Feb 9, 2016 By Eleanor Bailey 6 min read

That South Fayette and Trinity earned the top seeds for the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ basketball tournament may have come as a surprise to those that anticipated the nod may have been given to Blackhawk. Chartiers Valley head coach Dan Slain, however, was not shocked.

“In my humble opinion and with all due respect to last year’s champion, I feel that there are two opponents to consider as the ones to watch and both teams are from our section, South Fayette and Trinity,” he added. “Both teams are talented. They are well-coached and they know how to win with the nod going to South Fayette.”

The Lady Lions ran the table in Section 5-AAA (12-0). South Fayette, like Trinity, finished the regular season with an 18-3 overall record. Blackhawk (16-6), meanwhile, finished runner-up to Ambridge (19-3) in Section 2-AAA.

South Fayette, which was the WPIAL runner-up last year, embarks on its quest for a district title Feb. 17. The Lady Lions will play the winner between Laurel Highlands and Ringgold at 6:30 p.m. at Peters Township in their post-season opener.

A Final Four berth for the Lady Lions may run through Chartiers Valley. The Lady Colts play Brownsville at 6:30 p.m Feb. 17 at Trinity in their playoff opener. Should they win, a remtach with South Fayette could await Feb. 20. The Lions beat CV in both section games.

Keystone Oaks joins South Fayette and CV in the girls’ Class AAA playoffs. The Golden Eagles play Highlands in a prelim game set for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at Fox Chapel.

Meanwhile, Lady Lions’ male counterparts have also qualified for the postseason. The South Fayette boys will play Steel Valley at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at Baldwin in their first playoff game.

Defending champion Chartiers Valley (18-4) earned one of the top seeds with Latrobe (20-1) among Quad-A boys’ basketball teams for the WPIAL playoffs. The Colts will play Hemfield at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 at Canon-McMillan in the first round of the playoffs.

“Latrobe is very good and balanced scoring-wise,” said Tim McConnell. The Chartiers Valley skipper also noted the experience of Pine-Richland, the Section 3 co-champion with Central Catholic and North Hills as well as the athleticism of Penn Hills. The Indians are seeded No. 3 in the tournament and the Rams are fourth followed by the Vikings. “Bethel Park is also playing really well right now,” McConnell added. “They could be the sleeper.”

McConnell knows plenty about the Hawks as they finished tied for second place with Baldwin behind his Colts in Section 4. The Hawks are 16-6 overall and seeded eighth.

While the Bethel Park boys have a layoff also until Feb. 17 when they face Gateway at 8 p.m. at North Hills, Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township, by virtue of the fourth-place tie in Section 4, get their playoff baptism early. Each plays Feb. 13. Lebo travels to North Allegheny for a 3 p.m. tip against Franklin Regional. In a high-noon showdown at Baldwin, the Indians challenge Central Catholic. Should the Blue Devils win their preliminary game, they would have to face Latrobe at 8 p.m Feb. 17 at Gateway. Should BP advance, its quarterfinal opponent could also be the the Wildcats, who won Section 1 with an 11-1 slate.

Because of the balance at the Quad-A level, Lebo and BP like their chances just as any other club.

“I’m excited that my young team gets a chance to compete in the playoffs,” said Blue Devils’ skipper Joe David. “I don’t know about many of the teams in the other sections and quite honestly I am just putting my efforts into getting us better each day. There are many teams that can pull this off since at this point there is nobody that is head and shoulders above the rest.”

Josh Bears concurred. “Honestly the parity is a concern,” said the BP head coach. “I feel like we have a strong team with determined leaders. But in this particular year, anyone can beat anyone.”

Five Quad-A boys’ teams qualify for the PIAA tournament. Quarterfinal and semifinal matches are set for Feb. 20 and 24 with the championship game set for 9 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Petersen Events Center.

Meanwhile, the Lebo ladies, Bethel Park and Peters Township females will be joined by Canon-McMillan in the Quad-A girls’ playoffs.

The Blue Devils face North Hills at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at Keystone Oaks. Should Lebo win its preliminary game, the team would take on top-seeded Norwin on Feb. 19. The Knights are undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the state. They are also the defending Quad-A champions.

“Our goal is to win the first game,” said Lebo coach Dori Oldaker. “There are so many great teams in this tournament. Our focus is only on one team and that team is our team.”

Peters Township gained the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The Lady Indians, who shared the Section 4 title with Canon-McMillan, will play Hempfield at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at Charleroi.

The Lady Macs, who are seeded No. 6, play at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at Baldwin.

Bethel Park takes on Seneca Valley at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

In Class AA, both boys’ and girls’ squads from Bishop Canevin, Seton-La Salle and Chartiers-Houston advanced to the playoffs.

The Lady Rebels and Crusaders earned the No. 3 and 4 seeds respectively behind Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Burrell. Canevin plays the winner between Mohawk and East Allegheny at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at Char Valley. The Rebels play the victor of the Greensburg Central Catholic-Avonworth contest at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at Peters Township.

“We are excited about the playoffs because we are playing as a unit and playing complete games,” said Whitney Jones, who completed her first regular season at the helm at Seton-La Salle. “Our collective defensive commitment, ability to keep opponents off the boards and transition offense will be keys to our success in the tournament.”

Jones noted that Seton-La Salle’s section nemesis will also be the opponent to watch. While the Lady Rebels have won four of the past five WPIAL AA titles, Bishop Canevin has been right there with them. The Crusaders upset the Rebels in 2013 and went on to win the state title. They were runners-up to SLS in last year’s district final.

“Bishop Canevin has so much playoff experience and so many offensive weapons,” Jones said. “That makes them the opponent to watch.”

While defending champion, Aliquippa, is the team to watch in the boys’ Class AA tournament, Bishop Canevin grabbed a No. 6 seed. The Crusaders were the Section 3-AA champions with a 13-1 slate, the lone loss being to Seton-La Salle, 55-53, on Feb. 5.

The Rebel boys play Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. against Frazier at Baldwin while the Canevin men battled Brownsville at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 at Trinity.

The Chartiers-Houston girls challenge Washington at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at Peters Township while the Buccaneer boys play Charleroi at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at Trinity.