Leechburg, Winchester Thurston basketball teams will be slapped with penalty

The Leechburg and Winchester Thurston boys basketball teams will be hit with some kind of minor penalty from the WPIAL for playing games against a team this past weekend that isn't from a high school.

Leechburg played host to its own four-team tournament. One of the teams was St. Gertrude from Vandergrift. But St. Gertrude does not have a high school. It is a CYO team. Under WPIAL and PIAA rules, teams can only play other high school teams. They are not permitted to play a team such as St. Gertrude.

WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley said the league's board of control will decide next week what penalty to slap on Leechburg and Winchester Thurston. It will most likely be minor. The teams will probably be put on probation and administrators at the schools will probably be publicly censured by the WPIAL.

I will say this. Sometimes it amazes me how some schools, coaches or administrators don't know some of the WPIAL and PIAA rules and how do they not know you can't play against a team that is not from a high school?