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Five things to watch for the week of Dec. 10-15 * Only two days after winning a PIAA football title, some Aliquippa athletes might take the court Monday and try to lead the Aliquippa basketball team to a win its season opener. The majority of Aliquippa’s varsity team — all but three players to be exact — also play on the school’s football team, which beat Middletown, 35-0, Saturday to win the Class 3A title. Afterwards, a few players were already talking basketball. That included Will Gipson, a Pitt football recruit who was named all-section in basketball last season. Aliquippa is scheduled to play at Blackhawk at 7:30 p.m. * Tournaments and non-section games/matches/meets are great, but section competition is more meaningful to the majority of teams. Well, section play for most winter sports begins this week. That includes basketball, wrestling and gymnastics. Some swimming teams will begin section matches, too. Rifle began playing section matches last week. * Section play for most boys basketball teams gets underway Friday. A few of the top games are Peters Township at Upper St. Clair and Avonworth at Seton LaSalle. There are some excellent non-section games this week, among them Woodland Hills at Fox Chapel (Tuesday), Penn Hills at Latrobe (Thursday), and McDowell at Butler (Friday). The McDowell-Butler game features a lot of star power. Butler’s Ethan Morton is ranked among the top juniors in the country and McDowell’s William Jeffress is considered one of the top sophomores in the country. * Girls basketball has a huge slate of section games Thursday. Among the top games are Peters Township at Baldwin, South Fayette at Montour, and Beaver at Neshannock. Speaking of Peters Township, star senior and Penn State recruit Makenna Marisa had herself one heck of a game Saturday. Marisa made 10 3-pointers and poured in 36 points in an 81-52 win against Thomas Jefferson. Lincoln Park’s Paige Brown connected on nine 3-pointers and scored 40 points in a 70-45 win against South Side Beaver. Lincoln Park hosts Chartiers Valley on Thursday. * The wrestling teams from Burrell, Seneca Valley, Penn-Trafford, and Franklin Regional are entered in this weekend's King of the Mountain Tournament, which begins Friday at Central Mountain High School. Franklin Regional's Colton Camacho is a returning champion. Also, Waynesburg is entered in the prestigious Beast of the East Tournament in New Jersey. |