Newcomer New Castle Dethrones Reigning Class 5A Champion Laurel Highlands
There will be a new WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball champion this year, and it will be a team that wasn’t in the classification last year.
No. 2 New Castle (20-2), who competed in Class 4A last year, knocked off No. 3 Laurel Highlands (14-4), 69-60, in the semifinals on Wednesday night.
New Castle will be making its seventh trip to the finals in 10 years.
The Red Hurricane cruised out to a 20-4 lead in the first quarter, and although the Mustangs continued to claw back, it was too big of a mountain to overcome.
Senior Sheldon Cox paced New Castle with 23 points. Junior Michael Wells finished with 20 and sophomore Isaiah Boice added 15.
The Class 5A WPIAL Championship Game on Saturday at 8 p.m. at North Allegheny will be a rubber match with their new section rival, Chartiers Valley.