While the fall season is over, there were several breaking news items regarding football on Monday. The PIAA released its new enrollments for the next two-year cycle beginning next fall. Among the changes in District 10 is General McLane electing to play up in Class AAAA. There will be plenty of speculation as to why the Lancers moved up, but it will be the third class McLane has played in four years. The Lancers were down in Class AA through the 2011 season before their enrollment forced a move to Class AAA. McLane lost to Cathedral Prep in the past two District 10 Class AAA championships, including a 63-21 loss this past fall. The Lancers have run into powerhouses in the D-10 playoffs in recent history. McLane appeared in the D-10 Class AA championship in 2011 before losing to Hickory.
•Surprisingly, General McLane will likely have a team to play for the District 10 Class AAAA championship. McDowell’s application to the WPIAL was rejected on Monday. WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley stated that it was purely a numbers decision and that the WPIAL was all set with 25 Class AAAA teams and 27 Class AAA teams. O’Malley mentioned that McDowell was accepted the first time because there was a need to even out the numbers and if the Trojans had stayed, they would have been a member of the WPIAL every season. McDowell will likely need to reapply to District 10 after being granted its full release in football last fall.
•District 10 will have some decisions to make when it comes to the new football regions. The main decision will be in Class AA. There are 16 teams which could divide evenly into two eight-team regions. The problem is nine of those teams are in Erie County, while the other seven reside in the south. If D-10 were to insist on even regions, one Erie County team would have to compete in the south. One big candidate for the move could be Corry. The Beavers competed in the southern Class AAA region in the past, providing a precedent for sending Corry to Region 3. Northwestern could also be a candidate with easier travel from West County, but losing either team would destroy some Erie County rivalries. District 10 could go in another direction and just keep the regions unbalanced. In the past, District has provided region balance in playoff selection, but there is nothing in the handbook about playoff spots being guaranteed beyond region champions. If there were unbalanced regions, the bigger one could get more playoff spots but D-10 could also stay to four spots for each region depending on the at-large process. If D-10 kept the regions unbalanced, all of the southern teams in Region 3 would need to find four region games, while the Region 4 teams would have just two open dates.
•While news kept breaking in football, the basketball action started heating up on Monday. Erie First picked up its first quality win by beating Iroquois 60-44 on the Braves’ homecourt. Valentine Sangoyami scored 19 points to lead the Eagles, who led only 41-37 though three quarters. Augustine Mathias added 14 points and Luke Hess had 13. Matt McLean paced Iroquois with 14 points and Jeff Ratiu added 11.
•Cathedral Prep improved to 2-0 with a convincing 57-27 win over previously unbeaten Harbor Creek. Sophomore Carter Cross scored 11 points for the Ramblers, while Matty Harris and Matt Colpoys each had 10. Prep departs for a big-time tournament in Nevada later this week as Bishop Gorman hosts the Tarkanian Classic.
Cochranton vs. Cambridge Springs. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/Jeff Bobin
•The Cochranton girls picked up an impressive 50-33 win over Cambridge Springs. Kendell Dickson led the Cardinals with 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Madison Bernarding scored 13 points and Kassidy Dickson had six rebounds. Paige Wolfrom led the Blue Devils with 13 points as the court was littered with volleyball stars.
•The McDowell girls completed a brutal four-day stretch with a 50-28 win over Harbor Creek. After losing to rival Mercyhurst Prep on Friday, the Trojans handled Girard Saturday before beating the Huskies. Mary Smith scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half to help McDowell pull away after leading 14-12 at the half. Theresa Fachetti led Harbor Creek, who has a showdown with Central Tech later this week, with 12 points. McDowell will have a break for the holidays before heading to Florida for a tournament next week.
•The General McLane girls improved to 5-0 on the season with a big 60-21 win over Fairview in the Region 4 opener for both teams. Celeste Seidel continued her hot play with 26 points, while Michelle Jahn scored 11. The Lancers have an important region game at Girard Friday before a week off. McLane then returns to action in the Hickory holiday tournament. Fairview hosts Union City Thursday before playing in the Conneaut tournament next week.
•The Northwestern girls have been a little surprising to start the season as the Wildcats are a perfect 3-0. Northwestern beat Corry 31-23 behind nine points each from Teresa Wheeler and Sara Morini. The Wildcats have a brutal three-game stretch headed into Christmas. Northwestern hosts North East Wednesday to start Region 4 play before traveling to Class A power Cochranton on Thursday. The Wildcats then head to Girard on Monday before a holiday break
–Tom Reisenweber
Source:
http://www.goerieblogs.com/sports/varsity/2013/12/17/reisen-shine-big-football-developments/