Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day as the holiday brings a busy slate of WPIAL girls basketball games.
With three weeks remaining in section play, most of the district girls teams still have a dream of raising hoops gold at the end of February.
While reigning PIAA Class 5A champion South Fayette has been able to pull away from the rest of the pack for first place in Section 3-5A, the one team that remains on its heels is West Allegheny.
The Indians are alone in second place with a 6-1 record, one game behind the Lions.
West A is 11-3 overall and has won two straight and six of its last seven games.
Meanwhile, the green machine that is South Fayette is 7-0 in the section and 15-1 this season with seven consecutive victories since suffering its only loss in Tampa, Fla. to Miami Country Day.
The Lions’ closest margin of victory against WPIAL competition was an season-opening win over Greensburg Central Catholic by 27 points.
In the first meeting of the season between the two at West Allegheny on Dec. 15, the Lions came out flying and led the Indians, 26-2, after one quarter. By halftime, the score was 48-8.
South Fayette cruised to a convincing, 64-23 victory.
Pass the torch
Last season, the chase for the Section 2-A title went down to the wire as Clairton held off Geibel Catholic by one game to claim the crown.
This season has been a struggle for the 2025 district runner-up Bears, who are three games under .500 overall.
The Gators, however, have been dominant, going undefeated in section play at 8-0 and overall at 15-0.
Geibel Catholic controls its own destiny toward the section championship as it visits Clairton on Monday.
At the same time, second-place Serra Catholic faces a stiff test at Bishop Canevin.
The Eagles are 7-1 in the section, 8-5 for the season while the Crusaders check in at 5-3 and tied for third place in the section and 6-8 overall.
Crowded middle
While Upper St. Clair and Central Catholic are now tied for first place in WPIAL boys basketball Section 2-6A, four teams are in a dog fight for possibly two playoff berths.
The four-way tie for third place will be broken on Monday when Norwin visits Imani Christian at CCAC-Allegheny.
The Knights and Saints are 4-4 in section play, the same record as both Hempfield and Mt. Lebanon.
Norwin is 9-7 this season and a coming off a split last week in which it lost to rival Hempfield and cruised past Connellsville.
Imani Christian is 4-9 overall and went 1-2 last week, beating Canon-McMillan but falling to Central Catholic and St. John’s Catholic Prep (Md.).
In the first meeting between the two last month, the visiting Saints defeated the Knights, 53-46.
Monday on Trib HSSN
There are five broadcasts and two podcasts you can watch or listen to at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the 19th day of January.
Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast featuring WPIAL basketball Team of the Week on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast featuring WPIAL girls basketball Player of the Week on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Girls Basketball – Video Stream: Penn Hills at Franklin Regional at 7:30 p.m. on the Westmoreland Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Girls Basketball – Audio Stream: Canon-McMillan at North Allegheny at 7 p.m. on the North Allegheny Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
PIHL Hockey – Video Stream: Freeport at North Catholic at 8:40 p.m. on the North Catholic Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
PIHL Hockey – Video Stream: Ringgold at Carrick at 7 p.m. on MVI Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
PIHL Hockey – Audio Stream: Fox Chapel at North Allegheny at 9 p.m. on the North Allegheny Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com