ProfessorBriggs.com
THE Sports
Authority in Mercer County!
Note: This does not reflect the opinion of Grove City College, WSAJ-FM, WPIC, ESPN 96.7, or their respective sponsors and supporters.
Professor's Proverbs -- February 2, 2011
Recently, good friend and frequent radio partner Chris Burtch forwarded a list of memorable basketball games in Pennsylvania to me. It's really a neat list with a lot of great and bizarre stories.
Of the games on that list, I was fortunate enough to have the call on the DuBois Central Catholic-Kennedy Catholic Class A western final in 2007 at Clarion University. I remember listening to the Carbondale-George Junior Republic Class AA title game on WWIZ I-104 on a Saturday afternoon. I also remember listening to the Butler-New Castle Class AAAA state playoff game in 1997 on a Wednesday night in my bedroom at home on WLER-FM 97.7.
The list also prompted me to think of some of the best high school basketball games I've gotten to call on radio or cover for The Herald or Allied News since 1997, when I started.
The first game I actually went "on air" with was the 1998 District 10 Class AA title game between George Junior and Mercer. The game was played at the Grove City College Arena and Joe Klimchak, my predecessor as sports information director at the College, got me in contact with the guys at WPIC 790. I would call in periodically and record updates on the reel that were played back in breaks during whatever game was actually being broadcast. You may remember at the time that WPIC and WWIZ were competing stations back then -- WWIZ carried that game, if memory serves correct.
My first on-air game with WPIC came a few weeks later, March 13, 1998 to be precise. Sharon played Chartiers Valley in a Class AAA state quarterfinal that went into triple-overtime at Midland before Char Valley pulled out a 67-63 win. I served as color analyst with Ben Roberts on that game. Jeff Greenburg and Jeff Wimer had the call for WWIZ that night.
So it goes without saying that my first high school game on commercial radio set a pretty high standard. Since then, I've been very fortunate to cover a lot of great games on radio and in print. Of course, there have been a fair share of clunkers through the years, but who wants to read about those? Professor Briggs certainly doesn't want to write about them!
In chronological order, 20 of the most memorable games:
March 13, 1998: Class AAA state
quarterfinals at Midland: Chartiers Valley 67, Sharon 63 -- triple-overtime
As stated above, this was the first game I
called live for WPIC. It was a standalone game at Midland, which had not been
operating as a school for several years prior. The teams went back-and-forth
throughout and were tied after the second quarter, third quarter, fourth
quarter, first overtime and second overtime. Sharon trailed late 65-63, when
Marty Barnett had a jumper in the lane that would have tied the game again go
off course. To say that there was contact on that shot would be an
understatement. Both he (first OT) and Jeff Valentino (second OT) hit game-tying
shots at the end of those periods to keep Sharon afloat. Sharon won the MCAC-AAA
title and finished as District 10 runner-up.
(One week prior, in the first round of the state tournament, Sharon earned a 53-49 win over Belle Vernon at the Grove City College Arena. Two things really stick out about that game. Joe Klimchak served as public-address announcer for that game (I did computer stats -- I was a stat geek then too) and he asked everyone to stand for the national anthem. Now, we have CD players, MP3 players and other electronic media. Back then, our music was on cassette and Joe thought the anthem tape was in. Instead, it was the Grove City College men's basketball team warmup tape and the first song on it was none other than "Eye of the Tiger." We quickly replaced the tape and put the right one in. At the end of the game, Sharon led 51-49 but BVA had a chance to tie or win the game. However, the Leopards called a timeout when they had none, which resulted in a technical foul and Barnett hit two free throws to clinch the win.)
March 12, 1999: Class AAA
PIAA first round at Grove City College: Valley 43, Grove City 36
Grove City had just won the District 10 Class AAA title the previous week and
appeared poised to make a long run in the state tournament. But through the
years, the Grove City College Arena had not been kind to the Eagles and it
proved to be a real house of horrors on this night as a 10-loss Valley team used
a diamond-and-one defense on the Eagles. This was one of the
first
games I covered for The Herald and was also the final game in the
great career of GCHS's Josh Morgan. Valley's Gerrmar Ballard scored 22 of the
Vikings' 43 points and Grove City's dream season came to an end.
(Grove City College's quarterback at the time was Steve Lacinski, a very good friend of mine who happened to be a Valley High grad. He still likes to needle me about this game -- he worked on press row with me that night.)
March 2, 2001: District 10
Class AAA consolation game at Grove City College: Grove City 37, Slippery Rock
32
During a stretch in the early 2000s, District 10 sent four Class AAA teams into
the state playoffs. So losing the consolation game then did not mean the end of
the season. Still, the Grove City-Slippery Rock rivalry series pretty evenly
played that year, yet Grove City managed to win all three meetings. Grove City
6-7 senior Logan Tharp -- who had missed most of the season due to injury --
came out of nowhere to score eight points and also provided solid "D" on
Slippery Rock ace Ben Zajac that night before a full house at the College Arena.
Said then-SR head coach Chris Burtch, now my regular radio partner, after the
game: "This is the most painful of the three (losses). This is the worst I've
felt all year."
January 2, 2002: MCAC Class
AAA opener at Grove City High School: Grove City 83, Sharon 75 (OT)
This was the first season of the always-interesting Jim Hoy Era at Sharon. I had
not seen Sharon play to this point (as sports editor of Allied News, I
saw the Grove City teams regularly) but had heard about their wide-open
run-and-gun style. Right after the opening tip, Luke Schweiss launched a
three-pointer from probably 24 feet or so and I quickly realized that this was a
totally different animal than anything I'd seen at the high school level. I
remembered Mike Johnson having a good game for Grove City that night but I
didn't realize it was such a monster game until I looked at the
box score. Kevin Persch, one of Professor Briggs' all-time favorite players
(as is Johnson) had his "coming out" party that night with 20 points.
No less than four individuals from that game are now involved in coaching. Sharon's John Heutsche is on the boys staff at Kennedy Catholic and Persch is an assistant at Grove City. Brian Sansom is the interim head men's basketball coach at Pitt-Bradford. Referee Greg Dogan (misspelled on the box score) is an assistant coach at West Middlesex.
January 8, 2002: MCAC Class
AAA game at Slippery Rock High School: Grove City 41, Slippery Rock 40
Another
classic Grove City-Slippery Rock game that I got to cover for the newspaper.
Grove City never led until the final 7.7 seconds of the game and then withstood
a missed jumper by Scott Rice at the end of the game to stay atop the MCAC-AAA.
Grove City senior reserve Aaron Bruck, who didn't even see the floor in the
Sharon win six days earlier, made a number of critical plays for the Eagles in
that game, including contesting Rice's shot at the end. Persch came off the
bench and had another big game for the Eagles. Zack Sarver, who is now coaching
at Sharpsville, fired in four three-point goals for the Burtchmen. Said Don Fee
afterwards, "I feel like a cat that's used about nine lives."
February 1, 2002: MCAC Class
AA game at Wilmington High School: Wilmington 42, Mercer 40
A lot of local fans may forget that head coach Nick Cannone won a league title
while head coach at Wilmington. This buzzer-beating win helped the Greyhounds on
their path to the MCAC-AA title that year. Matt Krawchyk hit a pullup jumper in
the lane on the final possession of the game to give
Wilmington the win. Wilmington held for the last shot and everyone in the
gym knew that Krawchyk was going to take the last shot. Wilmington proved to be
consistent across the board, shooting 40 percent on two-pointers, three-pointers
... and at the foul line that night.
March 1, 2002: District 10
Class AA consolation game at Meadville High School: Lakeview 47, Eisenhower 45
This night may have been the strangest night of basketball I have ever seen.
Eisenhower went 24-0 in the regular season and nipped Reynolds by a point in the
District 10 quarterfinals when Deacon Jones' potential game-tying shot at the
buzzer was ruled a two-pointer instead of a three. After losing in the
semifinals, Ike (25-1) faced Lakeview. Lakeview had the ball in a 45-all tie
with two seconds left. Lakeview had James Charlton on the baseline to make a
court-length pass (he was a D-10 javelin champion in his career). His pass hit
the rafters -- no easy task at MASH -- and Ike got the ball in the offensive end
with a chance to win the game. Moments earlier, the scorer's table had
erroneously told Eisenhower coaches that the team had one timeout. Ike took a
timeout to draw up an inbounds play but then the officials were notified that in
fact, Eisenhower did not have a timeout. That resulted in a technical
foul (and the ball) for Lakeview. Ned Moore hit both free throws to give
Lakeview
the win. Lakeview advanced to the state tournament and Eisenhower went home
with one of the most bitter defeats in District 10 history.
March 1, 2002: District 10
Class AAA consolation game at Meadville High School: Grove City 61, Warren 59
Game two of that doubleheader at the "House of Thrills" came pretty close to
matching Lakeview-Eisenhower for drama and odd plays.
Warren shot 71 percent from the field in the first half and led 52-43 going
into the fourth quarter. But Grove City, which squeezed out 19 wins that year,
charged back in the fourth quarter. Brian Sansom made one of the great defensive
plays I've ever seen on a basketball court by using a baseball slide to steal
the ball from a Warren player on his way to the basket. After swiping the ball,
Sansom called timeout to preserve possession. I've not seen a team since in high
school basketball that represented the saying "the whole is greater than the sum
of the parts" than that 2001-02 Grove City team.
March 2, 2002: District 10
Class A consolation game at Slippery Rock University: Sharpsville 42, Saegertown
37 (OT)
In recent years, we've become accustomed to seeing the Sharpsville girls in the
District 10 playoffs. But prior to the 2001-02 season, that wasn't the case. The
Blue Darlings had been struggling for a number of years until first-year head
coach Jeff Hanley guided an 11-11 squad into the playoffs. In the consolation
game, Sharpsville faced 20-win Saegertown, which had won the French Creek Valley
Conference and had reached the state finals two years earlier.
Most people, myself included, figured that Sharpsville was a nice story but Saegertown would have its way. It appeared that way when Saegertown opened up a 29-18 lead going into the fourth quarter. But Sharpsville caught fire in the final period and rallied to force overtime. In the extra period, Sharpsville outscored Saegertown 8-3 to earn the win. I remember calling the game with Ben Roberts (a Sharpsville native) and he was in a state of shock that the Sharpsville girls were going to the state tournament.
February 7, 2003: MCAC Class
AAA game at Grove City High School: Hickory 70, Grove City 69
Hickory pulled one from the fire on the road at Grove City by scoring four
points in the blink of an eye at the
end of the game. After Hickory scored to make it 69-68, Chris Harper
intercepted an inbounds pass and found Nick Mastrian for the game-winning layup.
I remembered Mastrian's game-winner but I had forgotten about Winston Kennedy
going totally gonzo and scoring 33 points that night for Hickory.
January 14, 2005: Region
A-AA game at Greenville High School: Greenville 61, Kennedy Catholic 59
Every few years, you come across a team or a group of players that you really
enjoy watching and really want them to do well. Not that you ever want local
teams to do poorly, but there's a certain special thing that a team has every
now and again. The 2004-05 Greenville squad fell into that category. On this
night, with first place at stake, the teams battled back-and-forth all night
before Greenville (13-2, 7-0) pulled it out in the very end. Tommy McCormick hit
five three-pointers and finished with 21 points. Mike Shannon and Mark Lauffer
(the rare point guard who wore No. 54) had 12 each. Blair Rozenblad led Kennedy
(9-3, 6-1) with 22 that night and David Jackson added 15.
February 22, 2005: District
10 Class A quarterfinal at Meadville High School: Kennedy Catholic 46, Vision
Quest 40
While not a classic game certainly, it's still memorable for a number of
reasons. One is Brandon Mirizio scoring all 16 points in the second half for
KCHS to help avoid the upset. Peter Farley put on a heck of a ball-handling
display and single-handedly kept VQ in the game. He finished with 18 points.
Vision Quest also got 13 points off the bench from Chaz Brown, who did not
appear in any box score, roster, anything prior to that game. He had eight
points and halftime and we had no clue at all who No. 50 was. At halftime, Chris
Burtch went down and found out Chaz's identity.
March 11, 2005: PIAA Class
AA western quarterfinal at Slippery Rock University: Greensburg Central Catholic
49, Lakeview 46
Lakeview trailed by 20 entering the fourth quarter but outscored Greensburg 20-3
in the fourth quarter to make things interesting. Dana Charlton's potential
game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer was deflected, though, and Lakeview's
magical season (which included a District 10 title) ended at 23-7. Only a
sophomore, Sheena Aden led the Lady Sailors with 18 points. Maggie Gibson, who
went on to have over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds at Washington & Jefferson,
led the Centurions with 13 points.
February 25, 2006: District
10 Class AA quarterfinal at Conneaut Lake High School: Lakeview 44, Reynolds 30
Why is this game on the list? For the final 2.4 seconds. Lakeview led
comfortably and head coach Steve Aden inserted several reserves into the game.
Reynolds also had cleared its bench. With 2.4 seconds left in the game,
Lakeview's Meghan Miles entered the game. She had inadvertently left a rubber
bracelet on her wrist and upon entering the game, the official slapped her with
a technical foul. Reynolds sent then-freshman Chelsea D'Urso to the line for the
free throws. She made her first but the same official then ruled that D'Urso was
over the foul line on the attempt and waved it off. D'Urso then made the second
shot, closing the scoring at 44-30. Sheena Aden led Lakeview with 19 points and
Shaina Smith led Reynolds with 16.
March 20, 2007: PIAA Class A
state semifinal at Clarion University: DuBois Central Catholic 51, Kennedy
Catholic 50
The name Andrew Welch lives in infamy along the freeway in Hermitage.
Welch didn't start for DCC but scored six of his eight points in the fourth
quarter, including a short jumper at the buzzer, to keep Kennedy from a return
trip to the state title game. Blair Rozenblad closed his Kennedy career by
scoring 24 points but the Golden Eagles missed eight of 15 free throws in the
game.
February 21, 2009: District
10 Class AA quarterfinal at Slippery Rock University: Reynolds 42, North East 41
Remember that freshman Chelsea D'Urso from a few years previously? Well, she had
grown into a senior by this time and scored all 16 of her points in the second
half to help Reynolds (22-1) pull out the win after trailing 24-14 at the half.
Brittany Nelson added a dozen points for the Raiders. North East went just 1 for
7 at the foul line.
February 28, 2009: District
10 Class AA consolation game at Farrell High School: Reynolds 59, Wilmington 57
Reynolds won the league and pulled out two narrow victories over Wilmington in
the regular season. The Raiders (23-2) had to rally to complete the hat trick
and advance to the state tournament. Wilmington led 48-39 but Reynolds outscored
the Greyhounds 20-9 in the fourth quarter. Wilmington went 4 for 10 at the foul
line in the final quarter and 10 for 25 at the line in the game. Still Shane
Wagner nearly sent Wilmington into the state playoffs but his half-court heave
at the buzzer went off the back of the rim.
Chris Laverty led Reynolds with 20 points while Russ Conley added 10. Reynolds got 27 total points from its other three less-touted senior starters in Andrew Martin (12), Jake Galus (10) and Ben Cutshaw (5, all in fourth quarter). Jake DeMedal led Wilmington (15-10) with 18 points, followed by Wagner (14) and Dallas Hartman (11).
Prior to the game, we had an extended pre-game show of over an hour and good friend Joe Sager, who covered the game for the New Castle News, joined Chris Burtch and I during the pre-game. I have a picture of the three of us that day and it's one of my favorite snapshots.
March 7, 2009: PIAA Class AA
opening round at North Allegheny High School: Jeannette 65, Reynolds 62
Reynolds jumped out to a huge lead early and led 53-45 after three quarters
before running out of gas late against a heavily-favored Jeannette team. Chris
Laverty scored a dozen points in the first quarter and had 21 by halftime. He
finished with a game-high 28 points. Jeannette's Dane Vaughn helped the Jayhawks
come back by scoring 18 of his 20 points in the second half.
February 5, 2010: Class AA
region game at Wilmington High School: Greenville 66, Wilmington 60 (2 OT)
Chris Burtch and I made our way through a whiteout to Wilmington High School for
this first-place battle. Both teams entered with 4-1 league records. Nico
Zahnhiser finally put Greenville ahead to stay in the second overtime with a
three-point goal, his only points of the night. Cody Marshall hit three threes
in the fourth quarter for Greenville and finished with a team-high 23 points.
Jake DeMedal (26) and Daryl Pace (23) combined for 49 of Wilmington's 60 points.
March 2, 2010: District 10
Class A semifinals at Oil City High School: Rocky Grove 53, West Middlesex 51
Professor Briggs always enjoys the playoffs because he can be more of a "homer"
for our local teams. On this night at Oil City's "House of Hustle," I don't
recall having been more openly rooting for a local team during a broadcast than
I was on this night. Nor have I felt as disappointed for a team when its season
came to an end after the Big Reds fell short. Most of it was because of my
respect for West Middlesex. But part of my feelings stemmed simply from the fact
that I quickly grew tired of the continual complaining of the entire Rocky Grove
contingent. Anytime a foul went against Rocky Grove, one would have thought that
a heinous injustice had been carried out.
Rocky Grove had won both regular-season meetings but West Middlesex held the upper hand for the first 30 minutes of the game. But over the last two minutes, it simply got away from the Big Reds. Rocky Grove's Dylan Gravatt scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as RGHS outscored West Middlesex 15-7. After the game, the Rocky Grove fans stormed the court and celebrated as if it were V-E Day Redux, even though Rocky Grove was the top seed in the tournament and had beaten West Middlesex twice in the season!
I'm sure I've missed a game or two that has fallen in the cracks of my memory. I'll do some more digging around in upcoming weeks and try to find the details on some more classic games that I've been fortunate enough to cover.
> Send all suggestions, thoughts, questions or comments to: ryanbriggs@zoominternet.net