Girls Class 6A WPIAL Playoff First Round Preview
When the girls basketball Class 6A WPIAL playoff bracket was revealed earlier this week, everyone knew who the favorite was going to be.
Top-seed North Allegheny finished the regular season 22-0, including wins against eight other teams in the bracket. Also receiving byes into the quarterfinals was the top two teams in Section 3-6A, Peters Township and Bethel Park.
All first round games will be played on Tuesday.
Below are capsules of each first round game.
Butler Golden Tornado (13-9) vs. Upper St. Clair Panthers (12-9) At North Hills, 6:30 p.m.
Butler finished a distant second behind North Allegheny in Section 1-6A and enter the playoffs winning three of its last four games. They are averaging 42.2 points per game and are allowing 39 points per game. The Golden Tornado lost in the first round of the playoffs last year…Upper St. Clair claimed the final playoff spot in Section 3-6A and have won its final three games of the regular season. The Panthers are averaging 47.6 points per game and are allowing 48.2 points per game. Upper St. Clair is making the playoffs after only winning three games last year and going winless in the section.
Norwin Knights (11-9) vs. Pine-Richland Rams (7-13) At Plum, 8 p.m.
This will be the second meeting of the season between Norwin and Pine-Richland. The Knights defeated the Rams, 64-33, in the Wright Automotive Holiday Tournament at North Allegheny. Norwin overcame a 1-5 start to the season to win the Section 2-6A title. They ended the season winning five of its last six games. They are averaging 55.8 points per game and are allowing 48.4 points per game. Norwin advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals last year…Pine-Richland was returning no starters from a year ago, but were able to rebound to make the playoffs again. They finished tied for fourth in Section 1 and became the fifth team in the section to make the playoffs. They lost the final two games of the regular season. The Rams are averaging 39.8 points per game and are allowing 46.3 points per game. They were upset in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils (11-11) vs. Penn Hills Indians (13-8) At Baldwin, 6:30 p.m.
This will be the second meeting of the season between Penn Hills and Mt. Lebanon. The Indians defeated the Blue Devils, 43-39, in the Wright Automotive Tip-Off Tournament at North Allegheny. Mt. Lebanon finished third in the section went 2-2 in its final four regular season games. They are averaging 47.5 points per game and are allowing 48.5 points per game. The Blue Devils advanced to the WPUAL semifinals and PIAA second round last year…Penn Hills finished fourth in its section and won five of its last six games. They are averaging 43.9 points per game and are allowing 43.2 points per game. The Indians advanced to the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA quarterfinals last year.
Hempfield Spartans (12-10) vs. Seneca Valley Raiders (11-10) At Fox Chapel, 6:30 p.m.
Both teams finished third in their respective sections and finished in the middle of the pack in Class 6A as well. Hempfield came on strong late in the season, winning six of its final seven games. They are averaging 44.6 points per game and are allowing 45.1 points per game. In 21 games played, Senior Allison Podkul led the team with 17.7 points per game. The Spartans lost in the WPIAL quarterfinals and PIAA first round last season…Seneca Valley finished third in the section and went 2-2 in its final four regular season games. They are averaging 45.1 points per game and are allowing 47.5 points per game. The Raiders lost in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Latrobe Wildcats (16-6) vs. Shaler Titans (10-12) At Plum, 6:30 p.m.
This is the second meeting of the season between Latrobe and Shaler. The Wildcats defeated the Titans 71-63 at home on Jan. 20. Latrobe finished second behind Norwin in Section 2-6A and went 2-2 in its final four games of the regular season. They are averaging 61.1 points per game and are allowing 50.5 points per game. In 21 games, senior Laura Graytok averaged 23 points per game. The Wildcats missed the playoffs last season…Shaler finished tied for fourth place in section one and qualified for the playoffs in the last week of the season. They won two out of its last three regular season games. The Titans are averaging 44.9 points per game and are allowing 44 points per game. Senior Megan Lydon led Shaler with 16.6 points per game this season. Shaler also missed the playoffs last year.
For a complete look at the bracket, click here