This past Saturday (Feb. 27), and Monday (Mar. 1), several high school boys’ basketball teams competed in the preliminary rounds, with 26 total games across the two days. The brackets are officially set now for the first round and WPIAL March Madness has begun.
Boys Class-A – This bracket did not feature any preliminary rounds. No. 1 seed Bishop Canevin (13-5) was the only team to earn the bye, so they won’t play till the quarterfinal. They’ll face the winner between No. 8 St. Joseph and No. 9 Avella. First-round games:
No. 2 Rochester vs. No. 15 West Greene at Rochester
No. 3 Eden Christian vs. No. 14 Montour at North Allegheny
No. 4 Imani Christian vs. No. 13 Nazareth Prep at Peters Township
No. 5 Union vs. No. 12 Aquinas Academy at Union
No. 6 Leechburg vs. No. 11 Mapletown at Leechburg
No. 7 Geibel vs. No. 10 Western Beaver
No. 8 St. Joseph vs. No. 9 Avella at St. Joseph
All of these first-round games will be played on Tuesday, March 2 at 6 p.m.
Boys Class-2A — There were seven preliminary round games in Class-2A needed to create the 16-team bracket. A few upsets happened, as some lower seeds took advantage of the expanded playoffs and punched their ticket to the first round.
No. 17 California beat No. 16 Chartiers Houston in a very close game 55-48 and No. 18 Serra Catholic defeated No. 15 Carmichael 72-55.
No. 10 Sewickley Academy dominated No. 23 Northgate 55-15. No. 13 Winchester Thurston came out on top against No. 20 Jefferson-Morgan 76-61.
Another underdog won as No. 19 South Side advanced 54-41 against No. 14 Clairton. No. 12 Burgettstown won at home 59-53 against No. 21 Riverview. Propel Braddock Hills had to forfeit so Fort Cherry advanced.
The first round now looks like this:
No. 1 OLSH vs. No. 17 California at OLSH
No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic vs. No. 18 Serra Catholic at Serra Catholic
No. 3 Sto-Rox vs. No. 19 South Side at Sto-Rox
No. 4 Springdale vs. No. 13 Winchester Thurston at Springdale
No. 5 Jeannette vs. No. 12 Burgettstown at Jeannette
No. 6 Frazier vs. No. 11 Fort Cherry at Frazier
No. 7 Carlynton vs. No. 10 Sewickley Academy at Carlynton
No. 8 Shenango vs. No. 9 Monessen at Shenango
All of these first-round games will be played on Wednesday, March 3 at 6 p.m.
Boys Class-3A – This bracket featured seven preliminary round games as well.
No. 17 Ligonier Valley had their way with No. 16 Brownsville winning 80-41. The other six games, the higher seed won every time.
No. 15 McGuffey cruised past No. 18 Mohawk 64-35. No. 10 Charleroi beat No. 23 Steel Valley 61-44. No. 13 New Brighton defeated No. 20 Waynesburg 70-50. No. 12 Laurel got past No. 21 East Allegheny 77-57. No. 14 Apollo-Ridge beat No. 19 Beth-Center 64-46 at a neutral location, and No. 11 Ellwood City easily won against No. 22 Valley 72-20.
The first round is as follows:
No. 1 South Allegheny vs. No. 17 Ligonier Valley at South Allegheny
No. 2 Neshannock vs. No. 15 McGuffey at Neshannock
No. 3 Shady Side Academy vs. No. 14 Apollo-Ridge at Fox Chapel
No. 4 Aliquippa vs. No. 13 New Brighton at Aliquippa
No. 5 Washington vs No. 12 Laurel at Washington
No. 6 Avonworth vs No. 11 Ellwood City at TBA
No. 7 Beaver Falls vs. No. 10 Charleroi at Beaver Falls
No. 8 Brentwood vs. No. 9 Seton LaSalle at Brentwood
All first-round games in this division will be played at 6pm on Thursday, March 4.
Boys Class-4A – Monday, the boys’ 4A classification played five preliminary round games.
In the closest game of the round, No. 17 Freeport beat No. 16 Blackhawk in the final seconds 65-64. Freeport will go on to face the No. 1 seed Belle Vernon.
No. 15 Knoch got their offense going beating No. 18 Yough 75-43. No. 13 Derry defeated No. 20 Southmoreland 64-39. No. 11 Mount Pleasant beats No. 21 Hopewell 61-34. Finally, No. 19 Beaver earned the upset winning at No. 14 Uniontown 62-56.
First-round games:
No. 1 Belle Vernon vs. No. 17 Freeport at Belle Vernon
No. 2 Lincoln Park vs. No. 15 Knoch at Lincoln Park
No. 3 Montour vs. No. 19 Beaver at Montour
No. 4 Quaker Valley vs. No. 13 Derry at Quaker Valley
No. 5 North Catholic vs. No. 11 Mt. Pleasant at North Catholic
No. 6 Central Valley vs. No. 11 Burrell at Central Valley
No. 7 Elizabeth Forward vs. No. 10 Deer Lakes at Deer Lakes
No. 8 South Park vs. No. 9 Ambridge at South Park
First-round games in this classification are planned for Thursday, March 4 at 6 p.m.
Boys Class-5A – In the preliminary round this past weekend, No. 17 McKeesport beat No. 16 Hampton 78-49. No. 15 Plum outlasted No. 18 West Allegheny 57-53. No. 13 Trinity trumped over No. 20 Kiski Area 70-47. No. 12 Franklin Regional got past No. 21 Armstrong 49-43. In a high scoring game, No. 14 Shaler beat No. 19 Ringgold 85-64. And finally, No. 11 South Fayette defeated No. 22 Woodland Hills 59-39.
First round games:
No. 1 Chartiers Valley vs. No. 17 McKeesport at Chartiers Valley
No. 2 New Castle vs. No. 15 Plum at New Castle
No. 3 Laurel Highlands vs. No. 14 Shaler at Laurel Highlands
No. 4 Highlands vs. No. 13Trinity at Highlands
No. 5 Mars vs. No. 12 Franklin Regional at Mars
No. 6 Penn Hills vs. No. 11 South Fayette at Penn Hills
No. 7 Thomas Jefferson vs. No. 10 Latrobe at Thomas Jefferson
No. 8 Gateway vs. No. 9 Albert Gallatin at Gateway
These games are planned to be played on Wednesday, March 3, at 6 p.m.
Boys Class 6A – There was only one pigtail game in the highest, classification in the WPIAL. No. 17 Canon-McMillan upset No. 16 Greensburg Salem 69-46. Canon-Mac will now have a tough road ahead against the No. 1 seed Upper St. Claire (16-1). First round games are:
No. 1 Upper St. Clair vs. No. 17 Canon-McMillan at Upper St. Clair
No. 3 Hempfield vs No. 14 Baldwin at Hempfield
No. 4 Penn-Trafford vs. No. 13 North Hills at Penn-Trafford
No. 5 Butler vs. No. 12 Norwin at Butler
No. 6 Pine-Richland vs. No. 11 Peters Township at Pine-Richland
No. 8 Mt. Lebanon vs. No. 9 Seneca Valley at Mt. Lebanon
These games are to be played tonight (Mar. 2) at 6pm.
Trib HSSN is the exclusive broadcast streamer for all WPIAL boys’ and girls’ playoffs games. Check out their website during the postseason for live video and audio coverage.
Look forward to Pittsburgh Sports Now game stories, recaps, photos and more for all WPIAL basketball playoff games.
