PIAA Tournament preview: Wilson vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic
What: PIAA Tournament
Classification: 6A
Who: Wilson (19-9) vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic (16-9)
When: Saturday, 3:30
Where: Gateway High School, Monroeville
About the Bulldogs: Beat York High 67-58 on Bearcats’ home floor in a win-or-go-home playback game to earn the seventh and final seed in the District 3 Tournament. . . Sophomore Madyx Gruber scored 23 points. . . He had a career-high 26 two weeks earlier in a league quarterfinal win at Fleetwood. . . Were beaten last year in seventh-place game. . . First trip to state tournament since 2020, when they beat Reading High for the District 3 championship. . . Reached the district title game the following season but were denied a return to state tournament because PIAA took only champions, a COVID-19 mitigation effort. . . Earned first state tournament win in 13 years in 2020, beating North Penn. . . Didn’t get a chance to play Lower Merion in second round because tournament was suspended and never restarted. . . Senior Aidan Melograna, an all-division pick committed to play at Arcadia, leads team in scoring at 10.2 per game. . . His 60 3-pointers are second in the league behind Oley Valley’s Ben DeBalko, who made 65 in 26 games. . . Senior guard Cleveland Harding is averaging 9.0 points. . . Gruber is averaging 8.7 points, shooting 71.6 percent at the foul line and is second on the team with 28 3’s. . . Have gone 7-6 since beating Conrad Weiser Jan. 16. . . Overall, 5-11 in state tournament play. . . Have not made it past second round since 2007.
Did you know? Matt Coldren, in 22nd season as Wilson head coach, has program-record 391 victories, which ranks fifth in Berks history, behind only Snip Esterly, Lloyd Wolf, John Silan and Reggie Weiss.
Bulldogs have reached the postseason 20 straight years under Coldren.
Fast fact: Wilson will travel 244 miles, and more than 3 ½ hours, to Gateway High School. PIAA Tournament first-round games are awarded to the higher-seeded teams. All subsequent rounds are played on neutral courts, with the championships March 24-26 at Giant Center in Hershey.
About the Vikings: Beat top-seeded New Castle 61-52 in District 7 championship game, its first title in 15 years. . . 6-3 senior Dante DePante, one of the top guards in the WPIAL, scored 29 points in the championship game. He scored 88 points in three district playoff wins. . . DePante averages nearly 17 points per game. . . 6-3 junior Cole Sullivan, who has football offers from Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State and others, had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the championship game. . . 6-7 Debaba Tshiebwe, the brother Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, comes off the bench. Entered district tournament as No. 3 seed. . . Survived overtime to beat No. 6 Baldwin in quarterfinals. . . Finished second to New Castle in the WPIAA 6A Section 1 during the regular season. . . Lost PIAA opener to Allderdice 45-43 in OT last year. . . Last state tournament win came in 2012.
Winner gets: (6-1) State College or (7-3) Upper St. Clair (16-9), Wednesday, March 15.
