Will South Fayette, Oakland Catholic lay claim to the top seed?
The majority of section play concluded Thursday, so there were probably some restless nights for WPIAL girls basketball coaches as they anticipated playoff pairings. Well, all coaches will find out their playoff plight Monday.
The WPIAL basketball committee meets Monday and will announce playoff pairings and seedings late Monday afternoon. There are quite a few locks for seeds, but there are also several key questions the committee will hash out when it meets. One of the biggest questions will be in Class 5A, where defending champion South Fayette (19-2) and Section 3 champion Oakland Catholic (19-2) can both make a serious claim to the top seed. Then there is Class 2A, where Shenango, Freedom, Serra Catholic and Greensburg Central Catholic all have a legitimate claim to No. 1.
First-round games will be played at home, provided the school’s gym is suitable for a playoff game. Teams that receive a bye will play their first game at home. With a quick look into the crystal ball and a soothsayer’s keen eye, here’s a prognostication of how the brackets could look when they are officially unveiled. (Seedings are in parentheses.):
CLASS 6A
Matchups: Peters Township (8) vs. Baldwin (9) winner at Upper St. Clair (1); Butler (7) at North Allegheny (2); Pine-Richland (6) at Mt. Lebanon (3); Chartiers Valley (5) at Norwin (4).
The scoop: There are a lot of factors that will go into the seedings. With Upper St. Clair holding the head-to-head over Norwin and North Allegheny beating the Knights late in the season, USC locked up the top seed. Norwin and Mt. Lebanon could each potentially be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed depending on whether the committee wants two possible section rematches in the semifinals. There was also very little crossover between the two sections, so judging which teams have the edge in strength of schedule will be problematic.
CLASS 5A
Matchups: Montour-Kiski Area preliminary-round game winner (16) at South Fayette (1); Penn Hills (15) at Oakland Catholic (2); Plum (14) at McKeesport (3); Latrobe (13) at Armstrong (4); Hampton (12) at Indiana (5); Shaler (11) at Mars (6); Woodland Hills (10) at Trinity (7); Lincoln Park (9) at Penn-Trafford (8).
The scoop: It’s going to be interesting to see whether the committee seeds South Fayette or Oakland Catholic on top, as both can make the case for No. 1. Oakland Catholic has not lost to a team from Pennsylvania and the only instate loss for South Fayette was against Norwin back on Dec. 15. In this instance, the Lions should get the nod, considering the WPIAL likes to reward recent success and they are the defending champions.
CLASS 4A
Byes: Blackhawk, North Catholic, Elizabeth Forward, Knoch
Matchups: Laurel Highlands (11) at Quaker Valley (6) winner plays at Elizabeth Forward (3); Greensburg Salem (10) at Belle Vernon (7) winner plays at North Catholic (2); Hopewell (12) at Highlands (5) winner plays at Knoch (4); West Mifflin (9) at Beaver (8) winner plays Blackhawk (1).
The scoop: With three undefeated section champions, the top three were easy to determine. It just depended on which order they were in. Both Blackhawk and North Catholic are reigning WPIAL champions, but the Trojanettes won theirs in Class 3A, so the Cougars get the nod for the top spot. Elizabeth Forward gets the No. 3 slot because a couple of its questionable losses were early in the season to Serra Catholic and Beaver. Knoch gets the edge for the No. 4 seed and the bye for a couple of reasons.
CLASS 3A
Matchups: Yough at Beaver Falls winner (16) at Shady Side Academy (1); Charleroi (15) at Laurel (2); Burrell (14) at Neshannock (3); McGuffey (13) at Avonworth (4); Seton LaSalle (12) at Apollo-Ridge (5); Mohawk (11) at Waynesburg (6); Mount Pleasant (10) at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (7); South Park (9) at Keystone Oaks (8).
The scoop: Shady Side Academy is the clear-cut pick to be the top seed, but choosing between Laurel and Neshannock will be a major decision for the committee. Neshannock has a number of close losses but also blew out Laurel in their second meeting. Give the nod to Laurel as the No. 2 for its full body of work, but don’t be surprised if it ends up at No. 3. Waynesburg is a section champion but has two very bad losses in the section and also got blown out in a running clock loss to Albert Gallatin.
CLASS 2A
Matchups: Carlynton (16) at Shenango (1); Carmichaels (15) at Serra Catholic (2); California (14) at Freedom (3); Rochester (13) at Greensburg Central Catholic (4); Winchester Thurston (12) at Burgettstown (5); Fort Cherry (11) at Washington (6); Aliquippa (10) at Brentwood (7); Clairton (9) at Chartiers-Houston (8).
The scoop: Yes, the top four seeds are all from two sections, but behind those four teams that shared two section championships, but there is an obvious drop-off to the other section champs. Serra Catholic gets the edge over Greensburg Central Catholic because it has a win over Elizabeth Forward, which defeated Greensburg Central Catholic, as well as the fact Serra won the second meeting with GCC.
CLASS 1A
Byes: Union, Bishop Canevin, St. Joseph, Monessen.
Matchups: Avella (9) at Leechburg (8) winner will play at Union (1); Geibel Catholic (10) at Riverview (7) winner will play at St. Joseph (2); Eden Christian (11) at West Greene (6) winner will play at Bishop Canevin (3); Jeannette (12) at Aquinas Academy (5) winner will play at Monessen (4)
The scoop: In what may be the craziest thing that has ever happened in the history of the WPIAL playoffs, a team qualified without winning a section game. That would be Eden Christian, which went 0-6 against Union, Bishop Canevin and Aquinas Academy but earned the fourth spot out of Section 1 when Cornell shut down its program for the year. Union played perhaps the toughest schedule of anyone in the classification and showed it could stand toe to toe with anyone.