During the 2025 WPIAL football season, Ben Hays was the WPIAL regular season rushing king with 1,757 yards on the ground, and he also finished No. 1 in the district regular season in scoring with 210 points.
Now the Bentworth senior is one of the top scorers in WPIAL boys basketball, averaging more than 21 points per game.
But a major challenge is heading to Bearcats country Tuesday in the form of the reigning WPIAL Class 2A champions.
Section 1-2A front-running Jeannette visits Bentworth at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The Jayhawks are alone in first place with an 8-0 section record and a 15-1 overall mark.
Jeannette has won 11 straight games since suffering its only loss of the season to Woodford County out of Kentucky in early December.
Bentworth is in third place with a section record of 6-2. The Bearcats have already matched their win total from a year ago at 11-3 and have won four consecutive games.
In the first meeting between the teams, Jeannette jumped out to a 16-point lead by the end of the first quarter and crushed visiting Bentworth, 71-24.
Markus McGowen led the Jayhawks with 14 points while Ryan Moessner scored 12 points to lead the Bearcats.
The wild 1
This isn’t the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last time we focus on the crazy postseason chase in WPIAL boys basketball Section 1-6A.
The fight for first in the section is a yawner as New Castle remains undefeated and has a four-game lead with only six section games remaining.
However, the rest of the section has four teams tied for second place with six teams separated by only one game.
Even last-place North Allegheny is only two games out of the playoff hunt.
Every head-to-head clash between every team in the section without the nickname Red Hurricanes is going to have great interest.
Here is the Tuesday Section 1-6A lineup with only section records listed:
• Butler (4-4) visits North Hills (4-4)
• Seneca Valley (4-4) travels to face North Allegheny (2-6)
• Fox Chapel (3-5) hosts Pine-Richland (3-5)
• Woodland Hills (4-4) has the talk task of hosting New Castle (8-0)
Golden cats
Two years ago, both the Moon and Lincoln Park boys basketball programs were raising gold.
The Tigers were the newly crowned WPIAL Class 5A champions while the Leopards successfully repeated as district Class 4A title holders.
Now the two are foes in Section 4-5A and Tuesday, they meet for the second time this season with at least a share of second place up for grabs when Moon heads to Midland to battle Lincoln Park.
The Tigers sit in third place in the section with a 4-2 record. They are 12-2 overall and have won eight straight games since losing at Chartiers Valley in mid-December.
The Leopards are alone in second place at 6-2, one game behind first-place Chartiers Valley. They had a three-game winning streak snapped at the hands of Class 6A unbeaten New Castle in a nonsection matchup Saturday.
The first meeting between the two at Moon ended up with Lincoln Park trailing early but coming back to pull away and win 61-53.
Josh Pratt led the Leopards with 25 points while Jackson Bauman had a game-high 26 points for the Tigers.
Tuesday on Trib HSSN
There are nine broadcasts and one podcast you can watch or listen to at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the 20th day of January.
Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast featuring WPIAL boys basketball Player of the Week on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Video Stream: Butler at North Hills at 7:30 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Video Stream: Jeannette at Bentworth at 7:30 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Video Stream: McKeesport at Franklin Regional at 7:30 p.m. on the Westmoreland Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Video Stream: Gateway at Laurel Highlands at 7:30 p.m. on WMBS-AM 590, WMBS-FM 101.1 and on the Westmoreland Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Video Stream: Uniontown at Latrobe at 7 p.m. on WMBS-AM 590, WMBS-FM 101.1 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Video Stream: Thomas Jefferson at Trinity at 7:30 p.m. on WJPA-AM 1450 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Video Stream: Shenango at Neshannock at 7:30 p.m. on Lawrence County SportsNet at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Boys Basketball – Audio Stream: Seneca Valley at North Allegheny at 7:30 p.m. on the North Allegheny Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Girls Basketball – Video Stream: Thomas Jefferson at Trinity at 6 p.m. on WJPA-AM 1450 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com