NEW CASTLE —
The journey toward a WPIAL championship is ready to begin for the New Castle High boys basketball team.
The Red Hurricane breezed to a 22-0 mark in the regular season, claiming its victories by nearly 28 points a game.
New Castle earned the top seed in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, while owning the district’s top ranking in Class AAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In addition, the ’Canes are ranked No. 2 in the state by the Patriot-News of Harrisburg.
The first round, though, will not be easy for New Castle. The ’Canes will battle Highlands (9-14) at 8 p.m. tomorrow at North Allegheny High School.
Sure, the 16th-seeded Golden Rams are below .500. But they boast Micah Mason, a 6-foot-2 senior guard who ranks 16th in the WPIAL all-time in scoring with 2,242 career points.
“It’s one of those things when you have a player like Mason, he gets a lot of attention,” ’Canes coach Ralph Blundo said. “But other guys are making shots and making people pay for giving Mason too much attention. That’s when they get really good really fast.
“Mason is a focal point.”
Mason, a Drake recruit, is averaging 29 points a game, tops in the WPIAL regardless of classification. But he was held scoreless in the first half on Friday in a 56-48 preliminary-round win over Southmoreland. Mason finished with 18 points.
“You hear so much on how he shoots. I’m impressed with his court vision,” Blundo said. “He knows when to split traps; he really understands how to play and he gets others involved.
“Mason gets them in a position to make plays. He has tremendous savvy. It’s something to see and he’s as good as advertised.”
Blundo said it was a simple strategy Southmoreland utilized to contain Mason early on.
“They really did a good job of getting the ball out of his hands,” Blundo said of Southmoreland. “They didn’t let him get it back.
“It’s a credit to Mason that it didn’t affect his play. He let the defense dictate whatever he did. Others were making shots for them.”
Mason isn’t the only threat for the Golden Rams. Tyler Kazmierczyk netted 16 points against the Scotties, while Tyler Szymkiewicz was next with 12 and Glenn Saunders contributed 10.
“Kazmierczyk and Saunders combined for five 3s against Southmoreland,” Blundo said. “They guarded Mason well, but those guys made them pay; they play their roles well.”
In 2010, Highlands eliminated New Castle in a preliminary-round contest at Butler, 93-82. Mason netted 23 points for the Golden Rams in that contest.
“That’s apples and oranges. It’s in the past,” Blundo said of the 2010 meeting. “Right now, our goal is to win this game so we can get to the quarterfinals.”
Shawn Anderson, a 6-3 junior guard/forward/center, paces the ’Canes in scoring at 19.3 points a game.
“He’s like a silent assassin. He’s silky smooth,” Highlands coach Shawn Bennis said. “I like his jump shot a lot.
“He has great form on his jump shot and he can get to the hole as well.”
Corey Eggleston, a 5-11 senior guard, is next at 18.4 points a contest. Eggleston poured in a game-best 33 points as a sophomore in the playoff loss to the Golden Rams.
“Corey is somebody that sticks out,” Bennis said. “He’s very athletic and he can knock down the 3.
“He sure put on a show a couple of years ago. I don’t know that we have the firepower that we did a couple of years ago and I think they have more this time around. We can’t lose sight of him.”
Malik Hooker (6-1, sophomore, guard) contributes 9.8 markers a game and Anthony Richards (5-9, sophomore, guard) is next at 8.9 tallies a tilt, with a county-best 55 3-pointers.
Brandon Domenick (5-9, junior, point guard) directs the attack and tosses in 8.5 markers a matchup.
“Domenick gets them into everything they want to do,” Bennis said. “He’s good at recognizing defenses.
“Richards can really shoot it. He’ll hit the open shot and he plays with a lot of confidence for a sophomore.”
Bennis announced last week he is resigning at the end of the season to spend more time with his family. The ’Canes would like to send Bennis’ squad into an early offseason tomorrow.
The survivor will square off against the winner of the West Mifflin-Mars game on Friday at a time and site to be determined.
(E-mail: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com).
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