BleacherCoaches.com

hahaha u guys are funny.

If you want my realistic Johnstown prediction, okay here it is.

They play the 16 game LHAC schedule.
State College at home
Altoona at home
Northern Cambria
and the Mountain Cat Tourney with McCort, Tussey and North Star.

I'd assume right around 14-2, 15-1 in league play
split with State College and Altoona
destroy Northern Cambria
Might have trouble in the Mountain Cat tourney, but should win it.

Legit 18-3, 19-2.
Win 2 games in the AAA Tournament. plus the LHAC game.

Going into States likely 22-2, 21-3.
And Once again will face a well coached District 3 team that is very good at the AAA level. Thats what it is. They lost to Lancaster Catholic and York Suburban the past two years, they will play a team very similar to that. Can they beat them? Who knows.


Their rotation should resemble something like this.....
Mark Watson 6-0 Jr
Calvin Anderson 6-1 Sr
Alkwan Williams 6-2 Jr.
Quentin Brandon 6-2(unless this kid grew about 7 inches, the Johnstown maxpreps is wrong) Jr.
Isaiah Hasselrig 6-2 Jr.
Dwight Andrews 6-4 Jr.
Phillip Madison 5-9 So.
They also have a 6-5 So that I know nothing about by the name of Roshon Fields

Watson,Williams,Hasselrig are definite starters. Don't know who else they are gonna run with.


But as of now, I know they lack a true inside presence. Williams is a beast but he's still a 6-2 Post. And Hasselrig is really thin to bang real hard inside. Good players though.
They lack shooting, and I'm not sure who is their go to scorer? Someone will have to step up.
I'm not sold on Colbaugh, but he got them to play pretty well last season.


In the league I don't see who is really going matchup with them too well. I know McCort returns their 3 starting guards plus Leech off the bench. They can play with them from a guard standpoint, both games were close from what i can recall. McCort will probably start 2 freshmen and they have the big 6-6 kid too. Thats a team that I can see getting better throughout the year, and maybe be able to match up with them down the line. Not seeing another team inSection II that can play with them. Other section, Forest Hills will be tough...CC is always good, and BC has some good guards. Thats about it.


Tussey can play and will cause them some problems early on, and North Star has the big Straiser kid that can cause them problems. So the Mountain Cat Tourney has some good teams, and you should see what Johnstown has early on.

Honest opinion, non Jtown bashing post for once. There ya go.

I agree with your prediction. However, basketball is a funny sport. I believe upsets are a lot easier in basketball than football. Sometimes your shots just aren't falling and the other teams are. I think it is entirely possible for them to lose a game in the districts.

As for the state brackets they have changed and the d6 AAA champion either plays d9-2/d7-5 winner. No longer will have to start out with d3.

http://www.rodfrisco.com/wp-content/upl ... B-BRAX.pdf

Thats HUGE. WPIAL AAA basketball is usually weak, with the exception of Char Valley and Greensburg Salem's runs to states. The depth isn't there. They should beat D9 too.

I agree, Didn't the Xavier Thomas era lose a game to Forest Hills they definitely weren't supposed too?
But any given night, a kid can catch fire,foul trouble, bad refs, injuries, so many things can happen in a Basketball game.

WPIAL AAA is the weakest of the 4 classifications. WIth that said, Jtown won't be able to walk over any of the top 4 WPIAL AAA teams. Also a team with Jtown's athleticism can get away with no post player...That is, until they play a team with a quality guy in the post and quality guiards who can match up with them.

The season is approaching close.. With that being said, we will see how well this Johnstown team will do this year.

i wouldnt be surprised if Tussey knocks them off.... they come back more solid than last year

Also looks like the 6-AAA runner-up gets in the bracket too. It had been the champ only the past few years. I agree that the WPIAL teams are an easier road than 3-AAA which had become a thorn in the Trojans' side the past few years. However, I would have liked to have had a chance to beat one of those teams and break that streak. I recall back in Coach Litwalk's time he had quite a drought against the WPIAL teams, but once he got that initial win, the numbers somewhat speak for themselves as sportsfan has pointed out.

I went back to check my archives as far as a loss to Forest Hills during Xavier's time. I see a regular season loss by one back in '04-05, the state runner-up year, which would have been X's junior year but the team rebounded to beat them in the 6-AAA playoffs.

That outlook looks pretty good and you make a lot of good points crimson. One thing I tend to be concerned about is when a team comes in with tons of hype, you get your opponent's absolute best every night. I too am concerned of their lack of size in the post, but hopefully they'll outrun teams and get big leads.

Is Tussey supposed to be good again? I know that Zimmerman was talented (really impressed with him at UPJ tourney) but he's gone. Who are some of their other guys to watch?

I feel like the game was played in the 30s and 40s. Forest Hills really drowned the clock away.

They should be able to outrun teams, McCort is huge this year. Expect a very tightly contested game on Osborne Street. 1. Because its always close. 2. McCort can really use their size in that game, and Johnstown can't get out and run as much.

Hmmm, not recalling that. But in '03-04 they beat Central Cambria 31-23 in the 6-AAA playoffs. That was Shipman's last year and would have been Xavier and Kurt Hoffman's sophomore year and if recall correctly, they were both starters. (A few years later, Fuschino played stall-ball in the first half against CC when Jordan Miller and those guys were seniors).

The only other score that fits that profile was when Indian Valley beat JHS 36-35 in '06-07.