Feb 17, 2007 By Rob Burchianti 8 min read

Rick Hauger believes his Laurel Highlands team has improved drastically over the course of the season. If that change is enough for the Mustangs to contend with the second-seeded team in the WPIAL Class AAA boys basketball playoffs will be determined today.

Laurel Highlands is one of seven local teams hitting the hardwood today for post-season action.

The Mustangs take on Highlands at North Allegheny at 1:30 p.m.

Southmoreland is a hot spot as a tripleheader involving three area teams will take place there today, while that school’s Lady Scotties will travel to North Hills to play Chartiers Valley at noon.

Tipping off the big day at Southmoreland will be Mapletown and Vincentian Academy in a boys game at noon. Next up will be Geibel Catholic and Vincentian Academy in a girls game at 1:30 p.m. Capping the trio of contests will be Geibel Catholic and Clairton in a boys game at 3 p.m.

Carmichaels’ boys and girls teams will play a doubleheader at Thomas Jefferson. The Lady Mikes play Monessen at 1 p.m. and the Mikes take on Sewickley Academy at 2:30 p.m.

Three of the area’s top players will be on display today, led by Southmoreland’s Vanessa Abel, the WPIAL’s leading scorer and a West Virginia recruit. The other two are Carmichaels’ Megan Stuvek, who’s also one the WPIAL’s leading scorers, and Laurel Highlands’ Kaleb Ramsey, considered a premier player on the boys’ side despite missing several games.

The Lady Scotties are the highest seed in action among local teams at No. 2 in Class AAA. The only other area team that is seeded in the upper half of the brackets is the Geibel Catholic girls, who are No. 7 in Class A.

Laurel Highlands began the season with six straight losses as Ramsey missed significant playing time with a lingering football injury. He would miss several more games in the middle of the season due to an ankle injury and a recruiting trip.

The positive that Hauger finds in all that adversity is that his team learned to play without Ramsey to the point where it didn’t have to depend solely on him in games.

“We were 12-6 in our last 18 games, and Kaleb missed probably five of those games,” Hauger said. “We’ve had a lot of other kids step up in his absence. We’ve come a long, but whether we’ve come far enough, I don’t know. Have we improved enough where we’ve put ourselves at a level to compete with a team like Highlands, the No. 2, seed? We’ll have to wait and see.”

Following is a breakdown of today’s playoff match-ups, in chronological order:

Mapletown vs. Vincentian Academy

Scenario: Class A boys, preliminary-round game.

Nicknames: Mapletown Maples; Vincentian Royals

Coaches: Mapletown, Adam Checton; Vincentian, Geoff Koehler.

Site and time: Southmoreland High School, noon.

Seeds: Mapletown is No. 17; Vincentian is No. 16.

Records: Mapletown is 7-16; Vincentian is 8-16.

Section: Mapletown was 5-5 and tied for third place in Section 2; Vincentian was 4-6 and tied for fourth place in Section 4.

Non-section records: Mapletown was 2-11; Vincentian was 4-10.

Scoring averages: Mapletown, 51.6 offense, 60.5 defense; Vincentian, 53.4 offense, 60.3 defense.

Common opponents: Sto-Rox. Mapletown lost to the Vikings in the Chuckie Mahoney Classic at Chartiers-Houston, 80-29, on Dec. 23, while Vincentian lost at Sto-Rox, 56-46, on Jan. 22.

Next up: Winner advances to first round to play No. 1 Serra Catholic at Southmoreland High School on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Chartiers Valley vs. Southmoreland

Scenario: Class AAA girls, first-round game.

Nicknames: Chartiers Valley Lady Colts; Southmoreland Lady Scotties.

Coaches: Chartiers Valley, Spencer Stefko; Southmoreland, Brian Pritts.

Site and time: North Hills High School, noon.

Seeds: Chartiers Valley is No. 13; Southmoreland is No. 4.

Records: Chartiers Valley is 13-11; Southmoreland is 21-3.

Section: Chartiers Valley was 10-4 and finished third in Section 4; Southmoreland was 15-1 and finished first in Section 3.

Non-section records: Chartiers Valley was 3-7; Southmoreland was 6-2.

Scoring averages: Chartiers Valley, 44.9 offense, 40.4 defense; Southmoreland, 58.5 offense, 46.4 defense.

Common opponents: None.

Next up: Winner advances to quarterfinals to play No. 5 Moon at a date, site and time to be determined. Moon defeated No. 12 Hampton, 36-33, on Friday at Trinity High School.

Carmichaels vs. Monessen

Scenario: Class A girls, first-round game.

Nicknames: Carmichaels Lady Mikes; Monessen Lady Greyhounds.

Coaches: Carmichaels, Jim Lane; Monessen, Major Corley.

Site and time: Thomas Jefferson High School, 1 p.m.

Seeds: Carmichaels is No. 13; Monessen is No. 4.

Records: Carmichaels is 13-11; Monessen is 18-5.

Section: Carmichaels was 6-4 and tied for third in Section 2; Monessen was 10-2 and finished second in Section 3.

Non-section records: Carmichaels was 7-7; Monessen was 8-3.

Scoring averages: Carmichaels, 45.7 offense, 44.9 defense; Monessen, 52.7 offense, 35.1 defense.

Earlier meetings: Monessen defeated Carmichaels twice during the regular season, 72-41 in the Charleroi Tournament on Dec. 1, and 62-19 at Monessen on Jan. 2.

Next up: Winner advances to quarterfinals to play either No. 5 Mount Alvernia or No. 12 Mapletown, who play at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Southmoreland High School.

Vincentian Academy vs. Geibel Catholic

Scenario: Class A girls, first-round game.

Nicknames: Vincentian Royals; Geibel Catholic Lady Gators.

Coaches: Vincentian, Ron Moncrief; Geibel Catholic, Pat Klocek.

Site and time: Southmoreland High School, 1:30 p.m.

Seeds: Vincentian is No. 10; Geibel Catholic is No. 7.

Records: Vincentian is 11-12; Geibel Catholic is 16-6.

Section: Vincentian was 6-6 and finished fourth in Section 4; Geibel Catholic was 9-1 and finished first in Section 2.

Non-section records: Vincentian was 5-6; Geibel Catholic was 7-5.

Scoring averages: Vincentian, 55.6 offense, 51.8 defense; Geibel Catholic, 62.0 offense, 46.3 defense.

Common opponents: Bishop Canevin, North Hills and Shady Side Academy. Vincentian lost at Bishop Canevin, 68-45, on Dec. 6, lost to North Hills in the Hampton Tournament, 50-45, on Dec. 28, and lost at home to Shady Side Academy, 59-50, on Jan. 12. Geibel lost at home to Bishop Canevin, 68-34, on Jan. 17, lost to North Hills in the Seton-LaSalle Tournament, 56-43, on Dec. 2, and lost at Shady Side Academy, 71-45, on Jan. 23.

Next up: Winner advances to quarterfinals to play No. 2 Serra Catholic at a date, site and time to be determined. Serra Catholic defeated No. 15 Monaca, 73-31, on Friday at Thomas Jefferson High School.

Laurel Highlands vs. Highlands

Scenario: Class AAA boys, first-round game.

Nicknames: Laurel Highlands Mustangs; Highlands Golden Rams.

Coaches: Laurel Highlands, Rick Hauger; Highlands, Rich Falter.

Site and time: North Allegheny High School, 1:30 p.m.

Seeds: Laurel Highlands is No. 15; Highlands is No. 2.

Records: Laurel Highlands is 12-12; Highlands is 21-2.

Section: Laurel Highlands was 10-6 and finished tied for third in Section 3; Highlands was 10-2 and tied for first in Section 1.

Non-section records: Laurel Highlands was 2-6; Highlands was 11-0.

Scoring averages: Laurel Highlands, 62.4 offense, 61.8 defense; Highlands, 70.3 offense, 58.7 defense.

Common opponents: Connellsville, Kiski Area and Hampton. Laurel Highlands lost at Connellsville, 73-57, on Dec. 2, and at home to the Falcons, 64-55, on Feb. 12, lost at home to Kiski Area, 70-69, on Dec. 5, and lost at home to Hampton, 78-62, on Jan. 12. Highlands defeated Connellsville, 80-68, at home on Jan. 16, defeated Kiski Area, 104-80, at home on Feb. 3, won at Hampton, 62-52, on Jan. 9, and defeated Hampton at home, 73-67, on Feb. 7.

Next up: Winner advances to quarterfinals to play either No. 7 Steel Valley or No. 10 Valley, who play at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at North Allegheny High School.

Carmichaels vs. Sewickley Academy

Scenario: Class A boys, first-round game.

Nicknames: Carmichaels Mikes; Sewickley Panthers.

Coaches: Carmichaels, Don Williams; Sewickley, Win Palmer.

Site and time: Thomas Jefferson High School, 2:30 p.m.

Seeds: Carmichaels is No. 11; Sewickley is No. 6

Records: Carmichaels is 12-10; Sewickley is 12-9.

Section: Carmichaels was 7-3 and finished second in Section 2; Sewickley was 9-3 and tied for first in Section 1.

Non-section records: Carmichaels was 5-7; Sewickley was 3-6.

Scoring averages: Carmichaels, 52.6 offense, 52.0 defense; Sewickley, 53.9 offense, 53.9 defense.

Common opponents: None.

Next up: Winner advances to quarterfinals to play either No. 3 Clairton or No. 14 Geibel Catholic, who play at 3 p.m. today at Southmoreland High School.

Geibel Catholic vs. Clairton

Scenario: Class A boys, first-round game.

Nicknames: Geibel Catholic Gators; Clairton Bears.

Coaches: Geibel Catholic, Ken Misiak; Clairton, Pete Logan.

Site and time: Southmoreland High School, 3 p.m.

Seeds: Geibel Catholic is No. 14; Clairton is No. 3.

Records: Geibel Catholic is 8-11; Clairton is 13-3.

Section: Geibel Catholic was 5-5 and tied for third in Section 2; Clairton was 8-2 and finished second in Section 3.

Non-section records: Geibel Catholic was 3-6; Clairton was 5-1.

Scoring averages: Geibel Catholic, 56.4 offense, 57.8 defense; Clairton, 72.0 offense, 55.6 defense.

Common opponents: Frazier, Avella and Jefferson-Morgan. Geibel Catholic lost at Frazier, 67-53, on Dec. 15, lost at home to Frazier, 74-58, on Jan. 24, lost at home to Avella, 56-53, on Dec. 20, lost at Avella, 63-51, on Jan. 24, won at Jefferson-Morgan, 58-50, on Jan. 5, and lost at home to Jefferson-Morgan, 56-54, on Jan. 26. Clairton defeated Frazier at home, 90-65, won at Frazier, 88-66, on Jan. 30, won at Avella, 68-55, on Jan. 12, defeated Avella at home, 74-60, on Feb. 2, and defeated Jefferson-Morgan at home, 72-23, on Dec. 15.

Next up: Winner advances to quarterfinals to play either No. 6 Sewickley Academy or No. 11 Carmichaels, who play at 2:30 p.m. today at Thomas Jefferson High School.