The 2022-23 season has passed the midway point, and the playoff positioning battles will begin to heat up over the next couple of weeks.
This season, we will nominate four players (two boys, two girls) to the KDKA Radio Super 7 Basketball Watch List each week. At the end of the year, KDKA Radio will name one player from each WPIAL boys and girls classification, plus the Pittsburgh City League, as the prestigious KDKA Radio Super 7 Player of the Year Award winner.
Here is a look at the four players who had big weeks on the hardwood in Week 5 of our coverage:
Rocco Spadafora, OLSH
Spadafora is continuing the strong traditions behind his team and his last name.
Last week, the senior led the Chargers in scoring Tuesday in their 53-26 win over South Park, putting up 15 points.
He then went for 30 points in a 80-52 victory over Seton LaSalle Friday.
OLSH is 11-2 and 5-0 in Section 2-3A, having won four straight games. Spadafora is scoring over 16 points per game.
His older brother, Dante, was one of the best players in OLSH history and is now playing at West Liberty.
Alena Fusetti, Blackhawk
For years, Blackhawk has consistently produced talented girls basketball players, and that's resulted in a ton of wins.
Fusetti is the next in line, and the last week showed that.
She scored 24 points, including six 3-pointers, in a blowout of Ambridge. She added 16 in a 48-37 win over a strong Quaker Valley squad Thursday, and then poured in 28 points against Nazareth Region (NY) in a game played in Brooklyn, New York this weekend.
A Super 7 finalist as a junior, Fusetti — who is scoring over 16 points per game — has already received a college offer from Mercyhurst.
The Cougars are the WPIAL's only unbeaten girls team at 12-0.
Bradyn Foster, Highlands
Highlands has once again proved to be one of the WPIAL's top teams in 2022-23, and Foster has been part of a dynamic, balanced scoring attack.
This season, the 6-foot-8 junior is scoring over 20 points per game.
On Tuesday, he complemented 20-plus-point scorers Cam Reigard and Jimmy Kunst by dropping in 12 points in a blowout win over Greensburg Salem.
He then went for 21 in a 62-40 win over Obama Academy the following night, and then had his best game of the week, with 24 points and 11 rebounds, in a 97-59 runaway over Indiana.
Foster has been receiving college interest from several Division II teams.
Eriona Neal, Keystone Oaks
It's been an impressive start for the Golden Eagles, now 10-4 and 3-1 in Section 2-3A.
And for Neal, last week was a big one on a personal and team level.
On Monday, Neal scored 19 points, going over the 1,000-point mark in her career in a 55-48 win over Avonworth, taking a matchup of the section's top teams.
Neal, who also is a talented volleyball player, added 12 more points in a 53-32 win over South Allegheny Thursday.
The high school basketball season continues Friday, when Steel Valley visits Seton LaSalle for a boys basketball showdown. You can hear the game on 100.1 FM and 1020 AM KDKA Radio. And be sure to follow KDKA Radio's social media accounts throughout the night for updates, photos and videos of the action.
