Westmoreland, A-K Valley teams learn PIAA playoff foes

Bill Beckner TribLive Sun, Mar 1, 2026 • 07:24 PM

Greensburg Central Catholic’s Avery Jones battles for a loose ball during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against Shady Side Academy on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at Petersen Events Center. (Christopher Horner | TribLive)

Greensburg Central Catholic is hitting the road again for a playoff game.

The girls basketball team earned a home game for the start of the state playoffs, but since their gymnasium does not meet PIAA requirements for seating capacity for Class 3A (750), the Centurions will play at a neutral site.

GCC (19-7), the WPIAL runner-up, will face District 9 runner-up Cranberry (15-10) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Hampton.

Six other Westmoreland County teams also learned their opponents and starting times for state tournament openers.

Two of them will host first-round games.

The Jeannette boys (22-2), the WPIAL runner-up in 2A, will welcome District 6 third-place team Northern Cambria (17-8) at 1 p.m. Saturday. The same teams met in last year’s second round. Jeannette won 70-54 at Johnstown.

The Penn-Trafford girls (20-6), the WPIAL third-place team in 5A, will host West York (16-10), the sixth-place team in District 3, at 1 p.m. Saturday.

In girls 6A, WPIAL runner-up Norwin (19-5) will travel to Altoona (19-4), the District 6 champion, at 6 p.m. Friday. That is a first-round rematch from last year when Altoona won, 49-38.

The Belle Vernon girls (18-6), who took fifth in WPIAL 4A, will play at District 9 champion Clearfield (18-6) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Ligonier Valley (14-12), which finished seventh in the WPIAL 3A boys tournament, will play at District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle (23-4) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

And Monessen (13-10), the third-place boys team from WPIAL Class A, will visit District 9 champion Elk County Catholic (24-2) at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Here’s a look at the matchups for the A-K Valley teams:

In Class 4A boys, Knoch (22-4) will host Girard (18-8), and Deer Lakes (12-14) will visit Huntingdon (15-9), both at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Fox Chapel girls (15-11) will play at York Suburban (22-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Class 6A bracket.

And, in Class A girls, St. Joseph (14-11) will play at Clarion-Limestone (19-7) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The second round will be March 10-11, the quarterfinals March 13-14, semifinals March 16-17 and the finals March 19-21 in Hershey.

View the full PIAA brackets at piaa.org.