Members of the Old Forge High School boys basketball team live within the same 3.4 square miles, many of them playing together since elementary school.
They lost the state championship to a team from a private school in Western Pennsylvania, with students from multiple countries on the roster.
“We're not playing by the same rules,”Old Forge Superintendent Christopher Gatto said Thursday. “They're pulling kids from all over the world.”
Old Forge’s 52-36 loss to Sewickley Academy in the Class 2A championship last week has brought increased attention to whether schools with defined boundaries should face schools without.
“We can't have a player from Taylor or Moosic or Pittston because of those boundaries,” Gatto said. “But these non-boundary schools, they can get players from anywhere.”
Proposed legislation co-sponsored by three Northeast Pennsylvania lawmakers would allow the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) to establish separate playoff systems and championships for boundary and non-boundary schools.
“It comes down to the simple premise of fairness,” said Rep. Kyle Mullins, a Democrat from Peckville. “It is an unfair advantage for a school not bound by boundaries, to be able to recruit these athletes and then proceed against schools that have boundaries.”
The PIAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Old Forge leader calls on PIAA to make changes
Sewickley Academy dominated the state championship game, led by towering inside players Mamadou Kane, born in Senegal, and Adam Ikamba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Old Forge students in the stands held signs that read “Old Forge Blue Devils Public School Champions.”
The private school was the better team that afternoon, and the players and coaches deserve full credit, Gatto said.
“This is not about the outcome of one game,” Gatto wrote in a letter sent to the PIAA on Thursday. “This is about a system the PIAA continues to defend that is fundamentally flawed.”
The schools operate with rules that are “not comparable,” he continued. “Treating them as if they are is not competitive balance. It is willful ignorance.”
House Bill 41 would allow for changes to all playoffs for PIAA sports. During last week’s basketball championships, private or charter schools won in three of six classes for girls and five of six for boys.
'Not fair or equitable'
For the last three years, the Riverside School District has had three of the best basketball teams in school history.
“You would put their names up with the best that have ever walked our halls,” said Superintendent Paul Brennan, the father of three sons and a youth basketball coach. “And unfortunately, our last three losses in the postseason were to three Philly Catholic school teams.”
Riverside lost in the playoffs this year to 2025 Class 3A champion, West Catholic, the 2026 state runner-up.
“They trade players like baseball cards, so it's not a fair and equitable playing field, and that's really what this is about,” Brennan said. “It's not right and just for kids.”
The superintendent is helping organize efforts to support House Bill 41.
“We want to know that when a parent drops a kid off at practice, or grandparents in the stands cheering or community members rooting on their hometown team … that it's a fair and equitable court, track, field, whatever the playing surface is that we're playing on, that it's fair and equitable.”
'Gaining momentum' in House
House Bill 41, proposed last year by Rep. Scott Conklin, a Democrat from Centre County, seeks to “level the playing field and make high school team sports both safe and fun again,” according to the sponsorship memo.
The House Intergovernmental Affairs & Operations committee sent the bill to the full House for a vote.
“I think it is gaining momentum,” said Rep. Kyle Donahue, a Democrat from Scranton and a co-sponsor. “Private schools that really don't have boundaries in terms of where they get their students from, they're bringing high class athletes into those schools … It’s just a matter of fairness.”
Rep. Dane Watro, a Schuylkill County Republican, is also a co-sponsor. Efforts to reach Watro were unsuccessful.
Rally planned in Harrisburg
Casey Scanlan, a Lehigh Valley resident, youth coach and former athlete at Parkland High School, has started a statewide push for separate playoff brackets.
He started an online petition, created a Facebook page, surveyed athletic directors and sought support from superintendents and school boards. He met with legislators in Harrisburg this week.
Scanlan said he’s received support from about 275 high schools so far — including Riverside and Old Forge.
“These are small communities that aren't assembling teams. They're ... a bunch of kids that grew up playing together, and they stayed together,” he said.
Private and charter schools also put in hard work, but their teams are assembled differently, he said.
“We want them in the PIAA but we need to make it clear that the way these teams are assembled is much, much different than the way an Old Forge is assembled,” Scanlan said.
The group plans to hold a rally at the Capitol on June 9 at 1 p.m.
“I think the rally will show that this bill, and just the separation of private and public schools for the PIAA playoffs, means a lot to a lot of people around the state,” Scanlan said.
