Last year Belle Vernon Area opened its boys' high school basketball season at home with the James Weir Tournament.
This year the name has been changed to the James Weir Memorial Tournament, in honor of the school's long-time athletic director who died several months ago.
The event is scheduled Dec. 5-6 with the Leps being joined by Ringgold, Charleroi and Elizabeth Forward. The Warriors are replacing Frazier.
Ringgold and Elizabeth Forward, which has a new coach in Brian Znavor, will play in the first game at 6 p.m., followed by BVA against Charleroi at 7:30 p.m.
Since BVA and Elizabeth Forward compete in the same section, the Leps and Warriors won't meet on the second night.
As a result, Charleroi and Elizabeth Forward will play in the 6 p.m. contest, followed by BVA against Ringgold at 7:30 p.m.
n Speaking of basketball, area players are making their presence on St. Vincent College's two teams.
Two of the top scorers for the 3-0 Bearcats are 6-7 senior Mike Medved, of Elizabeth Forward, and 6-8 junior Mike Watkins, of Ringgold.
Watkins, who sat out St. Vincent's 85-54 romp at Alfred with a sprained ankle, is averaging 15 points. Medved is averaging 14 points and has a team-high 20 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Jacob Dudzinski, a 5-11 freshman and son of BVA coach John Dudzinski, has scored 11 points and is averaging almost nine minutes off the bench.
The Bearcats are home with Pitt-Greensburg tonight.
St. Vincent coach D.P. Harris has two new assistants in former Altoona star Mike Iuzzolino, who played two seasons for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and former Slippery Rock coach Jamal Palmer.
One of the standouts on the 4-0 Lady Bearcats is 5-5 senior Ashley Campbell of Ringgold.
Campbell was selected MVP at the Courtyard Mariott Invitational hosted by St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. over the weekend by averaging 11 points, eight assists, four steals and four rebounds.
Campbell just missed a rare triple-double in St. Vincent's 69-50 romp over LaRoche with 10 rebounds, 10 assists and nine points.
n In case you missed it, Ringgold's Bryan Arbes, Waynesburg College's freshman kicker, made the All-Presidents' Athletic Conference football first team.
Arbes set a school record with 13 field goals and tied the school mark with four field goals in a game and a 49-yarder.
With 68 points, Arbes topped all kickers in the conference and finished fourth overall.
n And thanks to Bill Maurer, of Belle Vernon, who says success is biting off more than you can chew, and chewing it!
