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Mike White's high school sports chat: 10.29.24
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Mike White
10:53
Playoffs? Who said playoffs? The WPIAL did. Football playoffs start Friday. Some great memories will be made for everyone from players, to coaches, to fans. But let's us make some talk right now. Chat is now open.
TM
10:53
I went to the 3A boys soccer semi-finals last night. 2 really good games. Keystone Oaks has a nice facility, but the parking is awful. How does WPIAL decide where to hold playoff games for sports? I would have to think something like parking would factor into the decision.
Mike White
10:55
Yes, sometimes neutral sites for playoff games are a little hard to figure. But it's not easy. First off, schools have to be willing to host games. Yes I know Dormont Stadium parking is not good, but they've been holding playoff games there for ages, even in football.
Coach
10:55
Hey Mike has there been 3 brothers who played for the same high school score over a 1000 points in basketball?  Antonio and Bryce Epps scored a 1000 points for South Allegheny and I hear they have a younger brother name Cameron Epps that is on the path of scoring a 1000.
Mike White
10:58
Yes, it's not often that three boy or girl siblings score 1,000 points. But it has happened before. The Luther boys at Hampton and the Hooker brothers at New Castle did it. The Setos at Brownsville and the Costas at Avonworth have done it also. It is still a nice achievement, though. The Bellhys at Fort Cherry had four siblings score 1,000 - two brothers and two sisters. The Luthers also had a sister score 1,000. Good luck to the Epps brothers.
Fox Catcher
10:58
What’s this rumor I hear that there is a group of schools trying to form a developmental league that would be separate from the WPIAL thus no post season but allow the perennially bad programs to play each other regardless of classifications?
Mike White
10:58
Not saying it's not true, but I don't know anything about it. Already a handful of independent teams in WPIAL.
Arthur V
10:58
Hard to convince a lot of on-lookers that the Selection Committee didn't already the 4A Bracket done prior to the games on Friday.  Appears West A just filled that 8th spot instead of West Mifflin.  Laziness on the committees part. What say you?
Mike White
11:01
OK, let's get into this 4A football playoff bracket. Lot to unpack here. Let me say up front that WPIAL gets criticized too much about things, no matter what they do. And someone is always going to be unhappy about some playoff matchup or seeding. But the 4A bracket and West Allegheny just doesn't make much sense, I agree. And it's not just me or you. When brackets came out Saturday, I was even getting texts from coaches in 4A - head coaches and assistants - that this just doesn't make sense. I'll continue in next post.
11:06
Those who don't know what happened. West Allegheny beat Montour Friday, and West Allegheny, Aliquippa, Montour tied for conference title. The WPIAL uses a tiebreaker system to break three-way ties for playoff spots. If you applied it to this conference, Aliquippa would be No. 1 seed, West Allegheny No. 2 and Montour No. 3. Yet, when seedings came out for 4A playoffs, Montour was No. 2, Aliquippa No. 4 and West Allegheny .... No. 8. What? Yeah, West Allegheny was seeded last, below a wild card team Belle Vernon (No. 6), Mars (No. 7) and Trinity (No. 5). Many people thought West Allegheny might be No. 4, or even No. 3. I don't know if they deserved No. 3, but certainly not No. 8. If you have a tiebreaker system that you use in some cases, but not others, why have it? They used it for 3A Western Hills Conference where three teams tied for conference title. (more on next post).
11:12
I realize the WPIAL does seedings and wild cards now simply based on opinions. Then why even have the tiebreaker system? Pick all playoff teams based on opinion. I didn't get a real good explanation from Vince Sortino from WPIAL, except that's what committee thought and committee based it on strength of schedule as one of the reasons. Yes, Belle Vernon and Trinity played good schedules, but West Allegheny lost non-conference games to a pretty good 5A Moon team and Peters Township. And West Allegheny lost to Aliquippa by only 19-7. Neither Belle Vernon, Trinity or Mars had a win as good as West Allegheny's win over Montour. And Trinity and Mars both lost to Montour (to be continued).
11:16
Nothing can be said that makes it make sense. Even if they say they didn't want to put Belle Vernon the No. 8 seed against TJ (No. 1) because they are from same conference, how about this: They put Montour against Mars, and Belle Vernon against McKeesport, and they already played this season. There could've been some easy things to do and they wouldn't be getting so much criticism: How about No. 1 TJ against Mars (or Belle Vernon). How about No. 2 Aliquippa against Belle Vernon (or Mars). Even if you still wanted to put Montour at No. 3, you could've then put West Allegheny at No. 5. Oh well, sorry for long-winded response. But wanted to answer it.
11:17
And having Beaver play likely Avonworth next week isn't too good, either. Beaver will have to play Avonworth two consecutive games.
Mr Ed
11:17
I’ll save the West A fiasco for others to cover. Suffice to say both go into final weekend needing a win to clinch an automatic berth and one beats the #2 seed and the other loses to a 4-5 team and the loser gets seeded higher. Traditional powers McKeesport, Central Valley, and Steel Valley come into playoffs with 4, 5, 3 losses respectively. Which one do you think has best shot at winning a WPIAL championship?
Mike White
11:17
Central Valley or Steel Valley.
Football Dude
11:17
Did you get an definitive answer from the WPIAL Football Committee behind the seeding process in 4A vs. 3A?  Seems like two completely different principles were applied to the 3 co-section champs in each of those classes.  To be, Montour and Central Valley are the main beneficiaries of both draws as both seem to be "top heavy" with the top half of the bracket deeper than the bottom.
Mike White
11:17
See above posting.
Football Dude
11:17
Could you see any double digit seeds from 5A, 3A, 2A, or 1A making a run to the semifinals?  I know Beaver Falls did it from the 10 seed a year or two ago.  I don't really see any "sleepers" out there.
Mike White
11:20
So you're asking about 10 or lower? Moon is a dangerous 10 seed in 5A. North Catholic (No. 11 in 3A) played a good schedule and passing game could make some noise. How about No. 10 KO in 2A or No. 11 Waynesburg? No. 11 South Side in 1A.
Football Dude
11:20
In your opinion, what #1 is most vunerable in the WPIAL Football brackets?  My pick would be Imani in 3A.
Mike White
11:21
That's a tough one. Imani has so much talent. If Pine QB Aaron Strader is out (injured shoulder), they better be careful.
Football Dude
11:21
I'm seeing alot of high school mimic college and pro stadiums when the "flash" the stadium lights when a touchdown is scored.  Any opinion on this?  To me, it seems a little cheesy.
Mike White
11:22
I really don't see a problem. You really are going to complain about that? And I really haven't see it all that much.
Steeltown
11:22
Hey Mike, I feel like Montour deserves to be the number two seed considering they knocked off Aliquippa for their first ever 4A conference loss, and only had the overtime loss to West A, but something definitely doesn't feel right about West A's seeding. Your thoughts?
Mike White
11:23
But if you go by WPIAL tiebreaker system, Montour is No. 3 seed in that conference. I'm just telling you what WPIAL tiebreaker system is. And OK, even if you wanted to put Montour No. 2, you could've put Aliquippa third, and West Allegheny at worse fifth.
Football Dude
11:23
I'm sure you remember the good ole' Fumbler.  I really loved when he used to put a margin of victory on his predictions in late '90s and early '00s.  Did you guys catch flack for that when is that why the margins disappeared?
Mike White
11:26
Ahhhhh, The Fumbler. I can't tell you the identity of The Fumbler. He's had a split personality over the years. He needed psychiatric help because of that. You're right, we used to say, "Team A by 12 over Team B." A sports editor about 20 years ago decided that wasn't a good idea and we should just pick the winner. Believe it or not, bookies did used to take bets on high school games. And I do know I was told many years ago that they would use The Fumbler's picks as the spread. Little did they know, there was someone sitting in his chair, going, "I think I'll pick Team by ..... let's go with 12. I like 12."
Dev Whitt
11:26
Every year there seems to be complaints about 6A football here in Pittsburgh (fewer teams/competitiveness). Do you hear the same complaints in other parts of the state? Is it just a football thing? I don't hear any complaints about basketball or baseball 6a in the area.
Mike White
11:27
No, because WPIAL has many more teams in 6A in basketball and baseball. I shouldn't say many, but definitely more. It is kind of boring when you have only 5 or 6 or 7 teams in a class.
Band Fan
11:27
How about a shout out to the four champions at the PIMBA (Pa. Interschoolastic Marching Band Association) competition at Gateway this past Saturday -- Kiski Area (4A), Mt. Lebanon (3A), Gateway (2A) and Deer Lakes (1A). A capacity crowd got to see all 14 outstanding bands.
Mike White
11:28
Woooo hoooo. Drumroll, please, for the winners. Let them toot their own horns.
“T” from Green Tree
11:28
Why does the PG keep reporting the site of the OLSH-Riverside game still TBD? It’s been on the OLSH website that the game is at Moon this Friday at 7. Always enjoy your chat
Mike White
11:28
We'll get right on that.
Slayer
11:28
Not many teams can claim they went 3-1 against the other 7 playoff teams. And the loss was in OT. Montour did that. Can’t punish them for 1 week after 10 weeks. Total body of work. West A was one play from being 3-4.
Mike White
11:30
If, if, if. But West Allegheny wasn't 3-4, were they. They were 4-3 and beat undefeated team. I don't think people have the biggest problem with Montour being seeded where they are. It's West Allegheny being No. 8. Sorry, but that's not good.
Jc
11:30
Do you think that having the WPIAL Football Committee select the wild card teams led to many teams "running up" the score against an inferior opponent?
Mike White
11:31
I'm not sure of that. Good question. I'm not really sure, to be honest. I'm sure it did enter a coach or two's mind, though.
Slayer
11:31
4A seedings. West A played 7 games. Quip loses 3-4 players in playoffs. Total body of work. The committee got it right.
Mike White
11:32
A lot of people don't think so.
Slayer
11:32
If montour lost to west a in week 7 or 8 then beat Quip in last week everyone would be talking differently. But it was flipped so everyone forgets what they did the weeks before.
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