5A Boys Semifinals Preview

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Photo Credit: Will McBride

BOYS BASKETBALL

5A BOYS SEMIFINALS

#3 North Hills (19-5) vs. #2 Penn Hills (19-3) – 12:00 pm – at Peters Township – TribLive HSSN

North Hills has defeated Kiski Area (76-71) and Fox Chapel (67-62) to get to the WPIAL 5A Semifinals. This is North Hills’ second consecutive season in the semifinals and their 7th appearance since 2004. North Hills is 3-3 in WPIAL semifinal games since 2004 including a win last year in the WPIAL 6A Semifinals. They are 0-3 in championship games in that span. Royce Parham has been as advertised in the postseason averaging 27.5 points per game in the playoffs. Eric James has emerged as he is averaging 24 points per game in the playoffs.

Penn Hills has beaten Trinity (38-29) and Mars (60-41) to get to the WPIAL 5A Semifinals.  This is Penn Hills’ first appearance in the semifinals since 2019 and their 3rd semifinal appearance since 2004. Penn Hills is 1-2 in WPIAL semifinals games in that span. Penn Hills did win WPIAL gold in 2018. They are led by Daemar Kelly who is averaging 18 points per game in the postseason.

North Hills and Penn Hills met in the WPIAL Semifinals in 2016 with North Hills taking that game 77-52.

This game will be broadcasted live on the TribLive High School Sports Network. You can find the broadcast link on the broadcast schedule page under Multimedia.

#4 Gateway (17-5) vs. #1 Peters Township (21-3) – 2:00 pm – at Mt. Lebanon – Gateway Gator Productions & WJPA

Gateway has defeated Woodland Hills (55-40) and McKeesport (53-51) to get to the WPIAL 5A Semifinals. This is Gateway’s second consecutive season in the semifinals and their 5th appearance since 2004. Gateway is 3-1 in semifinal games since 2004 with their one loss coming last year. Gateway won three straight championship game appearances from 2010-2012 winning two of them in 2011 and 2012. They are led by Jaydon Carr whois averaging 15 points a game this postseason.

Peters Township has beaten Penn-Trafford (66-55) and South Fayette (68-60) to get to the WPIAL 5A Semifinals. This is Peters Township’s first appearance in the semifinals since 2009 and 2nd semifinal appearance since 2004. Peters Township is 1-0 in semifinal games in that span as they won the WPIAL Championship in 2009. They are led by Brendan McCullough and Jack Dunbar who are both averaging 17 points per game in the postseason. Nate Miller is averaging 10 points in the postseason.

This game will be broadcast live by Gateway Gator Productions and WJPA. You can find both broadcast links on the broadcast schedule page under Multimedia.