A hoops free for all
A look back at when the WPIAL held its first ‘open’ basketball tournament in 1984
A few of the most legendary coaches in WPIAL basketball history won titles. A high school senior who would become one of the greatest athletes in Pittsburgh history also won a championship, and a team that would go on to tie the longest winning streak in WPIAL boys basketball history joined in on the championship fun.
But those things are not what made the 1984 WPIAL boys and girls basketball playoff tournament unlike any other in league history. It was the “openness” of the tournament that made it unique.
The WPIAL on Monday decided to make a drastic change to its basketball playoffs this season. The league will have an “open” tournament, where all 133 boys and 126 girls teams are invited to participate. The reason for the change, according to the WPIAL, is the COVID-19 pandemic and Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown of high school and youth sports until Jan. 4. With games being postponed and possibly some canceled in the future, the WPIAL thought it might be best to have an open tournament.
But this isn’t a novel idea for the WPIAL. Unbeknownst to many, including even WPIAL administrators, the league had an open-door policy to the playoffs once before in 1984.
The open tournament 36 years ago was the idea of a guy named “Ace,” who was king of the WPIAL deck in 1984. Charles “Ace” Heberling was the executive director and in May of 1983 thought it would be a good time to open a whole new can of worms because the league was to add a fourth classification (Class 4A) the following season.
“I don’t think there is any question,” Heberling said in May of 1983, “that this will meet with great favor with the coaches in the WPIAL.”
Yes – and no. Some coaches were for the idea while some were not open-minded. There were interesting storylines to the tournament, involving great teams, coaches and players. There were teams that wouldn’t have gotten in the playoffs under the old system (two teams per section qualified) and a few of
those teams upset top teams. One third-place team from a section won a WPIAL championship.
Still, there were 23 girls teams and 12 boys teams that chose not to participate because they didn’t feel it was worth it. Most had poor records, but the McKeesport girls were 11-7 when they told the WPIAL “no thanks.”
With the WPIAL going to an open format this season, what better time to look back at the only other open tournament.
Format and storylines
The tournament began Feb. 20 with 130 boys teams and 108 girls teams. Higherseeded teams played at home until the quarterfinals when games were moved to neutral sites. Over the next 18 days, a total of 230 games were played and the tournament came to end March 10. Three WPIAL boys championships were decided Friday, March 9 at the Civic Arena. One other boys championship and all four girls title games were contested the next day at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House. The boys winners were Farrell (Class 4A), Beaver Falls (3A), Washington (2A) and Cornell (1A). The girls winners were Seton LaSalle (4A),
North Catholic (3A), Mount Alvernia (2A) and Geibel (1A).
Among the champions:
• Seton LaSalle senior point guard Suzie McConnell led the Rebels to a title in the largest classification and one of her sidekicks was her younger sister, Kathy. The win catapulted the Rebels to a title at the PIAA level also.
Suzie McConnell, who would go on to great success at Penn State, win an Olympic gold medal and play and coach in the WNBA, had 21 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds and 6 steals in the WPIAL title game against Beaver Falls, while Kathy McConnell had 24 points. The team finished 35-1.
• North Catholic girls coach Don Barth is the alltime leader in WPIAL girls titles with 11 and his fifth came in 1984 when the Trojanettes beat Sto-Rox, 53-44.
• Mount Alvernia’s De Porucznik is tied for third in WPIAL girls titles with nine, and she won her fourth in 1984 when the Lions, led by Karen Hall (26 points) and Mo Conley (21), beat Brentwood, 60-35.
• The Washington boys team won the Class 2A championship with a 57-54 victory against Wilkinsburg. The win was part of the greatest runs in WPIAL history. Washington also
won the PIAA title in 1984, another WPIAL title in 1985 and had a 52-game winning streak that tied Uniontown for the longest in WPIAL history. Washington beat Wilkinsburg in the 1984 title game, despite playing without leading scorer Tony Ellis, who injured his ankle two days earlier while chasing after a car for a ride after practice.
Opinions and upsets A number of coaches in 1984 didn’t like the open tournament idea – and neither did a well-known sports columnist. Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Press wrote of the playoffs: “There is another name for the WPIAL basketball tournament. It’s called money grab.”
Some coaches said it made the regular season meaningless and a few claimed it cheapened a section championship. Other coaches thought the teams with bad records should’ve played each other first to get into the tournament.
But the open tournament did create some upsets. Don Dawson is now 78, and he remembers how his Northgate boys team finished fifth in its section and was 11-11 entering the playoffs. After beating Neshannock in the first round, Northgate faced a 20-5 Springdale team that was a section champion. The game was played at Springdale, but Northgate’s Rod Stewart said “tonight’s the night,” scored 21 points and
Northgate upset the Dynamos, 55-51.
“Just the opportunity to get in the playoffs was a great feeling. That was definitely one of my most memorable wins,” Dawson said earlier this week. “I think what the WPIAL is doing now with an open tournament is good, just because of what’s going on with the virus. With all the starts and stoppages, I think it’s great for anybody even involved in WPIAL basketball.”
Also in boys basketball in 1984, Monaca finished seventh in a dual-classification section but upset Lawrenceville Catholic, the No. 5 Class 1A team in the state, in the second round. Frew Mill was 5-15 entering the playoffs and knocked off 22-1 Leechburg.
Bob Petcash, first-year boys coach at Pine-Richland, remembers the open tournament of 1984 quite well. He was the starting point guard for Ambridge, which finished second in its section to Farrell. But Ambridge came back and made it to the WPIAL title game at the Civic Arena before losing to Farrell again.
“I can remember everyone was excited that year because it was like everyone had another season in the playoffs,” Petcash said. “I think the strong point (for an open tournament) is that it just generates a lot more interest for a lot more teams in the regular season. Maybe it’s hard for a team to be competitive against other teams. But it only takes one game now. Maybe the other team shoots poorly. You shoot well and then it happens for the team, the school and the community. I’m all for giving kids just a chance to compete at a high level.”
Forget it
It remains to be seen how the open tournament will be received when this season is over. But a random sampling of coaches shows they are in favor of it, especially because of COVID-19 this year.
After the 1983-84 season, the WPIAL announced in April it was going back to an old format where only two or three teams would qualify from each section.
Heberling died only a year ago at age 94 and he was remembered for many things. One was the open tournament.
“We decided the playoffs aren’t for everybody,” Heberling said in 1984. “But it was something we wanted to try.”