Weather pushes PIAA playoff games back
This round went to the weather.
A strong winter storm that blanketed the Northeast forced the postponements of PIAA basketball tournament games scheduled for today and Wednesday.
Those games are rescheduled for Thursday.
Locally, the boys teams affected were McGuffey, which plays WPIAL Class 4A champion New Castle at Ambridge High School at 5 p.m.; Washington, which takes on Erie First Christian at 6 p.m. at Farrell in Class AAA; and WPIAL Class A champion Monessen, which plays Shanksville-Stonycreek at Norwin High School, 8 p.m.
On the girls side, Trinity plays Chartiers Valley at Peters Township High School at 7:30 p.m. in Class 5A; South Fayette meets Hampton at Ambridge High School with an 8 p.m. start also in Class 5A; and Chartiers-Houston gets Bellwood-Antis (6-2, 23-4) at Hempfield High School at 5 p.m. in Class AA.
McGuffey gets a rematch with New Castle after the Highlanders opened with a 48-46 victory over Clearfield. New Castle defeated McGuffey, 73-40, in the WPIAL quarterfinals but the score is misleading. The Highlanders trailed by only two points at halftime before a poor third quarter did them in.
“We know New Castle is talented, athletic and gifted,” said McGuffey head coach Mike Fatigante. “We just decided to play our game against them the last time. We played three great quarters and one poor quarter. We learned from the first game and we’re going to give it our best shot.”
McGuffey will depend on 6-2 junior forward Trent Belleville, who leads the Highlanders in just about every statistic. Belleville is averaging a double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds. Colin Chapmen, a 6-2 senior guard, leads the Highlands in scoring (16 ppg) and assists (4.0).
“Trent goes up against guys who are bigger, stronger and faster than he is and he holds his own,” said Fatigante. “Colin is our best defender.”
The Highlanders are enjoying a special season, making the WPIAL playoffs for the third time, getting their first postseason win and earning their first state playoff spot. Their 19 wins ties the 2002 team for best in program history.