Preview: Clairton Bears vs. Serra Catholic Eagles
Clairton has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Serra Catholic Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Clairton has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Clairton posted their biggest victory since December 28, 2023 on Wednesday. They took their contest at home with ease, bagging a 70-33 win over Propel Braddock Hills.
Clairton found their leader in underclassman Taris Wooding, who scored 19 points along with two steals. Wooding has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Bryant Blair was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Serra Catholic unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of Greensburg Central Catholic by a score of 61-59. While losing is never fun, Serra Catholic can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 319th, while Greensburg Central Catholic is ranked 74th).
Despite their loss, Serra Catholic saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Pete Burke, who scored 21 points along with two steals and two blocks, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Owen Dumbroski, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds.
The win got Clairton back to even at 9-9. As for Serra Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 8-6.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Clairton hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.1 points per game. However, it's not like Serra Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 64.2 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Clairton didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Serra Catholic when the teams last played on January 2nd, but they still walked away with a 65-59 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Clairton since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
