PIAA basketball playoffs
Girls
Class A
First round
7-6 St. Joseph (14-11) at 9-1 Clarion Limestone (19-7)
1 p.m. Saturday
Winner plays: Winner of 7-2 Geibel Catholic (23-3)/6-3 St. Joseph Catholic Academy (24-3) Wednesday in second round (site/time TBD)
Players to watch: Bella Barolovic, St. Joseph; Hannah Beggs, Clarion Limestone
Layup lines: St. Joseph makes its fifth consecutive appearance in the PIAA playoffs and is 1-4 in the state tournament, with the lone victory coming at home in the 2024 first round against District 6’s St. Joseph Catholic Academy. Last year’s first-round game against Farrell went down to the wire before the Steelers pulled out a three-point win. Bartolovic, who scored 24 in the close WPIAL first-round loss against Geibel, junior Jocelyn Spinelli and senior Kasey Cienik lead a Spartans’ attack That averages 55.2 points a game. … Clarion Limestone came from the No. 4 seed in the District 9 tournament to win it all with upsets of No. 1 DuBois Central Catholic in the semifinals and No. 3 Elk County Catholic in the title game. It was the Lions’ first District 9 title since 1988. Limestone has won eight of nine, with the only loss coming against District 9 Class 3A power Karns City (24-1). Beggs, a senior, scored her 1,000th career point in the first quarter against ECC. She finished with a game-high 18 points. Freshman Brook Meals also is a scoring threat.
Class 5A
First round
7-8 Fox Chapel (15-11) at 3-1 York Suburban (22-2)
4 p.m. Saturday
Winner plays: Winner of 6-1 Hollidaysburg (18-4)/7-7 Trinity (18-8) Wednesday in second round (site/time TBD)
Players to watch: Lyla Jablon, Fox Chapel; Brynn Barley, York Suburban
Layup lines: Fox Chapel hopes to turn around its postseason fortunes after three straight losses in the WPIAL tournament. The Foxes fell to No. 2 Thomas Jefferson in the quarterfinals and to No. 3 Indiana and No. 9 Trinity in the consolation games. Fox Chapel had won seven in a row before the losses. Jablon, a senior, has helped pace the guard-heavy Foxes attack. Sophomore guard Nina Kulikowski, sophomore forward Abby Goodman and freshman guard Bella Gellar also have led Fox Chapel scoring in the playoffs. The Foxes return to the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 2019, when they fell to District 3 champion Cumberland Valley, 35-27, in the first round. … York Suburban won its third straight District 3 title. The Trojans handed Middletown its first loss of the season in the matchup of the district’s top two seeds. Suburban has won 17 games in a row. The Trojans played Seneca Valley in the season-opening Play 4 Mae showcase at Woodland Hills and handed the Class 6A Raiders a 51-39 defeat. Suburban made it to the second round of the state playoffs last year with a 13-point win over Bethel Park in the first round.