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Canon-Mac, Moon ready for rubber match
The opening round of the PIAA basketball playoffs forces coaches to scramble for scouting reports and scour for game tape of unknown opponents.
That's not the case for the Canon-McMillan High School boys basketball team.
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In a PIAA tournament rarity, Canon-McMillan (18-8) plays WPIAL runner-up Moon (20-7). The Tigers and Big Macs took the top two spots in Section 4 and split the season series with each winning on their home court.
"The nice thing is we don't have to drive all over the state to get tapes and talk to people we don't know," Canon-McMillan coach Rick Bell said. "We're familiar with them and they're familiar with us."
The fifth-place team from the WPIAL, Canon-McMillan defeated Moon in the most recent meeting, a last-second 61-59 win on Jan. 11. The Tigers, led by Xavier recruit Brian Walsh, took the first meeting, 62-48.
The Big Macs were without point guard Charles Murphy in the first game. In the rematch, Murphy hit the game-winning shot.
"We weren't real sure in either game if we could play man-to-man against them," Bell said. "The first time without Murphy, we knew we couldn't. In our place, we started with the 2-3 zone and fell behind. We went to the man and that's what got us back in the game."
Moon is fresh off a stinging loss to Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the WPIAL championship. The Tigers led by seven with a minute remaining only to lose 55-54 on a three-pointer by Central Catholic's Matt McKenna.
Bell listened to the game on the Internet and was preparing the next day's practice plan.
"With a minute to go, I'm writing up the practice plan assuming we're going to play Brashear in the play-in game," Bell said. "Then McKenna hits that three-pointer and I ripped up that plan and realized we had a week to get ready for Moon."
South Fayette (20-6) vs. Cranberry (17-10)
District 9 champion Cranberry, located just outside Oil City, is very familiar with Saturday's site for its PIAA Class AA first-round game against South Fayette.
The Berries, seeded fourth in the district tournament, defeated top-seed Karns City and second-seed Kane in the semifinals and championship games. Both were played at Clarion University, the site for tomorrow's game.
South Fayette coach Rich Bonnaure scouted the tournament and came away impressed with the Berries.
"Judging from their record, they must have had a mediocre regular season but they really came together in the playoffs," Bonnaure said. "The thing I liked when I was watching them in person is how hard they played."
The Lions last game was two weeks ago, when they took WPIAL champion Jeannette to overtime in the quarterfinals before losing 64-54. During the layoff, they scrimmaged Ambridge, Blackhawk and Canon-McMillan in an effort to stay sharp.
And considering how Jeannette plowed through the rest of the WPIAL bracket, South Fayette feels a similar effort can propel it to the second round for the first time since the 2001-02 season, when the Lions advanced to the quarterfinals.
"Watching what Jeannette did after we played with them for 32 minutes with foul trouble, it keeps the goal," Bonnaure said. "We were in the WPIAL tournament to win it and we're in this tournament to win it too."
Bentworth (17-8) vs. Southern Fulton (20-7)
Southern Fulton followed a difficult path in winning the District 5-A championship but made it look easy in the final.
The fourth-seeded Indians held high-scoring Shade to 29 points. Shade was averaging nearly 70 points per game.
Bentworth, Southern Fulton's PIAA Class A first-round opponent tonight at Chestnut Ridge High School in New Paris, averages nearly 64 points per game.
"I haven't been able to get too much info but, from everything I've found, they're a strong defensive team," Bentworth coach Bob Kennedy said.
Southern Fulton also likes to shoot the three-pointer and made eight in the district championship. Jake McCarthy, the Indians' leading scorer, is also a defensive stalwart as Southern Fulton has allowed just one opponent more than 38 points in its last nine games.
Whether or not the Indians have faced a team as athletic as Bentworth is unknown.
Senior Jon Kennedy, a 6-4 center who averages 21.7 points per game, can score in a variety of fashions, as can guards Joe Kennedy and Brandon Bular.
"I read somewhere that (McCarthy) took 30 charges during the course of the year, so we've made adjustments during practice," Bob Kennedy said. "With the aggressive style we play, we're always looking to go to the hoop. We've been working on a few things because I'm always concerned with officiating, especially when we're on the road."
