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Mike White's high school sports chat: 12.31.24
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Mike White
11:05
Couple minutes late but Happy New Year to everyone - and happy chat day. Let's roll!!
Mr Ed
11:05
Happy New Year Mike. How would you assess a potential Upper St Clair-New Castle matchup? USC has front court length but Canes have quickness and athleticism.
Mike White
11:07
Would be an interesting matchup for sure. New Castle isn't only team to not have size to match up with Upper St. Clair. No one in WPIAL does. New Castle might try to pull Robbins away from basket, but you need someone to do that. And USC usually is pretty darn good defensively. I actually think big key to the game would be USC's shooting. And if they played, right now I'd take USC.
D9 Dave
11:07
Great matchup Friday night in 4A with Quaker Valley hosting Avonworth.  Mike Mastroianni at QV is one of the best coaches in the WPIAL and its amazing how consistently good his program has been; they never seem to have a down year.  The Carmichael kid at Avonworth has been putting up eye-popping numbers all season and in my opinion should be getting more college interest than he apparantly is.  Who do you like in this matchup and why?
Mike White
11:10
I have not seen Quaker Valley yet this season. Saw them play twice in fall. Usual, highly-competitive Mike Mastroianni-coached team. Zach Washington pretty good. But let's face it. When playing Avonworth, what do you do with Carmichael. You can try to junk defense him, but he's seen that a lot the past two years. Plus, he gets a lot of points in transition, or simply making plays himself. You don't need a lot of sets to get him free. He plays at such a fast pace. And Avonworth has some serviceable players around him also. I'll take Avonworth in this one.
D9 Dave
11:10
Don't sleep on Seneca Valley in 6A.  Got off to a slow start as they had some early season injuries and illness but not that they are healthy they have hit their stride and won 4 in a row I believe.  Kevin Trost at SV is another one of the more underrated coaches in the WPIAL.  6A appears wide open this season. SV on the road at New Castle on Friday.  Who do you like?
Mike White
11:11
Totally agree on Troster. They didn't have their top player, Tyler Pepin, until section play started. He makes a big difference. They have some size also. But at New Castle, I'll take New Castle.
Hsfan
11:11
Do you think USC, Imani, and Central could get the top 3 seeds in the playoffs?
Mike White
11:13
"COULD" they? Heck yeah. It's a possibility. Will they? If I had to bet, I would say a team from the North section will get top three seed. And right now, that would be New Castle. But there's Fox Chapel also, which shouldn't be forgotten. The North section is soooooo balanced in 6A. I talked to Ralph Blundo New Castle coach. He thought section so balanced from top to bottom that 9-3 or even 10-4 might win section.
Hsfan
11:17
Did Sewickley actuallly beat NA last night?
Mike White
11:18
Yes, they did. 44-35.
Bball junkie
11:19
Heard Lincoln park got a new recruit from Florida and was cleared by the WPIAL. Will be eligible to play Friday vs Chartiers Valley,  do you know anything on this??  Heard it’s the youngest brother of former Lincoln Park player Maverick Rowan
Mike White
11:21
Yep. Name is Mason Rowan. Family moved back to area in Beaver County. Maverick Rowan, who starred at Lincoln Park for two years before leaving, is playing for a pro team in Italy that his father, Ron, is part owner. Dante Calabria was first-year coach of the team. But apparently there was a falling out and Dante is no longer the coach.
The Fox
11:21
Couldn't believe my FC team dropped one to a single A squad - I think thats coaches first loss to a school that small. But I have to tip my hat the the neighborhood academy kids- that Wallace kid can really go but he has a much better supporting cast then me and my friends thought
Mike White
11:23
To The Fox: Sorry, but basketball isn't like football. Class 1A teams who are good often times can play with teams in larger classes, mostly if it's a private/Catholic/charter school. I mean, you know those teams can get players from everywhere, right? Makes a difference.
Down Beat
11:26
Hey Mike!
Is this the worst year you can recall for Girls 6A hoops?
It looks like there's one average and one below average section with no truly outstanding team in either.
Mike White
11:31
Hey Down Beat, 6A girls matches your moniker. It's down. Few reasons. One if the number of teams in 6A. Only 12 now. Go back to 2019-20, there were 16. Realignment had an affect. Peters Township won a section title last year.Peters is now 5A. Chartiers Valley dropped from 6 to 5. Plus, some teams are down, like North Allegheny. NA is 2-6. Wow. When was the last time Tigers lost six of their first eight? Spencer Stefko might have got out at the right time.
Ryan
11:31
what do you think about the mars Planets they had two good wins vs Hampton and north hills go Mars
Mike White
11:32
Mars new coach coach Kobe Phillippi got handled by North Allegheny in first game. But Mars has been impressive since. And can they shoot! Had 18 3's against North Hills. Kobe doing a really nice job with them.
Mr Ed
11:32
Were you greatly surprised by Aliquippa beating Uniontown by 30? Classification level sometimes doesn’t mean much in basketball, I guess.
Mike White
11:34
Well Mr. Ed, you are correct. I said it above. Basketball isn't like football. Good teams in lower classes can sometimes play with top teams in larger classes, especially if it's private/Catholic school. But I still didn't expect Aliquipp to blow out Uniontown. Moving up from 2A to 3A probably won't be a big deal for Quips.
bball fan
11:34
saw a few games Saturday at Geneva. the pine kid that had 34, Grant something. was very impressive. Was he the jv player who received an offer from some school in California you talked about in the preseason?
Mike White
11:37
You're talking about Grant Spacciapolli. Had career high 34. I think six 3's. He was a sophomore last year and played varsity. Yes, he got an offer from Pepperdine in the fall. Grant has some talent, though. Pepperdine offered a couple others, I believe. Jeremy Grubbs is an assistant at Pepperdine. He's from Western Pa. Was actually coaching at Freedom last year. I think that had a lot to do with these offers.
Danny Holzer's Suit Jacket
11:37
Barring injury, is USC the odds on favorite in the PIAA 6A. Last night was a statement win
Mike White
11:38
Hold on. I wouldn't go that far. Beating Central York showed USC can play with top teams, but I don't know if I'd make them favorite in state. Please don't forget about the Philly teams.
Bball junkie
11:38
What’s your thoughts on 5A teams?
Mike White
11:39
As far as what? Baldwin is No. 1 team. 9-0. But there is depth of pretty decent teams. Montour, Char Valley, Moon, Uniontown, Latrobe, Mars.
Top 3
11:39
Top 3 high school sports stories of the year in Pennsylvania and WPIAL. What are they ?
Mike White
11:40
I'd have to think. Not something I could probably do in 30 seconds off the top of my head.
JP
11:40
Big turnaround for TJ girls. 9 wins last year. 11-1 this year. Only loss to Peters Twp.
Mike White
11:41
Yeah, it helps just a little when two players like Spell and Deangelo come back to join the team. They lived in TJ but attended Shady Side and Oakland Catholic before. You think they've be 11-1 without those two? Doubt it.
Bball junkie
11:42
Courtny Wallace vs Brady Mayo is a great matchup this weekend. Who you got? I like Beaver.
Mike White
11:43
Really good matchup. That game is Saturday at Burgettstown. Really makes you think. I think for this one I'll take ....... Beaver.
Old Timer
11:43
Couple of hoops topics. Big 4A game Friday, Avonworth at Quaker Valley. Teams switched home games. High scoring game favors Avonworth, low scoring favors QV. Avonworth blew away Woodland Hills, Penn Hills, North Hills, Shaler, none with a winning record. Combine that with Sewickley Academy beating North Allegheny Monday, Neighborhood beating Fox Chapel, South Allegheny beating South Fayette, and I have to question the depth of quality teams in the WPIAL's top two classes.
Mike White
11:46
This really isn't all that surprising. Like I said above, basketball is not like football. A small-school team can sometimes definitely play with large-school teams. It's the way basketball is. Only takes a couple good players at a small school to make them good. This has happened before, especially when it's private/Catholic/charter schools. Just shows advantages those schools have with being able to take players from anywhere. And like I said, it might take only two really good players to come on a team to make a world of difference.
12:01
Hey everybody, that's about it for today. Questions a little slower this week. That's OK. We're ready to speed things up in the New Year. Let's do this again next Tuesday at 11 a.m. Happy New Year, everyone.
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