High school basketball season to open Friday night
Dec. 2—A long offseason is finally over.
The 2022-2023 high school basketball season is set to start Friday night, and it's doing so a week earlier than normal.
Teams from around Lawrence County will be scattered around competing in tipoff tournaments. Five boys games and four games highlight the opening-night schedule. The season in Pennsylvania usually opens around the second weekend of December. This year, it is doing so during football's state semifinals, rather than championship weekend.
Five boys teams and five girls squads will take the floor Friday night.
The New Castle High boys are off until Saturday when the team hosts Youngstown East in the New Castle Tipoff Tournament at 7:30 p.m. The Red Hurricane lost in the WPIAL Class 5A and PIAA Class 5A championship games last year. New Castle now competes in the six-team WPIAL Section 1-6A league after offseason realignment.
The game against Youngstown East is the lone game New Castle will play in its tipoff tournament.
On the boys side Friday at 6 p.m., Laurel will host Riverside in the Laurel Tipoff Tournament; Shenango will meet Mercyhurst Prep at the Neshannock Tipoff Tournament; and Ellwood City Lincoln will square off against Rochester at Geneva College. Scott Dibble will be making his debut as Wolverines coach. At 7:30 p.m., Neshannock will entertain the Academy for Urban Scholars (Ohio) in the Neshannock Tipoff Tournament and Mohawk will tangle with Slippery Rock in the Mohawk Tipoff Tournament.
Union's boys team will be off this weekend as the football team competes in the PIAA Class 1A semifinals against Port Allegany.
The Neshannock girls are the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champions. The Lady Lancers open up with Wilmington at 5 p.m. in the Karns City Tipoff Tournament.
Laurel will battle Mars in the Slippery Rock Tipoff Tournament and Shenango will clash with Aliquippa at the New Castle Tipoff Tournament. Both of those games also will be held at 5 p.m.
The New Castle girls will take on Riverside at 6:30 p.m. at the New Castle Tipoff Tournament.
Tipoff tournament games will continue on Saturday as well.
