Feb 14, 2018 4 min read

The Canon-McMillan boys basketball team’s season is truly coming full circle.

As the final bracket for the Class 6A boys tournament was revealed during the WPIAL playoffs pairings meeting Tuesday night at the DoubleTree hotel in Green Tree, Canon-McMillan coach Rick Bell watched intently.

The Big Macs received the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup against 10th-seeded Seneca Valley at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at West Allegheny High School.

Despite having little time to think before heading to the assigned 6A corner of the ballroom to grab an official game ball and other information, Bell couldn’t help but think this year might finish exactly how it started.

“There aren’t too many people walking out of (the ballroom) thinking Canon-Mac is going to be here for the long haul,” Bell said as the crowd of representatives from the WPIAL’s 155 boys and girls playoff teams dispersed.

“We’re going into the tournament the same way we went into the season. We’re kind of the forgotten team again and that’s OK. That’s what our rallying cry has been for the season and it has worked.”

With a school-record 20 wins, the Big Macs are one of only three teams in the WPIAL and the only 6A school to reach that total. Canon-McMillan also finished with the fewest points per game allowed in the classification (47.3).

The only other playoff team to allow less than 50 points per game was Fox Chapel (49.2).

But Bell didn’t gripe about getting the No. 7 seed.

With Bethel Park receiving the No. 11 seed and Upper St. Clair getting the No. 12 seed out of Section 2, the Big Macs were essentially eliminated from contention for the fifth and sixth seeds to avoid same-section matchups in the opening round.

“I really didn’t think we were going to get one of the byes,” Bell said about the No. 4 seed that had as many as five teams vying for that position.

“I’d love to have a bye, but I think we are where we should be. We’re just happy to be (in the playoffs). There are a lot of people turning in their uniforms tonight. I’ve been there, already sitting down and drawing up your roster for next year.”

Many didn’t expect the Big Macs to have such success heading into the season. Canon-McMillan had to replace starters R.J. Bell, Britton Beachy and Carson Miller who played dominant roles for the Big Macs over the past several seasons.

After battling with Mt. Lebanon for a section title most of the year, Canon-McMillan’s championship hopes took a critical blow with a three-point loss to Baldwin Feb. 6. The loss extended Canon-McMillan’s 45-year drought without a section title – the last was won in 1973 – and knocked the Big Macs out of what looked like a guaranteed top-four seed.

“Nobody talked about us even being here, then everybody was talking about us,” Bell said. “This is all new to Canon-Mac. I would have loved to have gotten called up there tonight as a section champion, but not for me. I wanted to win it for the long-suffering basketball fans of Canonsburg.”

But even without a section title and a top-four seed, Bell is happy with the Big Macs’ playoff position.

“We’re not going to let anybody else outside of our locker room define us,” he said. “We’re better when the bull’s-eye is not on us. We’re better when we are the hunter, not the hunted. We’re going into this tournament with that attitude. We are going to get ourselves up, dust ourselves off and try to prove people wrong again.”