Feb 16, 2007 By Rob Burchianti 4 min read

The California boys and Beth-Center girls open the WPIAL basketball playoffs today as two teams that are similar, but just at different junctures. At least that’s the way Lady Bulldogs coach Steve Beyer hopes things will work out for his program.

“We have a very young team,” Beyer said. “We have three seniors, but we have a very deep bench and we have six freshmen that all play. We’re hoping that we can do sort of what California did. A couple years ago they had some younger players and made the playoffs, and they eventually evolved into the team that’s now ranked No. 2.

“If we win or not, this freshmen group has set the bar high for the next few years. They’ll get some post-season experience now and maybe we can eventually do something like California did with this group.”

Beth-Center was seeded No. 20 in the 25-team Class AA field and plays No. 13 South Park today at Belle Vernon Senior High School with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. The winner will play No. 4 Ford City on Monday at a place and time to be determined.

“I don’t know a lot about South Park except that they finished third in a very tough section, so you know they have to be pretty good,” said Beyer of the Eagles, who placed behind top-seeded Seton-LaSalle and No. 8 Bishop Canevin in Section 3-AA.

The Trojans travel to Yough High School today to take on No. 15 Wilkinsburg at 8 p.m.

“They play a lot of man-to-man and they’re a trapping team,” California coach Phil Pergola said. “They’re very athletic.”

Pergola has guided many teams into the postseason and has a PIAA championship on his resume, so he’s had plenty of experience preparing players for this time of year.

“I’ve always had the philosophy that you do what got you here,” Pergola said. “You can’t go changing things now, twenty-some games into the season. You just go out and do what you do and do it the best that you can.”

A possible date with perennial power Duquesne looms in the quarterfinals, but the veteran coach has his eyes focused only on the task at hand, especially with the rugged schedule Wilkinsburg played, which included a victory over a Monessen team that beat California.

“We’ve played them one at a time all year, so we’re not going to be looking ahead now,” Pergola said. “If you’re going to win a championship, you’re going to have to play them all sooner or later. We’ll just take things one step at a time and see what happens.”

Following is a breakdown of today’s playoff match-ups:

Wilkinsburg Tigers vs. California Trojans

Scenario: Class A boys, first-round game.

Coaches: California, Phil Pergola; Wilkinsburg, Heath Bailey.

Site and time: Yough High School, 8 p.m.

Seeds: California is No. 2; Wilkinsburg is No. 15.

Records: California is 21-2; Wilkinsburg is 6-17.

Section: California was 10-0 and finished first in Section 3; Wilkinsburg was 4-6 and tied for fourth in Section 4.

Non-section records: California was 11-2; Wilkinsburg was 2-11.

Scoring averages: California, 63.3 offense, 44.0 defense; Wilkinsburg, 51.2 offense, 59.5 defense.

Common opponents: Monessen and West Greene. California lost at Monessen, 75-71, on Dec. 16, while Wilkinsburg won at Monessen, 73-69, on Dec. 7. California defeated the Pioneers at home, 65-29, on Jan. 26, and at West Greene, 74-33, on Jan. 5, while Wilkinsburg defeated West Greene at home, 67-30, on Jan. 23.

Next up: Winner advances to quarterfinals to play either No. 7 Duquesne or No. 10 Avella, who play at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Trinity High School.

Beth-Center Lady Bulldogs vs. South Park Lady Eagles

Scenario: Class AA girls, preliminary game

Coaches: Beth-Center, Steve Beyer; South Park, Reggie Wells

Site and time: Belle Vernon Senior High School, 6:30 p.m.

Seeds: Beth-Center is No. 20; South Park is No. 13.

Records: Beth-Center is 13-11; South Park is 15-9.

Section: Beth-Center was 6-6 and finished fourth in Section 5; South Park was 8-4 and finished third in Section 3-AA.

Non-section records: Beth-Center was 7-5; South Park was 7-5.

Scoring averages: Beth-Center, 44.8 offense, 38.5 defense; South Park, 52.9 offense, 46.2 defense.

Common opponents: Fort Cherry. Beth-Center lost at Fort Cherry, 42-23, on Dec. 2, while South Park defeated the Lady Rangers, 60-43, at home on Dec. 18 and 52-26 at Fort Cherry on Jan. 22.

Next up: Winner advances to first round to play No. 4 Ford City.