The Bellhy family of Fort Cherry made history. They are believed to be the first family in the WPIAL with four siblings to have 1,000 points. A story in today's Post-Gazette chronicles their family of players.
But there is a chance another family could have four siblings with 1,000 by the end of the season.
The Luthers of Hampton have three with 1,000 already. Jodie was the first. Then came Bill and Ryan, now a senior, has over 1,000. According to Hampton coach Joe Lafko, Collin Luther, Ryan's twin brother, has 920 points. He needs 80 to reach 1,000.
Now Collin isn't a big scorer, but Hampton should go deep into the WPIAL playoffs and also could make a run in the PIAA playoffs. Luther at least has a chance at 1,000.
If Collin Luther (pictured against New Castle's Anthony Richards) makes it, that would make four 1,000-point scorers in his immediate family. But if you count his uncles and cousin, his extended family would have seven 1,000-point scorers.
Uncles Brian and Rob Shanahan also scored 1,000 in their careers at Hampton and cousin, Mike Jr., scored more than 1,000 at Norwin. Brian played at Duquesne University and Rob at Pitt-Johnstown. Mike Jr. played football at Pitt. Jerry and Mike Sr., older brothers of Rob and Brian, also were standout players at Hampton. Both were close to 1,000 points also.
Quite a family. Go to a Hampton game, and there is a good chance you will run into at least one of the Shanahans. If as many teams made the playoffs back then as nowadays, who knows. You could have had maybe nine Luthers-Shanahans with 1,000. The Luthers father, Bill, is married to a Shanahan sister, Kate.
But before we get to the playoff predictions, I thought I'd share with you a photo from this morning's paper that went with a story on the Obama boys team trying to go undefeated and win a City League championship. The last team to do that was the great 1976 Fifth Avenue team.
How about this old picture of three stars from that Fifth Ave. team? From left, Warner Macklin, Sam Clancy and David "Puffy" Kennedy. Macklin ended up at Point Park, Clancy did wonderful things for Pitt basketball before playing in the NFL and Kennedy played at Cincinnati. His son is former Schenley star D.J. Kennedy who played at St. John's. Check out the classic:
PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
Here are picks for games tonight and Saturday. Remember to check @PGVarsityXtra Twitter account for score updates and notes. Send scores and updates to that account and post with #wpial
BOYS
CLASS AAAA
Saturday
Fox Chapel vs. Bethel Park - Matchups of 8-9 seeds are always good ones and this one is one of the best in any classification. Fox Chapel would prefer a faster-paced game. The key to the game is how well Fox Chapel defends. Winner: Fox Chapel.
Gateway vs. Upper St. Clair - Gateway comes from a much stronger section. Section 4 (Upper St. Clair's section) was down this year. But if you go by trends, things would favor Upper St. Clair, despite coming from a weaker section. The Panthers had won six in a row before losing to Chartiers Valley Monday. Gateway has lost five of seven. Upper St. Clair's outside shooting and rebounding will be key. Winner: Upper St. Clair.
Others - Franklin Regional over Seneca Valley; New Castle over Latrobe; Hampton over Peters Township.
CLASS AAA
Friday - Ambridge over Keystone Oaks; Mount Pleasant over Kittanning; South Fayette over Greensburg Salem; West Mifflin over Laurel Highlands; West Allegheny over South Park.
CLASS AA
Saturday - Jeannette over Sto-Rox; Washington over Burrell; Brownsville over Brentwood; Northgate over Shady Side Academy; West Shamokin over Laurel; Apollo-Ridge over California; Charleroi over Chartiers-Houston; South Allegheny over Frazier.
CLASS A
Friday - Lincoln Park over Mapletown; Western Beaver over Carmichaels; Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic over Winchester Thurston; OLSH over St. Joseph; Vincentian over Trinity Christian; Sewickley Academy over Clairton; Monessen over Eden Christian; Wilkinsburg over Union.
CITY LEAGUE
Friday - Allderdice over Brashear.
GIRLS
CLASS AAAA
Friday - North Allegheny over Latrobe; Shaler over Baldwin; Mt. Lebanon over Gateway; Penn-Trafford over Plum.
CLASS AAA
Saturday - Kittanning over Greensburg Salem; Ringgold over South Fayette; West Mifflin over Freeport; Moon over Uniontown; Ambridge over Thomas Jefferson.
CLASS AA
Saturday - Riverview over West Shamokin; OLSH over Apollo-Ridge; Fort Cherry over Avonworth; Washington over Shady Side Academy; Beaver over Jeannette; Charleroi over Shenango; Brentwood over Freedom; Ford City over Laurel; Mohawk over South Side Beaver.
CLASS A
Saturday - Monessen over Carmichaels; St. Joseph over Jefferson-Morgan; Quigley over West Greene; Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic over Winchester Thurston; California over Cornell.
CITY LEAGUE
Monday - Allderdice over Carrick; Westinghouse over Obama.
