For the second time in three seasons, a Mercer County boys basketball team with state championship hopes has had its dreams dashed by a ruling from a PIAA district's governing body.

The WPIAL (District 7) Board of Control ruled Monday that Farrell basketball star Iren Rainey was ineligible, forcing the Steelers to forfeit every game he played in this season.

Two years ago, it was District 10 that suspended undefeated George Junior Republic from postseason play due to an enrollment figure discrepancy.

"We're extremely disappointed in the ruling," Farrell principal Charles Sanitate said this morning. "We tried to keep everything up front; it's just one of those things that happened."

What reportedly happened is that Rainey, who played at national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy last year after starring in Europe as a sophomore, wasn't enrolled officially at Farrell until early September, nearly two weeks after the first day of class, which was Aug. 28.

It is that September date that was on the eligibility sheet Farrell submitted to the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League before the season.

WPIAL Board of Control president Tim O'Malley explained recently if a student transfers outside the "Window of Opportunity," which for a winter sports athlete is defined as "being on or before the first day of the school year, a request for eligibility must be filed with the WPIAL and it must be approved."

"With regard to Rainey, he transferred outside of the PIAA transfer window," said WPIAL executive director Larry Hanley. "When a student transfers without a parent (which was the case with Rainey), what that requires is a principal-to-principal signoff indicating there was no athletic intent and approval of this board. Obviously, neither of those two things ever happened."

While the failure to petition the WPIAL could have been an administrative oversight on Farrell's part, it occurred in Rainey's case, thus necessitating Monday's hearing. Rainey is Farrell's second leading scorer, averaging more than 17 points a game.

"We never tried to cover up anything with the WPIAL," Sanitate said. "There were just some forms that we couldn't secure (for them.) ... The enrollment date was there. It was never changed."

"The tag line is Iren Rainey is, was, and has been ineligible in any sport in which he participated," Hanley said. "Therefore they used an ineligible player and any game in which he participated in is required to be forfeited."

Hanley added the transfer of Ellis Autry, who is no longer at Farrell, would have been similar to Rainey's.

Regarding the ruling, which followed nearly three hours of testimony and deliberations by the board at the WPIAL's Green Tree headquarters, Steelers basketball coach Mike DeCello offered a terse, "No comment."

"I talked to Mike and naturally there's disappointment there," Sanitate said.

There certainly must also be extreme disappointment among the players, who were pegged by many as legitimate WPIAL and PIAA Class AA title hopefuls.

"It's a sad thing because the kids have worked hard and the kids have become the victims," Sanitate said.

Farrell, which is slated to host Mohawk (8-1, 13-3) in a first-place showdown in Section 2-AA tonight at E.J. McCluskey Gymnasium, will, barring an appeal, apparently see its record drop from 7-1 in the league and 13-6 overall to 0-8 and 0-19, respectively.

Mohawk defeated the Steelers, 83-75, in their first meeting this season.

As for Rainey's fate?

"I would assume he probably wouldn't be playing, but this is a decision that will have to be made between me, probably, the superintendent (Richard Rubano) and naturally the coaches," Sanitate said.

According to Hanley, that's been decided by the ruling. "He cannot play," Hanley said. "He is ineligible."

Another decision facing Farrell is whether to appeal the ruling to the PIAA or beyond, possibly the courts.

"That would have to get the okay through the superintendent and the board," Sanitate said. "And naturally the school solicitor would have to look over everything."

With the conclusion of regular season rapidly approaching, Sanitate said he knows school officials don't have a lot of time.

"I would think we would start looking at that (an appeal) as soon as possible to see if it's in our best interests to pursue it," he said.

Sanitate said he did not know the specific totals of the WPIAL board's vote. "I just talked briefly to (WPIAL executive director Larry) Hanley," he said. He added that he was unaware of the status of recent transfer Kareem Cooper.

Cooper, a 6-8, 280-pound Maryland native who last played at Mount Zion Christian School in North Carolina, enrolled at Farrell about two weeks ago. Cooper hasn't played in a game and since he transferred after the school year's start, Farrell officials were petitioning the WPIAL to gain his eligibility.

"The board did not make a decision on Kareem Cooper because Kareem Cooper did not come to the hearing," Hanley said.