-year-old freshman. OK, that's crazy. But just an idea.

Rowan isn't the only future Division I college athlete in his family, though. His sister, Madie, will play next season at the University of New Hampshire. She averaged 18 points a game this past season for Central Valley. Madie also attended Lincoln Park, but because Lincoln Park is a charter school without a basketball team, she was allowed to play for the team in the district where the Rowans live.

(Madie and Maverick are pictured in front of the Lincoln Park Leopard)

But maybe you remember the Rowans' father. Ron was a star at Beaver Falls High School in the early 1980s. He signed with Notre Dame, transferred to St. John's and played seven games in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers. He then had a long and successful pro career overseas.

Ron had a most memorable moment for St. John's in 1986 when he hit the winning shot late in the game against Syracuse in the Big East Conference tournament championship. Go to the 19-second mark in this YouTube video to see Rowan's shot.

{youtube}http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEXYkcf8lM8{/youtube}