Feb 14, 2017 7 min read

GREEN TREE – The days of mystery and guesswork ended for 156 basketball teams in the WPIAL when the organization released its playoff pairings Tuesday night.

Some coaches arrived at the ballroom in the DoubleTree Hotel, where the pairings were revealed, looking for respect. Others were just happy to see their team’s name on one of the seed lines. Others left puzzled about and disappointed with where their team was seeded.

One team that gained a measure of respect was the Chartiers-Houston girls. The Bucs (20-2), who breezed to a section title and are ranked No. 4 in the state, were given the top seed in Class AA. Chartiers-Houston was one two area team to be given a No. 1 seed. The Monessen boys (15-7) are the top seed in Class A.

Chartiers-Houston went 12-0 in Section 1, has won 14 games in a row and has not lost since the calendar turned to 2017. However, head coach Laura Montecalvo wasn’t sure her team would be given the top spot over traditional powers Vincentian Academy and Greensburg Central Catholic.

“I really didn’t expect to be the No. 1 seed,” Montecalvo said. “I thought the tradition of some of the other programs might not allow us for us to be the No. 1 seed.”

But Chartiers-Houston was on the top line of the bracket with Section 2 champion Vincentian in the No. 2 spot. Vincentian won the last five, and six of the past seven, Class A championships but moved up the Class AA this year as high school basketball in Pennsylvania expanded from four to six classifications.

Chartiers-Houston began earning respect throughout the WPIAL two years ago when the Bucs advanced to the state quarterfinals. Last year, C-H returned to the state tournament despite being without standout forward Alexa Williamson, who was sidelined by a knee injury.

Williams is healthy this year and was a big reason why the Bucs have defeated eight teams from larger classifications.

“We played almost the entire season last year without Alexa and made the state tournament. Hopefully, that earned us some respect,” Montacalvo said.

Chartiers-Houston received a first-round bye into next week’s quarterfinals and will play either Leechburg or Burgettstown. Those teams will play 6:30 p.m. Friday at Northgate.

The Chartiers-Houston boys (18-4) won the Section 2-AA championship and were given the No. 4 seed. The Bucs play Leechburg in the first round 8 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny. Though his team went undefeated in section play, head coach Eugene Briggs wasn’t disappointed by being seeded behind Section 3 runner-up Sewickley Academy (17-4), which is the No. 3 spot.

“We had it pegged. We thought we’d be the No. 4 or 5 seed,” Briggs said. “You could make an argument for a No. 3 seed. The bad thing is now it’s a tough road to the PIAA tournament with six teams advancing. Now, you’re better off being a No. 7 or 8 seed.”

Last year, the WPIAL played consolation rounds to determined spots for its teams in the state tournament. With the expansion to six classifications, the WPIAL opted to go back to the follow-the-leader format for determining state tournament berths. For example, the team that loses to the WPIAL champion in the quarterfinals will enter the PIAA tournament as the No. 5 seed.

“The reason we did that is we’re going to be playing every night until the end of this tournament and we have a limited number of facilities and game officials,” explained WPIAL executive secretary Tim O’Malley.

That format could work in favor of the McGuffey boys (17-5), who are seeded No. 8 in Class AAAA and plays No. 9 Valley (11-11) in the first round Wednesday at Baldwin (6:30 p.m.). The winner advances to play top-seeded New Castle (20-2).

McGuffey coach Mike Fatigante wasn’t looking beyond Valley, and who could blame him? It’s not often that McGuffey has been in the boys basketball playoffs.

“We’re excited to be here,” said Fatigante, who guided the Highlanders to a three-way tie for second place in Section 3, one game behind first-place Belle Vernon.

“We don’t care who we play. We’ve been playing a ton of games down the stretch that have been important games and close games. I hope that experience pays off in the playoffs. I know our guys are excited to be playing.”

One team that might be puzzled about its seeding is the California boys. The Trojans, who were runners-up in their section to Chartiers-Houston and have a 19-3 record, were given the No. 9 seed in Class AA. The Trojans play Neshannock (15-7) in the first round 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at West Allegheny.

The Trinity boys (14-8), who tied for second place in their section and are coming off a 50-33 win over Section 4-AAA champion Washington Monday night, are the No. 7 seed in Class 5-A and will play Franklin Regional (12-10) in the first round Tuesday (8 p.m.) at Baldwin.

Hillers coach Tim Tessmer said the switch to six classifications has made several classifications, including 5-A, a wide-open affair with no clear-cut favorite.

“There are probably seven teams in 5-A who you can say have a realistic chance to win it all,” he added.

The Trinity girls (20-2), who breezed to the Class 5-A Section 3 title, are seeded No. 2 behind Section 4 champion Hampton (20-2). The Hillers were joping for the No. 1 seed.

“Is there disappoinement? Sure,” Trinity coach Bob Miles said about not being the top seed. “But the bottom line is we still have to win four more games. It doesn’t matter which side of the bracket you do it from.”

Trinity’s only losses were non-section games against Class 6-A Bethel Park and West Virginia power Wheeling Park.

“I don’t know what more we could have done,” Miles said. “We couldn’t do anything about the strength of our section. We lost by one point to Bethel Park on the final shot of the game and Wheeling Park is a good team we played on the road in a good and competitive game.”

Trinity will play Plum (10-12) in the first round Friday at Baldwin (6:30 p.m.).

In other first-round boys games, Canon-McMillan plays North Allegheny at North Hills Wednesday at 8 p.m. Belle Vernon plays Deer Lakes Wednesday at Gateway (8 p.m.) and South Fayette plays Freeport at North Catholic, also Wednesday with an 8 p.m. start.

In Class AAA boys games Saturday, Washington is seeded No. 2 and will open against Ellwood City at Peters Township (3 p.m.) while Charleroi plays Aliquippa at Baldwin (2:30 p.m.) and Burgettstown faces third-seeded Riverside at North Allegheny (3 p.m.).

In Class AA games Tuesday, Fort Cherry plays Summit Academy at West Allegheny (8 p.m.) and Bentworth meets Jeannette at Norwin (6:30 p.m.). In Class A boys Friday, West Greene plays Eden Christian at Trinity (8 p.m.) and Avella goes to North Hills to play Imani Christian at 8 p.m.

In 6-A girls Tuesday, sixth-seeded Peters Township plays Seneca Valley at North Allegheny, and Canon-McMillan is at Charleroi to play Hempfield. Both games tip at 6:30 p.m. South Fayette will play Ringgold in a Class 5-A opener Friday (6:30 p.m.) at Peters Township. In Class AAA, Charleroi plays Seton-La Salle 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Peters Township.

Class AA begins 6:30 p.m. Friday night with Washington playing Beth-Center at Charleroi and California facing Sto-Rox at Trinity. In Class A girls, West Greene is the No. 4 seed and received a bye. Jefferson-Morgan plays 1:30 p.m. Saturday at North Allegheny against Sewickley Academy, and Avella meets St. Joseph at noon at Fox Chapel.