News

by: Don Rebel

WPIAL TITLE REMATCH IN THE CLASS 5A FIRST ROUND

The two met for gold two years ago.

On Tuesday, they battle for a berth in the PIAA Class 5A playoffs and a spot in the WPIAL boys basketball quarterfinals.

No. 11 Penn Hills (12-9) travels to face No. 6 Peters Township (15-7) in a battle of second-place finishers in the opening round of the 5A boys basketball playoffs.

Back in the 2023 finals, No. 2 Penn Hills upended No. 1 Peters Township, 70-65, to capture the programs’ sixth district championship.

Noah Barren scored 22 and Daemar Kelly added 20 for Penn Hills while Peters was led by Brendan McCullough’s 19 points.

This year, Penn Hills ended the regular season winning seven of its last nine games, but one of the losses was to Kiski Area at home and cost the Indians the Section 2-5A title.

Peters Township split its final eight games and ended up tied with South Fayette for second place, two games behind Section 3-5A winner Baldwin.

The battle of the Indians tips off at 7 p.m. and can be heard here on Trib HSSN.

There are seven other 5A boys opening-round contests Tuesday:

Top-seeded Montour (21-1) hosts No. 16 Franklin Regional (12-11) at 7 p.m. The Spartans are the Section 4-5A champs and won 15 straight games. The Panthers earned the No. 16 seed with a preliminary round victory over Indiana, 71-50.

No. 9 Latrobe (18-4) visits No. 8 Kiski Area (15-6) at 7 p.m. a game you can hear on Trib HSSN. The Wildcats finished second in Section 1-5A and had a 10-game winning streak earlier in the season. The Cavaliers captured the Section 2 championship and have won 12 in a row.

No. 4 Chartiers Valley (19-3) will be home to No. 13 Thomas Jefferson (10-12) in a game you can hear on Trib HSSN. These teams met a month ago with the Colts defeating the Jaguars on a neutral floor at Allderdice, 76-48.

No. 5 Moon (17-5) welcomes No. 12 Gateway (13-8) at 7 p.m. The Tigers are the defending champions and looking to repeat like they did winning three straight titles from 2004-2006. The Gators also were back-to-back champions in 2011 and 2012.

No. 15 Penn-Trafford (13-9) hits the road to take on No. 2 Baldwin (21-1) at 7 p.m. The Warriors on five of their last six games to finish fourth in Section 1-5A. The Highlanders, 2024 6A runners-up, won the Section 3-5A crown and are winners of 12 consecutive games.

No. 7 South Fayette (15-7) will host No. 10 Mars (12-10) at 7 p.m. The Lions have been streaky this season, winning six in a row, losing three straight, again winning six consecutive contests followed by three losses and now two wins.

No. 14 Hampton (11-11) makes the long trek south to Uniontown (19-3) at 7 p.m. in a game you can hear on Trib HSSN. The Talbots ended a three-game losing skid with a regular season finale victory over Freeport. The Red Raiders were perfect in winning the Section 1-5A title and have won 11 games in a row.