close

Teams prepared for WPIAL girls’ basketball playoffs

4 min read
article image -

Upper St. Clair (19-2) earned the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball playoffs and awaits the winner of the Peters Township-Butler contest on Feb. 20 before embarking on its title quest.

The Panthers, who won the Section 2 title with a 12-0 record, have been to the WPIAL finals the past two seasons. They finished runner-up to North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon and have notwon a district championship since 2008. They won a PIAA state title in 1999.

USC will host its first-round playoff game at 7 p.m. Feb. 23.

Another interesting first-round clash pits Chartiers Valley (12-9) against Mt. Lebanon (16-6) at 7 p.m. Feb. 23. It will be the third meeting between the teams. The host Blue Devils won both section encounters, 43-32 and 37-31.

“The girls are super excited. They feel they let the last one slide through their hands. We had some defensive breakdowns and did not rebound well down the stretch,” said first-year CV coach Mike Semplice. “We have to do that better to have a chance to win.

“It’s going to be a tough game for us because they are efficient defensively and challenging because of how physical they are.”

Semplice, who was an assistant at Lebo only a year ago, added the teams know each other’s personnel well. Many of them also play on and against each other during the AAU season.

“Our section has a lot of high-level players and all the teams are coached so well and play hard. No matter who you play, it’s a battle and comes down to who plays harder.”

Although the Colts are a young squad, after graduating five, four-year starters that played on three WPIAL championship teams and two PIAA state runner-up squads.

Sophomore Emma Reynolds is the team’s leading scorer with a 15-point average and junior Ella Cupka is CV’s top playmaker.

“They are having really good seasons and are tough to guard but from a team standpoint because everybody has been contributing and playing better defense.

“Our goal was to get into the playoffs. Give ourselves a chance to compete. We have had ups and downs because of our inexperience but we continue to get better. As a result, I like our chances. We can play with these teams. We are looking forward to this opportunity and to make a little run.”

Class 5A

South Fayette begins its quest for a second straight WPIAL title when the Lady Lions host Plum/Montour at 8 p.m. Feb. 21 in the first round of the Class 5A basketball tournament.

The Lions earned the No. 1 seed after winning the Section 4 crown with a 10-0 record and a 20-2 mark.

“The girls are extremely excited to earn this accomplishment,” said SF coach Bryan Bennett. “South Fayette has had a number of outstanding girls teams and we are only the third team in school history to win a section.”

The Lions are led by Maddie Webber and Ava Leroux.

A Villanova recruit, Webber leads the Lions with in scoring with a 17.8 average.

A 6-3 center, who is committed to Elon, Leroux paces the team on the boards, managing 8 rebounds to go along with a 13-point scoring average.

Point guard Lainey Yater is also dishing up five assists for the Lions, who are riding a 14-game winning streak into the tournament along with wins this season against North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair, the top teams in Class 6A.

The championship contest in Class 5A is set for 5 p.m. March 4 at the Petersen Events Center.

The top seven finishers in the district will advance to the state playoffs. The PIAA finals will be played March 23-25 in Hershey.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $/week.

Subscribe Today