Feb 16, 2011 By Mike Ciarochi 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Connellsville collected its Section 1-AAAA boys basketball championship plaque at the WPIAL basketball pairings meeting Tuesday night, then found out just how tough it is playing with the big boys.

Despite the section title, the Falcons drew a No. 7 seed in the 17-team bracket. Connellsville will play 10th-seeded Pine-Richland Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

“I’m fine with it, to be honest with you,” Falcons coach Dan Bosnic said of the seed. “We’re just glad to be playing and to have an opportunity to win a game on Wednesday.”

Bosnic realizes the quality of Quad A basketball throughout the WPIAL and knows teams seeded above his team are there for a reason.

“We talk all the time about the quality of Quad A basketball,” Bosnic said. “There are good teams all over the place in Quad A. We don’t have any easy games in our section and the other sections are the same way. All teams in the playoffs are good teams and we realize that.”

Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky wasn’t necessarily pleased that his team drew a No. 8 seed in the Class AAA bracket, but he’s still looking forward to the challenge of working through the bracket.

“Obviously, we were hoping to get one of the top seven seeds since we won our section,” Kezmarsky said. “We thought Greensburg Salem would be a No. 3 and we’d get a six or seven. That’s not the way it worked out, but we’re looking forward to playing a tough Mars team.

The Red Raiders meet No. 9-seed Mars Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. “We scouted a lot of teams, but Mars wasn’t one of them,” Kezmarsky said. “We avoided a play-in game, which is good, and we’re happy to be playing a team out of that section. Our section got us ready for the playoffs.

“Every team in the playoffs is a good team. We have a lot of young players and there is a lot of enthusiasm about the playoffs. As a coach, it’s an honor to be back in the playoffs and it’s up to us to make the most of the enthusiasm these kids bring to the floor.”

Elsewhere in the 24-team Class AAA bracket, Southmoreland drew a 16B seed and meets South Park in a play-in game at 8 p.m. Friday at McKeesport High School.

In Class AA, Brownsville drew a 10B seed and will play Neshannock at noon Saturday at West Allegheny High School. California drew a 15A seed and meets Fort Cherry at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Keystone Oaks.

“We’re actually happy to be here,” Brownsville coach Brian Brashear said. “We worked hard all through the off-season and it’s all paying off now. As for our season, we hit a low point around Christmas time, but we turned it up a few notches the last couple of weeks. We had to win two of our last three section games to make the playoffs and we did it. We’re going into the playoffs hot and I hope we stay that way.”

In Class A, three teams made the 17-team field and all were seeded in the bottom half of the bracket.

Carmichaels drew a No. 12 seed and will play Serra Catholic at 8 p.m. Friday at Yough High School. The game before that features fellow Greene County school Jefferson-Morgan. The Rockets were the lowest seeded team at 16B and faces Leechburg at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Yough.

Geibel Catholic, which made the field by winning its last section game while Leechburg was losing, drew a No. 15 seed and plays No. 2 seed North Catholic at 8 p.m. Friday at Plum High School.