Rivalries renewed: WPIAL basketball alignments group Connellsville with Fayette foes
Lori C. Padilla
Connellsville’s Lauren Bubarth (20) and Uniontown’s Summer Hawk (21) fight to control a rebound during a non-section game at Connellsville on Jan. 18. The Lady Falcons will drop from Class 6A to 5A for the upcoming season and join Fayette County rivals Albert Gallatin and Laurel Highlands as well as the Lady Raiders in Section 3-AAAAA. Connellsville’s boys team also is moving down to Class 5A and will be in a section that includes the Mustangs and Colonials.
Frazier’s Bradley Poling (32) and Elijah Santoro (12) battle with Jefferson-Morgan’s D.L. Garrett for position during a Section 2-AA game at Jefferson-Morgan on Jan. 26, 2018. The Commodores went up to Class 3A and the Rockets dropped to Class 1A the following season but both will return to Section 2-AA this upcoming school year. (Photo by Dave Stofcheck)
Andy Hedrick wasn’t around the last time Connellsville happened to be in a boys basketball section with Fayette County rivals Albert Gallatin and Laurel Highlands.
“People in the past have told me that back when these teams were in the same section that it became a very good rivalry,” said Hedrick, who took over the Falcons in 2014.
It was three years before that when Connellsville, the Colonials and Mustangs were all in Section 1-AAAA.
Next season that trio will once again be grouped together thanks to the Falcons being dropped from Class 6A to 5A.
The WPIAL released its new basketball section alignments for the next two years and the three local rivals will be joined by Ringgold, which was bumped up from Class 4A, Thomas Jefferson and West Mifflin in Section 1-AAAAA.
The Connellsville girls will have it even better, rivalry-wise, as they were also dropped from 6A to 5A and will now be in Section 3-AAAAA along with not only Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin, but also Uniontown.
Twelve area teams were shifted into different classifications.
Boys teams moving up in addition to the Rams are Southmoreland (4A), Jefferson-Morgan (2A) and Monessen (2A), while dropping down are Waynesburg Central (3A) and Frazier (2A) along with Connellsville.
Girls teams moving up are Ringgold (5A), Bentworth (3A) and California (2A), while moving down are Beth-Center (2A) and Connellsville.
The Falcons annually try to play their nearby rivals but the non-section match-ups aren’t quite the same, according Hedrick.
“I think they’re going to be more intense now,” Hedrick said. “When we’ve played them as non-sections they’ve been awkward-type games. For example, we played LH on Saturday at noon after a Friday night game and there wasn’t a ton of people there, you didn’t practice for them. We played at AG the last game of the year when the playoffs were pretty much already determined.
“They fall in place now where they’re going to have more meaning to them. I have to say we’re excited about it. We’re certainly playing some teams that are a little bit closer and that’s always preferred.”
Hedrick pointed out Connellsville had been close to the enrollment number to move down in class before.
“Until now, we’ve just been barely on the other side of that, so we knew there was always a chance this could happen,” Hedrick said. “We’re one of the smallest 6As.”
Lady Falcons coach Shawna Little also was thrilled to resume county rivalries.
“I’m really excited,” Little said. “For me, I think it’s such a great fit for us. I think we belong in 5A, and I love restoring those local rivalries that we’ve had for years.
“Back when I played it was awesome to play against Albert Gallatin, LH and Uniontown. All the teams were good. That’s what I want to try to get back to. I want to bring girls basketball back to prominence in Fayette County and I think it’s going to be fun to play against each other in the section.”
Little is a 2001 Connellsville graduate and started along with fellow seniors Beth Swink, Chelcie Costabile and Jen Salandra on a Lady Falcons squad that reached the WPIAL semifinals and qualified for the PIAA tournament.
“I told the girls it’s been 20 years now since we won a playoff game, so we have some goals for sure,” Little said with a laugh.
The boys section with the most movement among local teams is 4-AA. Bentworth, California and Carmichaels remained in 2A and are joined by the Commodores, Rockets and Greyhounds.
Frazier coach Zach Keefer knew his team was going down and was hoping for a favorable placement.
“You kind of never know. Are they going to put you down towards (Rte.) 51 or out (Rte.) 70? We kind of had an idea it would be one way or the other. We did know we’d be down in 2A,” Keefer said.
“I’m excited. The kids are excited. Two cycles ago this was a very similar section that we were previously in, a highly competitive section. Every night was a battle. You add Monessen in there, another local rivalry, border town, it should make for exciting basketball night in and night out.”
Monessen coach Dan Bosnic had a senior-laden team this season, but isn’t fretting about the move up in class.
“We knew we were going up to Double-A and I’m excited about the move,” Bosnic said. “I look forward to playing those local teams that are in our section. I look forward to the challenge of it.”
Bosnic will do some research on his new section opponents.
“Obviously, with (the website) Hudl, you can watch every team. I’ll spend a lot of my evenings over the summer trying to familiarize myself with those teams,” said Bosnic, who also discussed the situation the coronavirus pandemic has created.
“We’re like everybody else, we’re anxious to get back in the gym with them and get started. I’ve been checking in with the kids and making sure they’re doing what they need to do with their schooling right now and have been satisfied with that. They’re all staying on top of things.
“This is an awkward time because we’re usually in the gym right now and working with our guys and trying to improve and get ready for the upcoming season. We like to spend this time with our elementary kids and our junior high kids and try to build up our program around this time of year. We don’t have the ability to do those things this year, so it’s definitely an adjustment for us.”
Jefferson-Morgan coach Dennis Garrett isn’t intimidated by his team’s jump up in class.
“A few years back we were in Double-A and we made the playoffs,” Garrett said. “It doesn’t make too much difference to me. It depends on how we play. If we play up to our potential we can hang. We beat Bentworth twice last year, Carmichaels is always a good game for us, a rivalry. It looks like a pretty even section.”
Garrett has a solid core returning.
“I’ve got everyone back that started except Elijah Saeson, my top rebounder,” he said. “I’ve seen some of them. They’re working out and shooting when they can.”
With the Rockets and Greyhounds now gone, Section 2-A now consists of Geibel Catholic, Mapletown and West Greene, along with Bishop Canevin, Avella and Propel Montour.
The Scotties’ move up landed them in Section 3-AAAA where they will join Uniontown, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Mount Pleasant and Yough. The only non-local team in the section is South Park.
In boys Section 4-AAA, Waynesburg now joins Beth-Center, Brownsville and Charleroi, along with Brentwood (up from 2A), Washington and McGuffey.
On the girls side, with the Lady Rams now gone, Section 3-AAAA includes Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Mount Pleasant, Southmoreland and Yough, along with West Mifflin and a new WPIAL entry in Ligonier Valley.
Bentworth’s move up puts then in Section 3-AA with Brownsville, Charleroi and Waynesburg, along with McGuffey, South Park and Washington.
Section 2-AA now includes B-C, California, Carmichaels and Frazier, as well as perennial powers Serra Catholic and Seton-La Salle (down from 3A).
With the exception of the Lady Trojans’ departure, Section 2-A remains the same with West Greene, Monessen, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown and Geibel Catholic along with Avella.