This may have been a first: Two women head coaches squared off Tuesday night in a Pennsylvania boys high school basketball game.

"I've never heard of that happening before, but we think it's great," said PIAA associate executive director Bob Lombardi.

Coach Karen Davis' Union High School team beat coach Rita Heeter's Cranberry High team 85-71 in a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference game.

Women have coached Pennsylvania boys teams at the varsity level for a number of years, but this is believed to be the first time both boys teams had a female coach.

Heeter is in her fourth season as Cranberry's boys coach and has a 42-47 record. Davis is in her second season with boys team after coaching the girls squad at the school for 10 years and compiling a 205-65 record.

Davis understood the uniqueness of the contest, but approached it as just another game.

"This is Cranberry's first year in the league," Davis said. "It is different having two women coaching both teams in a boys game, but it is just another game and one we want to win."

Davis had a good reason for wanting to coach the boys team. She has two sons on the squad and gave up coaching the girls team so she could watch her sons play.

Her oldest, Devin, is a 5-foot-8 guard on the varsity, while Colton is a 5-10 junior who plays mostly on the junior varsity. Her third son, Austin, is in fifth grade.

"When the oldest went to high school I had to make a decision," Davis said. "If I wanted to see them play I had to give up the girls team, which is what I did. I was out of coaching for a year and then the boys job came open when Tom Minnick stepped down I decided to go for it."

Heeter is also coaching her sons, Jake and Hank, at Cranberry.

There's another coincidental link between the two coaches: both Heeter and Davis are Union graduates.

Union hasn't had much success in boys basketball in recent years. Davis said the team was 17-53 in the three seasons before she took over. In her first season, Union went 7-17, but the school is 12-3 overall and 6-1 in the league this season.

"When I started with the boys I told them that I'd take losing for one year, but that would be it," Davis said. "I was used to win 20 games a year with the girls."

Davis said there is a distinct difference between coaching boys and girls basketball.

"With the girls, you have to deal with the emotions," she said. "With the boys, it's testosterone. But I like the boys game because it's faster. I can't wait until they put in a shot clock. I like a fast-paced game."

Davis said her sons call her "Mom" at practice and that she will probably stay with the boys program for at least seven more years, which would take her through Austin's senior season.

As for being accepted by the other boys on the team, Davis didn't have a problem. There are only 18 boys in the senior class and, with sons at the school, she knows them by name.

Jonathan Herrman, a 6-foot-3, 285-pound center who helped Pittsburgh Central Catholic to the PIAA Class AAAA football title, has given a verbal commitment to Delaware.A three-year starter at Central Catholic, Herrman was a first-team Class AAAA all-state selection. He selected Delaware over Hofstra and William and Mary.

Christa Harmotto, a senior at Hopewell, was named as the Gatorade Pennsylvania volleyball player of the year.A 6-3 middle hitter and a Penn State recruit, she led Hopewell to the WPIAL and PIAA Class AA titles. She is now a finalist for the Gatrorade national award.