Rockets jump to AA in new WPIAL basketball alignments
The WPIAL released its new basketball section alignments for the next two years and two Greene County boys teams were affected.
Jefferson-Morgan will be moving from 1A up to 2A, while Waynesburg Central will drop from 4A to 3A.
All five county girls teams will remain at their same classification.
Section 4-AA in boys had plenty of movement. Bentworth, California and Carmichaels remained in 2A and are joined by Frazier (down from 3A), the Rockets and Monessen.
Frazier coach Zach Keefer knew his team was going down and was hoping for a favorable placement.
鈥淵ou 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鈥檇 be down in 2A,鈥� Keefer said.
鈥淚鈥檓 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.鈥�
Monessen coach Dan Bosnic had a senior-laden team this season, but isn鈥檛 fretting about the move up in class.
鈥淲e knew we were going up to Double-A and I鈥檓 excited about the move,鈥� Bosnic said. 鈥淚 look forward to playing those local teams that are in our section. I look forward to the challenge of it.鈥�
Bosnic will do some research on his new section opponents.
鈥淥bviously, with (the website) Hudl, you can watch every team. I鈥檒l spend a lot of my evenings over the summer trying to familiarize myself with those teams,鈥� said Bosnic, who also discussed the situation the coronavirus pandemic has created.
鈥淲e鈥檙e like everybody else, we鈥檙e anxious to get back in the gym with them and get started. I鈥檝e been checking in with the kids and making sure they鈥檙e doing what they need to do with their schooling right now and have been satisfied with that. They鈥檙e all staying on top of things.
鈥淭his is an awkward time because we鈥檙e 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鈥檛 have the ability to do those things this year, so it蘑菇视频 definitely an adjustment for us.鈥�
Jefferson-Morgan coach Dennis Garrett isn鈥檛 intimidated by his team蘑菇视频 jump up in class.
鈥淎 few years back we were in Double-A and we made the playoffs,鈥� Garrett said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 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.鈥�
Garrett has a solid core returning.
鈥淚鈥檝e got everyone back that started except Elijah Saeson, my top rebounder,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen some of them. They鈥檙e working out and shooting when they can.鈥�
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.
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, Bentworth moves up and into 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鈥� departure, Section 2-A remains the same with West Greene, Monessen, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown and Geibel Catholic along with Avella.