AA Boys Playoff Open Thread.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Blairsville handed Bishop Carroll their only loss, and hung with Somerset and Hollidaysburg pretty well. So they have seen some full-court pressure and played some quality teams.

I still think of all the local teams they are the one most equipped to win a game in states.

[Oohmy]

D7 pressure is more intense than D6 pressure. Every game is pressure. I watched 2 games last week, a D6 and a D5, all 4 teams were allowed to walk the ball up the floor and get into their sets. That won't happen this Saturday, they will need to get into their offense on the fly. The sheer numbers as far as basketball players is greater than D6 has to offer. Most D7 teams left can go 7 to 9 deep. Sure after player 6 they do drop off for the most part but 7 to 9 is better than most D6 3 to 6. They just play more basketball. More summer and fall leagues. They also attend more shoot outs. Better schedules thru out the season. But that's why they play the games. Looking forward to state championship play both boys and girls.
Good luck to all the teams, especially the local teams.

[Dragoncat]

When it comes to basketball District 7 is nothing special. Due to the location of Blairsville they play a ton of D7 teams in the off season. I will only give you a little advice...........go ahead and press Blairsville. You will start baseball season right on time then!!

[costanza]

I for one, hope you are correct....but there only seems to be one kid who wants to handle the ball/bring it up the court (Livingston) and if he is under control that might be ok....

[costanza]

yep, baseball season is starting...

[Oohmy]

Quips 83-49
GCC 65-34
Nesh 71-51

219-134 or 73-44.7
Some quotes from D6 and D5 coaches
"we were a little shell shocked", "It's like saying ,Sometimes it's good not knowing what you don't know."

'We knew coming in we could play with them, if we could handle their full-court press" "They just wear you down. They're relentless" "We knew they were going to be physical, coming from the Pittsburgh area. They play a different style of ball

There you have it. From the opposing coaches.
Oh yea I guess baseball can start tomorrow at Blairsville in a timely fashion.

Please D6 teams quit wasting you time playing completion from D6 and D5 only, go outside the district and schedule games that will get both the coaches and the players better prepared for state play.

[Panther 1]

From a District X perspective, not all of WPIAL teams are all that great. But when you have a district the size of Dist. 7 the teams that make it to the playoffs are going to be good, even the 5 and 6 seeds are going to be good. I saw some HUDL films on Blairsville that were circulating. As soon as we saw how slow they were, no way they were keeping up with Neshannock. If Blairsville were in District X, they would not have beat West Middlesex or Fairview....maybe get by Mercyhurst for10-3.... But that is not to say that Blairsville could not play with many, many "AA" teams from WPIAL or District X . Just from what I saw from the scores, looks like District 6 is a little down this year, but a few years from now, it could be the opposite. This is a really down year for District X AA. But in Class A, Farrell and Kennedy should make some noise. To me it is all relative. Some years "ya got it" other years "ya don't." I would say "Good Job" to Blairsville for winning District Title, and I heard that their Girls did as well....so a special year for that community. I don't know if playing the competition in your area is wasting time as Oohmy says, Blairsville, and every other school knows what is best for them and their particular situation.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Round 2 Pairings.

Conwell-Egan (17-8) vs. Mahanoy Area (21-5)
Columbia (14-13) vs. Mid-Valley (24-4)
Loyalsock Township (24-3) vs. Minersville (19-5)
Mastery Charter North (15-9) vs. Trinity (18-7)


Aliquippa (26-0) vs. Fairview (22-3)
West Branch (22-4) vs. Redbank Valley (21-5)
West Middlesex (22-3) vs. Seton LaSalle (24-3)
GCC (19-6) vs. Neshannock (18-8)


To me, it looks like we're heading towards an Aliquippa-ConwellEgan championship game, but a few teams will have something to say about that. I think the West Middlesex/Seton LaSalle winner will be a tough out. The East looks wide open, doesn't seem like any of the usual Philly suspects are around, and many of the teams left are just ordinary public schools.

[Dragoncat]

In response to oomy......I am not real sure how long you have followed High School basketball but the way you are beating the D7 drum my guess would be not very long. The wasting your time statement also shows me you are not very educated about the conferences within D6. Blairsville is in the Heritage Conference which consumes 16 of their 22 game schedule. That doesn't leave a lot of games to schedule with your "so-called" good teams from D7. Blairsville's early departure this year has nothing to do with playing in D6 compared to D7. It had everything to do with not being prepared for their opponent. To prove my point all you need to do is google Blairsville Boys Basketball and all the quotes about facing presses and teams being relentless was said about Blairsville by D7 teams in 2005 and 2006.

[deepcreek]

D7 far exceeds anything in D6 for overall competition, style of play, and athletes. Top to bottom Heritage, LHAC, West Pac, are inferior. No shame in it, many more teams in D7. Top D6 teams should try to schedule outside. Blairsville given its location should try to get Jeanette, GCC, Greensburg Salem, Latrobe, Monessen, and Hempfield on schedule. Point being it will prepare them better when they go into playoffs, instead of taking 2 quarters to adjust in a playoff game.

If I remember correctly that Blairsville team you reference played GCC, Greensburg Salem, and Jeanette non-conference (lost 2 of 3). They also played all the westmoreland county teams in summer leagues.