WPIAL Friday Players To Follow

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday night is always the main event for high school basketball in Pittsburgh and as the season progresses, matchups become more intense, mistakes become more costly and tensions run high. Let's look at some of the contests to follow on January 20th.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the City League, Allderdice can all but guarantee itself the regular season title with a win over Obama. It's been a balanced offense in the backcourt for Devin Crummie's team this year as rock solid guards <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1436504' first='Ethan' last='Anish']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1518798' first='Logan' last='Golle']</strong> and <strong>Jack Segall </strong>have been consistent performers and the Dragons depth has been its backbone--They've got a first ten that can all play in college. The frontcourt muscle is provided by 6'5" senior <strong>Antwone Thurman-Ward</strong>...but the highlight reel of the Dice Dunk Show this year has been the dynamic duo of 6'5" senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='991387' first='Sam' last='Kelly']</strong> and electric 6'4" junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1187923' first='Major' last='Rainey']</strong>. Allderdice may have the deepest team in the region. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 4A, Round Two between Lincoln Park Charter and Beaver could be equally exciting to the first nailbiter, which LPC won. With Pitt commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='991401' first='Brandin' last='Cummings']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='991408' first='Meleek' last='Thomas']</strong>, one of the top players in the country, Lincoln Park has high expectations for this season. Their loss to Central Catholic may look bad given the inconsistency from the Vikings, but when they're at their best, they're good--It's a loss that can be forgiven. Beaver, on the other hand, is enjoying its best season in some time. Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1185952' first='Sawyer' last='Butler']</strong> is receiving recruiting interest, as is 6'3" forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1395899' first='Aiden' last='Townsend']</strong>. Can Beaver get over the hump? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 3A, the KDKA Radio game of the week pits two of the top scoring seniors in the region against each other in a matchup of two teams that came into this season with sky high hopes and have underperformed to this point. Steel Valley senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1395834' first='Makhai' last='Valentine']</strong> is one of the elite scorers in Western Pennsylvania and has gone over 40 on the regular. Seton LaSalle struggled without <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1116023' first='Connor' last='Spratt']</strong>, but with him back in the lineup, they've begun scoring wins again. Spratt is a dangerous shooter--When he's hot, 40 isn't out of the question. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a non-divisional game, Penn Hills takes on North Allegheny. Penn Hills featured 6'4" Quinnipiac commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='991332' first='Daemar' last='Kelly']</strong> and North Allegheny counters with 6'5" <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1187941' first='Joey' last='Dopirak']</strong> and 6'10" <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1188064' first='Ty' last='Iwanonkiw']</strong>. The duo teamed up to hand Central Catholic a defeat on Tuesday and keep the door open in a wild divisional title race in 6A. Penn Hills is one of the top teams in the region--They've only lost to Central and Archbishop Wood of Philadelphia. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eden Christian continues its impressive run on Friday by taking on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1284793' first='Jimmy' last='Giannetta']</strong> and St Joe's of Natrona Heights. Eden has scored back to back wins over Bishop Canevin and Propel Braddock Hills. Eden is led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1186472' first='Malachi' last='Manges']</strong> as fellow senior guard<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='991350' first='Damon' last='Astorino']</strong> continues to slowly work back from injury and should he be included in the mix come crunch time, he's a quality guard, who recently passed 1,000 pts, that the coaches can count on to deliver if called upon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->