Feb 21, 2015 4 min read

Snow blanketed Southwestern Pennsylvania Saturday morning. When WPIAL officials heard of the road conditions and saw no immediate end to the snowfall, the decision was made to postpone all quarterfinal playoff games until Monday night.

A heavy dose of snow can quickly alter a basketball team and coach’s plans.

Instead of traveling on a bus to North Allegheny High School for Trinity’s WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal game against top-seeded Blackhawk, Hillers head coach Bob Miles spent the afternoon tearing down wallpaper in his home.

The tedious task is nothing compared to the one awaiting Trinity Monday (6:30 p.m.) in Wexford.

Instead of patrolling the sideline at North Allegheny Saturday afternoon, Miles had to quickly schedule a practice for Sunday. Though waiting more than 48 hours to play could have a mental impact on his players, Miles is not concerned.

“It throws a little monkey wrench into our practice and our preparation,” Miles said. “(Saturday) is kind of an off day now and we’re going to try to practice (Sunday). We’ll try to keep the same approach. They’re a good team, but we’re playing a group of girls. We have the team prepared.”

Blackhawk (20-3) is led by senior guard Chassidy Omogrosso, a Pitt recruit who averages 27 points per game. The 2,000 career-point scorer had 32 points in the Cougars’ first-round victory over Ringgold and is the centerpiece of an offense that averages 68.7 points per game.

“We know Blackhawk has a very good player. We don’t think she can beat us by herself,” Miles said. “We’re going to try to take everybody out and go from there.”

Trinity (17-6), the eighth seed, advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season by defeating No. 9 Belle Vernon, 46-45, Wednesday night at Peters Township. The Hillers won on a late layup by senior Rachel Phillis. Forward Mary Dunn had 17 points and guard Sierra Kotchman had 11.

The keys to upsetting Blackhawk are the same as against Belle Vernon, which had Bucknell recruit Kaitlyn Slagus.

“Omogrosso is a tremendous player. She’s going to score her points,” Miles said. “If we play defensively well on everybody else and we rebound the basketball, we’re going to be right in there.”

Three other local teams were forced to change plans because of the WPIAL’s decision to postpone. Also in Class AAA, No. 14 McGuffey (18-6) will wait until Monday to face No. 6 Elizabeth Forward (18-5) at Canon-McMillan and No. 10 South Fayette (17-6) will play No. 15 South Park (14-10) Monday night at North Hills. In Class A girls, Jefferson-Morgan (20-2) will play second-seeded North Catholic (18-5) at Peters Township.

Though some coaches might be concerned with the postponements, California girls coach Chris Minerd is not one of them.

The third-seeded Trojans (22-1) have not lost a game in 79 days with 22 consecutive victories. California handled Sewickley Academy in the first round with a balanced scoring attack and is one win away from a second straight trip to the Class A semifinals.

Sixth-seeded Riverview (16-7) is standing in the way. The Raiders defeated Fort Cherry, 47-28, in the first round using an incredible defensive performance, forcing 25 turnovers.

Despite a strong opponent awaiting the Trojans Monday at Norwin, Minerd is cautiously confident that the changes won’t play a role in his team’s performance.

“It might throw the girls off a little bit, but when you win 22 straight games, you’re pretty focused,” Minerd said. “It takes a lot to throw this team off. I think we’re locked in. You don’t get that feeling often, but with the way we’ve been playing and practicing, I’m confident in won’t have an impact.”

The first consolation games to determine spots in the PIAA playoffs were originally scheduled for Monday. They have been rescheduled , for Tuesday at the same sites, with the majority being played at the original site. In Class AA girls, No. 10 Chartiers-Houston will face No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic at Canon-McMillan (6;30 p.m.). The winner will clinch a spot in the state tournament while the loser will face the other consolation loser for the seventh-place spot. In Class AAA boys, No. 7 South Fayette and No. 3 Hampton will play at North Allegheny (8 p.m.). In Class A boys, No. 10 California will face No. 6 Cornell at Peters Township tip-off at 8 p.m.