Welcome to the first day of the final four in the WPIAL basketball playoffs with teams in boys Class 4A and A and girls Class 5A and 3A taking center stage for the semifinals.
After fighting all year for first place, then splitting their two head-to-head games and sharing the Section 1-4A boys basketball crown, two of the top teams in Class 4A all season collide in the rubber game that will send the winners to the district championship game.
A trip to the finals is at stake when No. 3 Knoch battles No. 2 North Catholic at Pine-Richland at 1 p.m.
The Knights are 20-4 and have won four games in a row and 19 of their last 21.
In the first round of the WPIAL playoffs, Knoch crushed East Allegheny, 56-21, led by 19 points from senior Vinnie DeFelice.
In the quarters, the Knights cruised past Central Valley, 57-24, with senior Teegan Finucan topping the score sheet with 22 points.
The Trojans are 18-5 and have been victorious in nine of their last 10 games.
Following a first-round bye, North Catholic opened the postseason by defeating Elizabeth Forward, 73-64. The senior guard tandem of Jude Rottmann and Jason Fredericks enjoyed big game with a combined 56 points.
In the first meeting between the two Jan. 9, Knoch knocked off host North Catholic, 65-56. Finucan led the Knights with 26 points and Fredericks scored 26 for the Trojans.
In the rematch Feb. 3, North Catholic won on the road in Saxonburg, 61-55. Fredericks once again scored 26 to lead the Trojans and Finucan had 21 to pace the Knights.
In the other 4A semifinal, top-seeded Quaker Valley (19-3) will face the Cinderella No. 13 seed Deer Lakes (12-12) at Pine-Richland at 3 p.m.
Zach Washington scored 18 points to lead the Quakers past defending champion Belle Vernon in the quarterfinals, 72-41.
As the No. 1 seed, QV had a first-round bye.
Evan Moore has been the spark to fuel the unexpected playoff run by the Lancers. He scored 22 points in an upset of No. 4 Derry in the opening round, then dropped 33 points in the stunner of No. 5 Hopewell, 71-59.
Underdogs?
Usually when a No. 2 seed goes up against a No. 6 seed, the two seed would be considered the favorite.
But that might not be the case in the boys Class A semifinal between No. 6 Serra Catholic and No. 2 Nazareth Prep at Peters Township at 1:30 p.m.
The Eagles are 13-9 and finished in a tie for second place in Section 2-A with Monessen, a distant four games behind Neighborhood Academy.
The Saints were the outright champions of Section 1-A with an overall record of 9-11.
However, when the teams met in a nonsection contest in mid-January, visiting Serra Catholic clobbered Nazareth Prep, 82-47.
The Eagles won on the road in the Class A quarters on Wednesday, beating Avella, 74-66. Senior Tyler Sapida scored 18 points to lead Serra.
The Saints edged St. Joseph in the quarterfinals, 48-45, thanks to 20 points dropped by freshman Ahsan Harrison.
In the other final four contest Saturday, top seed and 2025 district and state champion Neighborhood Academy (19-3) takes on Monessen (12-9) for a third time this season at Norwin at 1:30 p.m.
Kedron Gilmore scored 24 points as the Bulldogs won their quarterfinal easily over Summit Academy on Wednesday, 67-27.
The Greyhounds were in a dogfight in the quarters but held on to beat Aquinas Academy, 55-53. Tayvin Craggette led the ‘Hounds with 16 points.
In the regular season, Neighborhood Academy swept the two Section 2-A games from Monessen by scores of 67-29 and 59-31.
Championship rematch
They were the two dominant forces in WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball in 2025: Peters Township and South Fayette.
They met twice under the bright lights of the postseason last winter.
In the WPIAL 5A title game, the Indians outscored the Lions 13-3 in the fourth quarter and came back to shock the three-time defending champs, 40-36.
Natalie Wetzel led PT with 13 points while Haylie Lamonde had a game-high 19 for SF.
A few weeks later, they squared off again in the PIAA semifinals.
The script flipped as Lailah Wright had a game-high 14 points as South Fayette beat Peters Township, 50-36.
Now they meet again as No. 12 Peters Township (15-9) battles top-seeded South Fayette (23-1) at Keystone Oaks at noon.
Sophomore Taylor McCullough has led the way in two upsets for the Indians, scoring 17 in a victory over No. 5 Plum in the first round and then pumping in 14 points in a stunner of No. 4 Baldwin in the quarters, 43-36.
The senior Lamonde scored 18 points as the Lions won a laugher in the opening round over Kiski Area, 78-19, but they got a big-time scare from Trinity in the quarterfinals as freshman Kenzie Rumburger led with 13 points in the 26-23 win.
In the other 5A semifinals matchup, No. 2 Thomas Jefferson (22-2) goes up against No. 6 Penn-Trafford (19-5) at Norwin at noon.
Jaguars senior Maggie Spell just eclipsed the 2,000 point mark in her career Wednesday and has led the way in both TJ playoff wins.
The Campbell University commit scored 24 points in the first-round win over Penn Hills, 65-26, then scored 21 points in the quarterfinals triumph against Fox Chapel, 72-44.
Olivia Weishaar had 11 points in the Warriors’ Round 1 win over Franklin Regional, 47-22, then Torrie DeStefano scored 18 to lead P-T past Indiana in the second round, 50-39.
Fightin’ Tigers earning stripes
A year ago, the Beaver Falls girls basketball team was happy to qualify for the playoffs. The Tigers were the No. 11 seed and were quickly eliminated in the first round by Avonworth.
This season, the expectations were a little higher following a 20-win regular season, a Section 1-3A championship and the No. 2 seed in the bracket.
So far, so good for 22-1 Beaver Falls.
Senior Dreavin Hawkins has led the way in the postseason for the Tigers, scoring 23 points in an opening-round win over South Allegheny, 73-15, then following up with a 17-point performance in a victory over Waynesburg, 68-45.
Now the toughest challenge for No. 2 Beaver Falls comes in the form of two-time champion and No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic in a game set for a noon tip at Peters Township.
Senior Erica Gribble has done what she usually does: score a lot.
In the first round, Gribble scored 23 points in a rout of Mohawk, 67-21. Then in the quarterfinals, she scored 25 points in an impressive victory over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 57-42.
Those wins improve the Centurions to 18-6 this season.
In the other 3A semifinal, top-seeded Shady Side Academy battles No. 5 Seton LaSalle at Keystone Oaks at 1:30 p.m.
Following a first-round bye, the Bulldogs opened with a quarterfinal win over Avonworth, 48-27, with both Cassie Sauer and Karis Thomas scoring 15 points each.
The win improved SSA to 21-2 for the season and upped their winning streak to 12 in a row.
Ava Maroney scored a game-high 26 points in the opening-round win for the Rebels over Sto-Rox, 61-27.
In the quarters, Seton LaSalle knocked off Mimi Thiero and Quaker Valley, 57-54, thanks to 15 points from Natalie Pascarella.
The Rebels are now 16-8.
Hoops consolation Saturday
The WPIAL is once again using consolation games to determine PIAA basketball qualifiers and their seeding from District 7.
There are two boys and two girls contests set for Saturday.
• In boys Class 2A, Eden Christian Academy (16-7) visits Neshannock (18-5) at noon and Jefferson-Morgan (22-2) hosts Winchester Thurston (16-8) at noon. The two winners will play each other for fifth place Wednesday while on the same night, the two losers clash for seventh place.
• In girls 4A, Belle Vernon (20-4) is home to Burrell (16-8) while South Park (15-9) travels to Beaver (15-9) with both games tipping off at noon. The loser’s season is over while the winners collide Wednesday for fifth place.
Divine dives
The top district divers in Class 3A will meet at North Allegheny on Saturday for the WPIAL Class 3A boys and girls diving championships.
The boys 2A event begins at 10 a.m. with the girls hitting the pool starting at 12:45 p.m.
A pair of North Allegheny juniors won gold a year ago with Maggie Lapina taking the girls title and Ethan Maravich winning the boys championship.
A North Allegheny diver has won the last six WPIAL 3A diving crowns.
Championship mat action
The district gold will be flowing at three South Hills venues with the WPIAL individual wrestling championships Saturday.
The boys 3A tournament, which began Friday, concludes Saturday starting at 10 a.m. at Canon-McMillan.
The boys 2A championships also started Friday and wrap up Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at Chartiers Valley.
Finally, the girls individual championships begin at 9 a.m. at Mt. Lebanon.
Saturday on Trib HSSN
There is one broadcast and one podcast you can listen to or watch at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the 21st day of February.
Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast with an update on the WPIAL boys and girls basketball playoffs through the Quarterfinals on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Girls Basketball Playoffs Audio Stream – Class 5A Semifinals: Peters Township vs. South Fayette at noon on WJPA-AM 1450 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com