Waiting Game: Schedule quirk gives Peters Twp. and South Fayette a week off before state semifinals
In a typical year the Peters Township and South Fayette girls basketball teams would be preparing for a Wednesday night state semifinal, but that’s not the case this time around.
The rematch of the WPIAL Class 5A championship will have to wait until 2 p.m. Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School.
Why?
Because the circus is in Hershey.
Well not just any circus.
Cirque du Soleil.
The critically acclaimed show will take over the Giant Center this weekend and subsequently has pushed back the state basketball finals for one week.
To counteract not having the Giant Center until next weekend, the PIAA put a week in between both the semifinals and finals, so the Class 5A girls basketball state championship is not until Saturday, March 29.
“This might be the longest PIAA basketball season in history with the circus and them having to push the finals back a week,” Peters Township coach Steve Limberiou said. “I’m cognizant of the fact that we need to be prepared, but also need to stay fresh. Our season is basically as long as a college season is now, so there’s a fine line and that we’re trying to strike this week.”
Coaches knew the extra week was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
The stretched-out schedule is another curveball to navigate.
“I’d rather be playing,” South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett said. “I think this is getting dragged out too long. Don’t get me wrong, I love being around these kids. That’s one good thing, but I’ve got kids in spring sports that are doing two different things and it’s not fair to them or their spring coaches. I’d rather play Tuesday or Wednesday and get it going compared to a week off. It will be good for them to get some rest, but this should be done this weekend.”
South Fayette has three players on the softball team, Alisa Dufort, Kendall Welhorsky and Kylie Rumberger, and assistant coach Olet Stasko is the high school softball coach. Bennett also said a few players may participate in track and field as well.
One positive that came out of the delay was the ability for a reset.
Bennett gave his players two days off from practice prior to reconvening Tuesday to prepare for the rematch after seeing Peters Township win the WPIAL final, 40-36.
“It’s a long season and the mental side of it I don’t think gets talked about enough,” Bennett said. “You grind and you grind through one opponent and another opponent and then another opponent, so we took a couple days off. It’s not something we typically do, but I’m confident in our kids. We have great leadership. I told them in the locker room (Saturday) to take the two days and disconnect from everything, including Hudl. I didn’t want them watching anything. Just be a kid and go enjoy yourself.”
Peters Township (26-3) is taking a similar approach to South Fayette (27-2). The Indians took Sunday off and are taking a break Wednesday.
Most of the players on both teams play in a spring/summer league, so the delay makes for a shorter break for them.
“From the standpoint of where our season ends and when the girls start playing AAU, there’s not much time,” Limberiou said. “For the girls on both teams it’d probably be better for them if this was done sooner just so they have more time off between seasons. In general, though, it’s a good problem to have if we’re being honest.”