The Answers To My 2019 WPIAL Questions

Former South Fayette quarterback, Jamie Diven, will play NCAA Division 2 Men's football at West Liberty University in the fall.

Source: Jamie Diven Twitter (@jamesdiven)

Back on December 31st, 2018, I wrote an article that listed some of the questions that some of us WPIAL fans wanted to know when the 2019 calendar year began. We're going to look at the questions that I asked in the article. We will see if I can answer any of my own questions yet.

Questions

- Where will Aliquippa football standout, MJ Devonshire, go to college? (Devonshire has offers from Pitt, Ohio State, West Virginia, Maryland, Michigan State, Indiana and other colleges.)

Answer: (The University of Kentucky) Back on January 18th, 2019, Devonshire announced on his Twitter account that he had received an offer from the University of Kentucky. Then on February 6th, 2019, Devonshire officially announced at his high school (Aliquippa) that he is going to play football at the University of Kentucky. Before the calendar year of 2019, Devonshire had offers from Pitt, Ohio State, West Virginia. Maryland, Michigan State, Indiana and other colleges. Devonshire did not want to go to any of the big-time schools that offered him before the calendar year of 2019. The University of Kentucky must have given Devonshire a good offer that he could not turn down.

- Can Tim McConnell prove to the WPIAL that he can lead the Girls basketball team to a WPIAL and PIAA championship in 2019?

Answer: (Yes to both) Tim McConnell was able lead to the 2018-19 Chartiers Valley Girls basketball team to a WPIAL and PIAA championship in 2019. Chartiers Valley defeated Thomas Jefferson in the WPIAL 5A Girls basketball championship game by a score of 64-48 on March 2nd, 2019 at the Petersen Events Center. Also, Chartiers Valley defeated Archbishop Carroll in the PIAA 5A Girls basketball championship game by a score of 53-40 on March 23rd, 2019 at Giant Center in Hershey. The 2018-19 Chartiers Valley Girls basketball team has to be considered one of the best sports teams ever in Chartiers Valley history; the team did not a lose single game during that season.

- Jayde Boyd's Oakland Catholic Eagles went to the WPIAL 5A Girls basketball championship for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018. The Eagles lost both of those games. Is a third time a charm? Will Boyd and The Eagles finally get that WPIAL championship in 2019?

Answer: (No) Oakland Catholic did not play in the WPIAL 5A Girls basketball championship game in 2019. They lost to Jenna Clark and the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars in the WPIAL semifinals round by a score of 68-55. However, Oakland Catholic did win their first two games in the PIAA playoffs before losing to Chartiers Valley in the third round by a score of 46-43.

- Can Tai Johnson lead Mars to another state championship in Girls basketball?

Answer: (No) Johnson and the Fighting Planets lost to Oakland Catholic in the 2nd round of the WPIAL 5A Girls basketball playoffs by a score of 67-45. So, they didn't have an opportunity to play for a WPIAL championship at the Petersen Events Center. Also, the Fighting Planets did not even qualify to play in the PIAA playoffs.

-Will Donovan Johnson pull a Jarrod Simmons and be the home town hero and help Moon win another WPIAL championship in Boys basketball?

Answer: (Well, technically no; but, Johnson did something Simmons didn't do.) Johnson and the Tigers lost to Mars in the WPIAL 5A Boys basketball championship by a score of 58-56. However, Johnson did lead the Tigers to a state championship in 2019 with a 74-64 win over Archbishop Wood in the PIAA 5A Boys basketball championship. You see, Jarrod Simmons came back to Moon in his senior year of high school (2016-17) after attending a basketball prep school (not in Pennsylvania) in this first three years of high school. In Jarrod's only high school season at Moon, he led the team to a WPIAL 5A Boys basketball championship by beating Hampton 69-62 in the WPIAL championship game. However, Moon lost in the first round of the PIAA 5A Boys basketball playoffs to Franklin Regional by a score of 52-51. Johnson and Simmons both helped bring hardware to Moon which is something that they both have in common.

- Can one of the best and most popular baseball players, in Austin Hendrick, finally be able to get West Allegheny a WPIAL baseball championship in 2019?

Answer: (No) Austin Hendrick and the West Allegheny Indians had a BYE in the 1st round of the WPIAL 5A Boys baseball playoffs and in the 2nd round they lost to Mars by a score of 4-3 in 11 innings. West Allegheny did not qualify for the state baseball playoffs.

- Will Dino Tomlin win another state championship in Track and Field?

Answer: (No, but he could have.) You see Dino sustained an injury during one of the Track & Field meets that Shady Side Academy was in in the beginning of the season. That injury caused Dino to miss the rest of the WPIAL and PIAA track season. That meant he did not have the opportunity to win any WPIAL or PIAA track titles.

- Makenna Marisa is an elite basketball player at Peters Township. Can she finally lead the Indians to a WPIAL championship in 2019?

Answer: (Yes sir.) Not only did Makenna lead Peters Township to a WPIAL 6A Girls basketball championship in 2019; but, she also led her team to a PIAA 6A Girls basketball championship. The 2018-19 WPIAL and PIAA basketball season will be a season that Makenna will never forget in her life.

- Where will the 5A PIAA football player of the year, Daequan Hardy attend college in 2019? (Hardy has offers from colleges such as Michigan, Michigan State, Navy, Nebraska and others.)

Answer: (Penn State) Daequan Hardy did not receive an offer from Penn State in 2018. Hardy did receive an offer from Penn State in 2019 and after Hardy got that offer, he accepted it fast. On February 5th, 2019, Hardy announced on Twitter how he made his college decision to play NCAA Division 1 Men's Football at Penn State.

- Where will the star defensive back from Penn Hills, Corey Thomas Jr., go to college at? (Thomas Jr. has offers from Ball State, Indiana, Buffalo Toledo and Robert Morris University.)

Answer: (The University of Akron) Corey Thomas Jr. announced on Twitter that he was going to play NCAA Division 1 Men's Football at Akron the same day Daequan Hardy (Thomas Jr.'s teammate) made his college decision announcement on Twitter. Thomas Jr. signed his National Letter of Intent on February 6th, 2019.

- Can the Bishop Canevin Girls basketball team be in the WPIAL championship for the fourth straight year in a row?

Answer: (No) Bishop Canevin lost to the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the semifinals round of the WPIAL 2A Girls basketball playoffs by a score of 51-45. Also, Bishop Canevin lost in the 2nd round of the state playoffs.

- In 2019, will a WPIAL basketball player dunk a basketball so hard that the glass breaks?

Answer: (Not that I know of.) I didn't hear of any WPIAL basketball player break the glass in the 2018-19 season; but, perhaps it can happen in the 2019 calendar year of the 2019-20 season.

- Will there be another huge brawl at a WPIAL high school basketball game in 2019?

Answer: (Not that I know of.) When Clairton and Monessen played each other in a regular season game on February 6th, 2018, a huge brawl happened which resulted in the game ending early. It might be a while until another big brawl happens at a WPIAL high school basketball game.

- Will Trinity's Boys Basketball team hit another game winning shot in 2019?

Answer: (Not that I know of.) When Trinity hit a game winning basket at Montour on December 18th, 2018, you would think Montour would have a bad rest of the season; but, they didn't. Montour only became stronger after that loss to Trinity. Montour made it to the WPIAL 5A Boys basketball playoffs in 2019 and defeated Hampton in the 1st round of the WPIAL playoffs by a score of 60-44. I did not hear Trinity make any other game winning shots in the 2019 calendar year of the 2018-19 basketball season. Perhaps, Trinity can hit a game winning shot in the 2019 calendar year when the 2019-20 season begins.

- Will Mike Zmijanac lead Seton LaSalle to a WPIAL football championship in 2019?

Answer: (We don't know of this answer yet.)

- Can Elizabeth Forward's Girls bowling team become a "Cinderella Story" and win a WPIAL championship in their first year as a team?

Answer: (No) On Thursday February 14th 2019, the WPIBL Girls championship event was held at Noble Manor Lanes. Elizabeth Forward finished 11th in the event. No doubt that they had a good season as they had a section record of 10-0 in the regular season.

- Will West Allegheny's Girls softball team win another WPIAL championship in 2019?

Answer: (Yes ma'am.) West Allegheny defeated Connellsville in the WPIAL 5A Girls softball championship game on May 31st, 2019 by a score of 3-2.

- Can Canon-McMillan's baseball team repeat as WPIAL and PIAA champions in 2019?

Answer: (Not even kind of.) Canon-McMillan had a section record of 5-7 and an overall record of 10-9 in the 2019 WPIAL baseball season. The team did not even make it to the WPIAL playoffs in 2019. Some of us might have not been surprised the Big Macs did not repeat as WPIAL 6A baseball champions; but, I think all of us are surprised they did not qualify for the WPIAL playoffs in 2019. If you do not qualify for the WPIAL baseball playoffs, you're not going to qualify for the PIAA baseball playoffs either.

- Where will Steel Valley football player, Todd Hill, attend college in 2019? (Hill has offers from Cincinnati, Robert Morris University, Delaware, Duquesne University and others.)

Answer: (Duquesne University) Todd Hill verbally committed to Howard University in the Summer of 2018; but, then he decided not to attend Howard University in one of the final months of 2018. Hill announced on his Twitter page that he was going to play college football at Duquesne University on January 23rd, 2019. He signed his National Letter of Intent on February 6th, 2019.

- Can Cole Spencer lead Pine-Richland to another WPIAL football championship in 2019?

Answer: (The 2019 WPIAL football season has not started yet.) It was impressive that Cole Spencer lead the Rams to a WPIAL football championship in 2018 as a sophomore in high school. Former Rams quarterback, Phil Jurkovec, could not even lead the Rams to a WPIAL football championship in his sophomore year of high school.

- Who will South Fayette start at quarterback for the 2019 WPIAL football season? Naman Alemada or Henry Lex are two options for the Lions.

Answer: (Once training camp starts, we should have a better idea of who could start for the Lions in 2019.)

- Where will South Fayette quarterback, Jamie Diven, attend college in 2019? So, far he has received one offer from West Liberty University.

Answer: (West Liberty University) Diven announced on his Twitter page that he was going to play college football at West Liberty University on February 2nd, 2019.

- Can Tyler Bradley and the OLSH Boys basketball team win a WPIAL championship without Donovan Johnson?

Answer: (Yes, Yes, Yes) What a senior year of high school it was for Tyler Bradley at OLSH. He won a WPIAL football championship in 2018 and a WPIAL basketball championship in 2019. Dante Spadafora, Daren DiMichele, Jake DiMichele, Austin Wigley and Ricco Tate were some of the other players that helped OLSH win the WPIAL 2A Boys basketball championship game.

BY Hilton: bythebossandgoat@gmail.com and Twitter @BYHilton13