STREAKING--Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) and LeBron James (6) stand together during the second quarter against the Orlando Magic in Miami on March 6. (AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, David Santiago)

by Paul Newberry

AP National Writer

Blowouts. Narrow margins of victory. Lucky breaks. Overwhelming opponents with superior skills.

SHAWN ANDERSON of New Castle scored 16 points to lead the Red Hurricanes to a 68-53 win over Hampton in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game. (Courier Photos/William McBride)

The New Castle boys basketball team has been flying high the last two seasons and Saturday night became the first team in WPIAL history to record back to back undefeated season’s in league play.
New Castle beat Hampton (21-5) in last year’s WPIAL Class AAA title game. The two moved up in class this year and now met in the AAAA final at the Palumbo Center and the Red Hurricanes easily won, 68-53.
Shawn Anderson scored 16 points for No. 1 seed New Castle, Antonio Rudolph had 15 and Anthony Richards added 12.
Anderson was good in the regular season, but the senior forward is averaging nearly 25 points in four postseason games while making a push for WPIAL player of year honors.  Anderson has committed to the Naval Academy.
Ryan Luther had 17 points for Hampton, which was making its fourth WPIAL title game in the past five seasons.  Luther is considered one of the WPIAL’s best players and has scholarship offers from Duquesne and Dayton. He is 6 feet 7 and can play inside or outside.
The win pushed undefeated New Castle record to 26-0, and the Red Hurricane will now have to face Gateway in the first round of the PIAA state tournament.
New Castle recently ended Gateway’s three-year run appearances in WPIAL title game.
“If you give New Castle a big man to go with the players they have, they can compete with anyone in the country,” Gateway head coach Mitch Adams said.  
“They have quickness; they can shoot well and defend.  They do everything you need to win games.  Still, I relish the opportunity to play them again.”
Beaver Falls (23-3) blew out Burrell (19-7), 61-33, to win the Class AA championship Saturday night at Palumbo Center. The top-seeded Tigers raced to a commanding lead and kept extending it as they routed the Bucs.  The pressure and intensity continued, despite the large advantage.
With the win, Beaver Falls got its second consecutive title, the ninth in school history and coach Doug Biega got his 300th career win.
Senior guard Drew Cook led the Tigers with 20 points, Elijah Cottrill had 14 and Danny Stratton added 13.
Burrell senior Cole Bush knows people are going to compare him to former Bucs star Joey Meyers. Meyers was 1,000-point scorer before going to play at Duquesne University and was an eighth-round draft pick of the New Jersey Nets in the 1983 draft.
In the 1979 title game against Beaver Falls, Meyers had 22 points, but Burrell was defeated, 55-54, by a great Beaver Falls team led by Dwight Collins, Damon Bryant, Ron Rowan and Forest Grant.
“Joey Meyers is a legend at our school and a lot people are comparing our team to their team and me to him. We are a football, wrestling and baseball school,” said Bush, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, who is averaging a “double double”. “I didn’t play basketball last year but I’m playing this year to stay in shape for football. Next year I’ll be playing running back or tight end for St. Francis.”

JAMES HARRISON (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

 by Will Graves

AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) — James Harrison's snarling tenacity made the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker one of the NFL's most intimidating players for nearly a decade.

CELEBRATION—Bethel Park's Mariah Penascino (Right) jumps into the arms of teammate Kaitlen Chess as they celebrate the Blackhawks 48-32 win over Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game. (Courier Photos/William McBride)

Brenna Wise is only a sophomore, but she already has scored 1,000 points. The 6-1 forward led Vincention (25-1) to a, 53-46, victory over Serra Catholic (23-3).
The Vincentian varsity girls basketball team was stuck in neutral for the first few minutes of Saturday’s WPIAL championship game at the Palumbo Center at Duquesne University. The Royals were down 6-0, but were able to fight back to go into halftime with a 24-21 lead.
Wise led all scorers with 18 points and ripped down 20 boards. Kiersten Elliott chipped in with 13 and Mala Joiner had 12 points.
Katie Sieg had 13 points for Serra Catholic and her sister Megan Sieg had 12 points.
Too often, success is measured by what a player does with the basketball.  Points, rebounds, assists are the easiest barometer to gauge contributions. Bethel Park junior guard Megan Marecic and junior forward Samantha Simpson play fierce defense and usually shut down the opponents best players. Defense wins championships and that blue print gave Bethel Park (23-3) a, 48-34, victory over Chartiers Valley (19-7) Saturday night.
“We ran into a team that played really good defense,” Chartiers Valley coach Spencer Stekfo said. “It would have been nice if a couple of shots fall, but they didn’t and that’s not a reflection on my kids. That’s a reflection on their kids and some excellent effort on the defensive end.  They really got after it and those kids earned it.”
Senior point guard Mariah Penascino led the Lady Blackhawks with 15 points, guard Harper Zimmer scored 11 points and Marecic had 7 points.  Jenna Devinney led the Colts with 9 points.
Coach Jonna Burke is a former Pitt player and Bethel Park alum. She has been coaching for 18 years, including 8 years at Butler High School and has over 200 career wins.
“It’s special, it’s something you work for every year,” coach Burke said. “This is our first championship, but it is our goal every year.”
The South Park varsity girls basketball team had a full season the digest last year’s WPIAL AAA championship loss to Hopewell.
In the semi-finals, the Lady Eagles scored a 75-55 victory over Hopewell and gained a measure of revenge. The Lady Eagles (23-2) players who experienced last year’s championship heartbreaker also got a chance to exorcise another demon Saturday afternoon by beating Elizabeth Forward (23-3), 50-32, in the WPIAL Class AAA girls championship.
South Park wanted to make a statement on Duquesne University home court, and the defense helped get the job done.  Elizabeth Forward made just 23 percent of its shots.
“We have to hang our hat on our defense,” said Coach Reggie Wells. “To get through Hopewell and finally break through, that was big but we didn’t want a letdown today.”