Defending WPIAL Class AAAA champion Central Catholic will be tested early and often this basketball season.

All three WPIAL teams that handed Central (25-5) losses last season show up on the Vikings' non-section schedule this year. After an season-opening tournament at Penn Hills tomorrow and Saturday, Central takes on former section rival McKeesport Monday.

McKeesport beat Central twice in the regular season last year although the Vikings were able to get the last laugh in the WPIAL semifinals with a win on their way to claiming their first WPIAL title.

Central will get another shot at Class AA powerhouse Beaver Falls at Robert Morris Dec. 20. The Tigers beat Central, 74-68, last season. And then in what should amount to a playoff tune-up on Feb. 6, Central travels to Moon Area in a rematch of the WPIAL title game, that Central won at the buzzer and of the PIAA quarterfinals, won by Moon.

The only other team to beat Central last year was Paterson Catholic out of New Jersey in a holiday tournament at Williamsport.

Central coach Chuck Crummie is eager to see how his team will respond to the challenges. His team only returns two starters from last year, 6-foot-6 senior forward Evan Tsudis and 6-3 senior guard Lucas Mickens. Crummie is especially interetsed to see how his team plays against McKeesport and its near 7-foot tall center Zeke Marshall.

"I think it will be a great one," Crummie said of how much a measuring stick the early season showdown will be. "We definitely wanted to play them and they wanted to play us.

"Zeke Marshall can turn a game around himself and we have always had good battles and it sort of continues the battles from last year. Anytime we play McKeesport, it is always rugged and a tough, pressure-packed game."

Last year the three McKeesport-Central Catholic games were decided by an average of about six points per meeting.

At this point Central will take any familiar opponents it can get. After leaving its long-time section where Central was matched up with teams mostly from the east suburbs, the Vikings made the move to Section 3-AAAA where they will compete against north suburban schools such as Butler Area, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley and Shaler Area.

"From a standpoint of rivalries [the move] is not really advantageous," Crummie said. "Travel is going to be tough and a big change and the style of play is different as well. We will be at a little bit of a disadvantage until we get into the swing of things. From a standpoint of big crowds and great games, we had four or five games where the gyms were packed and we aren't going to have that now."

The losses of players such as Matt McKenna and Mike Hyland have been well documented, but Crummie said one of the biggest holes left on the team was with the graduation of guard Zeke Nicholson. He was one of the top defenders on the team and took care of a lot of the ball-handling duties.

"It is always tough to replace seniors but from a standpoint of leadership and from a standpoint of playing defense, Zeke was one of the guys we counted on," Crummie said.

"Who is going to be the guy who is going to be that defender? We are sort of looking for that right now."

The Vikings will need their two senior guards, Brian Rajakovich and Liam Halferty to step up this season. They are two of the better shooters on the team. Crummie anticipates 6-foot-4 senior Dan Schnelbach to be able to play on the outside as well as the inside.

Crummie is expecting a lot from Tsudis and Mickens, his only returning starters.

"Even though those two guys were two of our leading scorers last year, they really didn't have any responsibilities from a standpoint of leadership and getting kids to play hard," Crummie said.

"Sometimes it is a question of the mental part of the game. I don't think they know what is all entailed as a senior."