Peters Township team to beat in the WPIAL girls’ basketball playoffs
Peters Township (22-0) enters the WPIAL Class 6A girls’ basketball tournament as the team to beat. The Indians earned the No. 1 spot when playoff pairings were announced on Feb. 12. That, however, does not alter the Lady Indians’ approach to the playoffs.
“The seeding is always a much anticipated event,” PT floor boss Bert Kendall said. “At the end of the day though you have to play the best somewhere along the line. So regardless of our seed, we have to prepare with focus.”
During the regular season, the Lady Indians focused on the Section 2 competition and proved perfect in their preparation. In securing their third section banner in four seasons, they compiled a 14-0 record.
When the beaten teams considered are Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon, not to mention Quad-A power North Catholic (19-3), the fact they enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, slightly ahead of defending district champion, North Allegheny (20-1), adds little pressure upon the Indians.
“We play basketball because we have skill and it’s fun,” Kendall said emphatically. “We are enjoying the season. Frankly, we have remained loose as the victories accumulated so I don’t feel like there will be additional added pressure to win in the playoffs any more than the other teams in the playoffs.”
While the Indians acknowledge the field of eight is competitive, not just with NA, BP and Lebo, but also with Norwin, which knocked off the Tigers, Fox Chapel, Seneca Valley and Upper St. Clair, they are concentrating on their first-round opponent. Peters Township will play Fox Chapel (15-7) on Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Mt. Lebanon.
“Any team that gets in (the playoffs) is capable of winning. We respect them all,” Kendall said. “To us, the team to beat is our next opponent.”
Few teams, however, want to draw Peters Township as its opponent. The Indians have been virtually unstoppable this winter because they dominate all facets of the game. Plus, they play well together as a team.
Penn State recruit Makenna Marisa leads the attack with a scoring average of 22.1 points per game. She also manages 6.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.0 steals an outing.
Case-Western recruit Isabela Mills is the team’s playmaker with 5.4 assists per game. She is second on the team in scoring with a 14.3 average and third in rebounding with 6.2 boards a game.
Freshman Journey Thompson and senior Mackenzie Lehman clean the glass for 8.1 and 7.4 rebounds a game. Thompson averages 13.2 points while Lehman provides nine tallies a game not to mention two assists and 2.5 steals.
Opponents also should not discount Jordan Bisignani. She is one of the team’s top defenders and provides a dependable 4.7 points per game as well as 2.2 rebounds.
“Our desire to play as a team has been our strength,” Kendall said. “We celebrate the assists equally to scoring. Our defense and rebounding has been solid as well, so I guess in order to advance we need to continue to focus on those three things.”
Not only are the Lady Indians focused, Kendall said they have been “committed” to each other and to the team’s objectives.
“It has been a fun season,” he said. “The girls have improved a great deal since our team camp in June. I believe in putting time on the tasks to improve every day and so do our girls. I am so proud of their work ethic and care for our team. The commitment to our team has been fantastic this season.”
Here are the playoff pairings for the WPIAL girls’ basketball playoffs.
Class 6A
• Peters Township (22-0) versus Fox Chapel (15-7)
• Bethel Park (20-2) versus Seneca Valley (15-7)
• Mt. Lebanon (12-10) versus Norwin (20-1)
• Upper St. Clair (11-11) versus North Alleghey (21-1)
(All games set for Feb. 22 at sites and times to be determined.)
Class 5A
• Chartiers Valley (22-0) first-round bye. Will play on Feb. 23 against the winner of Penn-Trafford (13-9) vs. Trinity (11-11) game being played at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at Mt. Lebanon.
• South Fayette (13-9) vs. Franklin Regional (16-6) at 8 p.m. Feb. 19 at Keystone Oaks.
Class 3A
• Seton LaSalle (11-10) vs. Deer Lakes (16-6) at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at Fox Chapel.
Class 2A
• Bishop Canevin (20-2) received first-round bye and No. 1 seed ahead of Brentwood (17-3). Crusaders will play Feb. 21 agains the winner of the Ellis School vs. Aliquippa game.
(All WPIAL girls’ basketball championships games will be played Feb. 28-March 2 at the Petersen Events Center.)