Time To Jinx A High School Boys Basketball Team

This season, Mekhi Reynolds, senior at Shaler Area High School, will try to lead Shaler to a WPIAL basketball championship.

SOURCE: Shaler Area School District

It is only December 18th, 2019, but here is a list of things that you should watch out for or pay attention to as the 2019-20 WPIAL Boys Basketball season progresses.

- With Mekhi Reynolds and the Shaler Area Titans defeating Mars on Tuesday by a score of 73-62, people can only wonder if this is the year that Shaler can finally win WPIAL Class 5A Section 3.

- Freshman, Rodney Gallagher, plays basketball for Laurel Highlands and he is considered to be the next "Big Thing" in WPIAL basketball. In the first four games that he has played for Laurel Highlands, he has averaged 21.5 points per game. He can definitely be a candidate to be on Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Boys Fab 5 for the 2019-20 season if he continues playing at a high level. Also, going in today, Laurel Highlands is number one in WPIAL Class 5A Section 1. I'm just saying.

- Trinity finished seventh in WPIAL Class 5A Section 2 last year. Going in today, Trinity is number one in the section as they defeated two section opponents already this season in Chartiers Valley and Montour. Senior Michael Koroly and Junior Mike Dunn are the star players that are being recognized on this team.

- This season, Moon Area, lost one of their star players in Donovan Johnson because of how he transferred to Arizona for his senior year of high school basketball. The team also lost Connor Ryan, Austin Ryan, Devontae Humphries, Taru Jones, Tre Carter and Jioni Smith due to high school graduation. As Moon lost seven of these star players that were on the 2018-19 PIAA 5A Boys basketball championship team, people can only wonder if they can get back to the WPIAL Boys Basketball playoffs in February. Moon's overall record is currently 1-2 as they defeated West Mifflin in a section game on Tuesday by a score of 58-47. Senior Logan Young scored 20 points while Senior Cameron Goble scored 14 points in the game. Goble was on the state winning championship last season while Young was not on the team last season.

- Butler is the favorite to win the WPIAL Boys 6A championship this season. Four of the five starters, that played against Mt.Lebanon in the 2018-19 WPIAL 6A Boys championship game, are back in the 2019-20 season. That is including star player Ethan Morton. If they cannot get it done this season, it might make some people start to think of how it could be a bust if Morton never wins a WPIAL championship at Butler. If Butler cannot win it now, when would they ever win it? They currently have arguably the best Boys basketball player in Butler history in Morton. Butler currently has a 4-1 overall record as they defeated Mt. Lebanon on Tuesday by a score of 75-71.

- Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Quaker Valley are just some of the many teams that are trying to have a perfect regular season record.

- Propel Montour is currently averaging 18 points per game (lowest in the WPIAL) and they have played three games so far this season. Can this team win a game and average over 20 points per game once the season ends?

- Even though Pine-Richland has started the season with an overall record of 3-2 with both of their losses from Penn Hills and Mt. Lebanon, we all have to realize that Pine-Richland can find their way back in the conversation as contenders for winning the WPIAL 6A Boys championship. As the season progresses, I can see this team making a deep playoff run in February because they are simply Pine-Richland.

-Frank Stumpo is a senior at Keystone Oaks High School and is getting attention from the media because of his performance on the court for the Golden Eagles. Today, he was named Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Boys Athlete of the Week as he will be the key to getting the Golden Eagles to the playoffs.

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