Looking back at Gateway's block party

By Mike White | Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 11:30 p.m.

I'm sitting here, scratching my head, trying to figure out if I have ever seen a WPIAL team block shots like Gateway did tonight.

19 blocks.

That's n-i-n-e-t-e-e-n. Think of it this way: North Allegheny attempted 68 shots. That means almost one-third of them were blocked. That is an unbelievable statistic.

And I'm also wondering if I have ever witnessed a WPIAL player block 14 shots in such a big game like Gateway's Devon Cottrell did. That's amazing. Cottrell is pictured to the left on offense in a previous Gateway game. But he was all about defense tonight.

And here's the thing: I'm not so sure that Gateway didn't have more than 19 blocks.

In high school sports, there are no official statistics. I keep my own stats when covering a game, but only shooting and points, and sometimes a few other stats (like rebounds) for particular players. But I never keep blocks for a team. Never felt the need to do it. As reporters, many times we have to rely on statistics from a team's statistician. Gateway's stat man had the team for 19 blocks. But he acknowledged there was a possibility there could've been more. I had fans stopping me after the game saying Gateway had more than 20 blocks.

Whatever the number, it was a memorable performance.

The win puts Gateway into the title game for the first time in school history. Give the Gators and Coach Mitch Adams credit. They have been criticized for not playing up to their potential at times this season. They certainly had some down moments, despite having a team with plenty of talent and players who stand 6-9, 6-7, 6-7 and 6-5. But this team has seemingly "figured it out" and is peaking at the right time. And their size gave North Allegheny and its dribble-drive offense all kinds of problems.

I saw Gateway two other times before tonight. In the other two games, the Gators didn't play nearly as hard as they did tonight.

Now let's talk championship. Gateway vs. Mt. Lebanon. When you look at some of the talent on both teams and when you look at the size on both teams, this really might be one of the best Class AAAA finals in a while. I don't remember a Class AAAA title game with both teams having this much size. Mt. Lebanon has 6-8 Deion Turman and 6-5 Paul Lang. I've already mentioned Gateway's size.

Mt. Lebanon has been the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked team since the preseason, and rightly so. But with the way Gateway has finally put things together, there is no question Gateway is good enough to knock off Mt. Lebanon. Game time is 9 p.m. Saturday night at Duquesne University's Palumbo Center. It could be a good one. But I say Mt. Lebanon wins a close one.

I'm going to sleep on the other games and give my picks tomorrow.

Questioning the doubleheaders

I have thought about this in previous years, and the crowd at Fox Chapel for the Gateway-North Allegheny tonight got me thinking again. When the playoffs get to the semifinal round, the WPIAL should think twice about playing all doubleheaders at gyms that have trouble holding the crowd. A doubleheader crowd is sometimes just too big for certain gyms. The league maybe ought to try a few more single games for semifinals. It simply gets too crowded at some of these places for a doubleheader.

Just a thought. I'm not talking about the first round or quarterfinals. I'm talking about the semifinals. I've seen it happen all too often where people have to stand to watch the second game of a doubleheader.