Upsets throw wrench into seedings, pairings
There have been years where the WPIAL girls basketball steering committee has a fairly easy time putting the brackets together.
This probably won’t be one of them.
Take Class 6A for example. On Friday morning, it would have been a fairly simple call to put undefeated Peters Township into the No. 1 spot on the bracket. but then Canon- McMillan pulled off a 44-41 upset to end the Indians’ 20-game, seasonopening winning streak and threw the bracket into disarray.
Last season, the WPIAL made sure that there were no section rematches in the first round in Class 6A, but it will be interesting if the governing body can make that happen this time.
Like last season, the WPIAL will have first round games played at home venues of the higher-seeded team, provided the school’s gym is suitable to play host a playoff game. Those teams that receive a bye will get a home game in the second round. All that being said, it’s time to take a deep dive inside the minds of the committee, use the third eye to look into the future and predict the brackets before their release Monday at 2 p.m. (seedings are in parentheses).
Class 6A
Matchups: Upper St. Clair (8) at Norwin (1); PineRichland (7) at Peters Township (2); Mt. Lebanon (6) at North Allegheny (3); Seneca Valley (5) at Chartiers Valley (4).
The scoop: This is the commonsense way the WPIAL could go with the bracket if it wants to avoid section matchups in the first round, but if the steering committee is open to having sectional rematches in the quarterfinals, flip Seneca Valley to No. 6 and Mt. Lebanon to No. 5. … Although an argument could be made that Peters Township should still be given the top seed because of a slightly better record than Norwin, Norwin didn’t lose to a WPIAL team this year and Peters Township lost to a CanonMcMillan squad that didn’t qualify for the postseason will be fresh in their minds.
Matchups: Thomas Jefferson/Latrobe winner (1617) at Oakland Catholic (1); Woodland Hills at Armstrong (2); Penn Hills (14) at Trinity (3); Moon (13) at Lincoln Park (4); Hampton (12) at McKeesport (5); Mars (11) at Indiana (6); Penn-Trafford (10) at North Hills (7); South Fayette (9) at Plum (8).
The scoop: Things have really changed in this classification in the past few weeks. … Oakland Catholic is the undisputed No. 1 as the only undefeated team in the WPIAL, but then it gets really murky. … McKeesport has lost three games, two to Oakland Catholic and one to Norwin, but McKeesport is not the team it was a week ago after the loss to injury of senior center Kaylee Charles. That will have a huge impact on how far the Tigers fall and where they land. … Lincoln Park lost two of its last three games and could conceivably fall further than No. 4. … Trinity heads into the postseason on a six-game winning streak and moved up to No. 3 after beating Lincoln Park to tie for the Section 4 title. With all the shuffling going on in the other sections, Armstrong has quietly put together a 12-game winning streak that is the second- longest current streak to Oakland Catholic’s 22 games.
Class 4A
Byes: Blackhawk, North Catholic, Elizabeth Forward, Highlands
Matchups: Winner of Central Valley (9) at Knoch (8), at Blackhawk (1); Winner of Hopewell (10) at West Mifflin (7), at North Catholic (2); Winner of Belle Vernon (11) at Greensburg Salem (6), at Elizabeth Forward (3); Winner of Quaker Valley (12) at Laurel Highlands (5), at Highlands (4).
The scoop: If this sounds like a broken record, it pretty much is. Not only were there three undefeated section champions for the second straight year, they are the same three undefeated schools as last year — Blackhawk, North Catholic and Elizabeth Forward. … Like last year, it’s a coin flip between Blackhawk and North Catholic for the top two seeds and, once again, Blackhawk gets the nod over the reigning champions. Both teams lost to Kennedy Catholic, but Blackhawk has won 14 in a row since its loss to the District 10 powerhouse. … Four of the 12 playoff qualifiers have losing records, so juggling the lower seeds could be messy.
Class 3A
Matchups: Apollo-Ridge ( 16) at Avonworth ( 1); McGuffey (15) at Shady Side Academy (2); Mohawk (14) at Waynesburg (3); Brownsville (13) at Beaver Falls (4); Keystone Oaks (12) at Burrell (5); Mount Pleasant (11) at Neshannock (6); Ellwood City (10) at Seton LaSalle (7); Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (9) at South Park (8).
The scoop: This classification had three simple picks. Defending champion Avonworth is No. 1, Shady Side Academy is No. 2 and Apollo-Ridge is No. 16. Other than that, everything is a mishmash. Waynesburg gets the No. 3 seed on record, but a late-season loss to South Park could certainly see the Raiders get dropped as far down as No. 6. Burrell has four losses, two to Shady Side Academy and the others to Class 1A teams St. Joseph and Aquinas Academy. But Burrell has won nine of its past 10 and could end up as high as No. 3, but it’s more likely the Bucs will be at No. 5 to keep them on the opposite side of the bracket as section rival Shady Side Academy.
Class 2A
Matchups: Northgate (16) at Greensburg Central Catholic (1); Winchester-Thurston (15) at Aliquippa (2); California (14) at Serra Catholic (3); Brentwood (13) at Chartiers-Houston (4); South Side (12) at Clairton (5); Beth Center (11) at Rochester (6): Freedom (10) at Fort Cherry (7); Washington (9) at Burgettstown (8).
The scoop: Aliquippa could certainly make a case to be the No. 1 seed, but the committee has a tendency to reward past success and the Quips, despite making it deeper in the playoffs than Greensburg Central Catholic in the 2023 postseason, hadn’t won a section title in more than a decade while the Centurions are a perennial contender. … Serra Catholic gets the nod at No. 3 even though two of its losses were to Class 1A Aquinas Academy and St. Joseph.
Class 1A
Byes: Union, St. Joseph, Aquinas Academy, Bishop Canevin
Matchups: Winner of Jeannette (9) at Geibel Catholic (8), at Union (1); Winner of West Greene ( 10) at Riverview (7), at St. Joseph (2); Winner of Mapletown (11) at Eden Christian (6), at Aquinas Academy ( 3); Leechburg (12) at Monessen (5), at Bishop Canevin (4)
The scoop: Union is far and away the top team in this classification and is a lock as the No. 1 seed. … Even with a 6-12 record, there is a very real possibility the committee could decide to give Bishop Canevin a first-round bye. … Monessen gets the No. 5 seed as a section champion, but there is a very real possibility the committee could hammer the Greyhounds down even further for a 25point loss to Riverview.