Feb 13, 2023 4 min read

Thirty area basketball teams – 16 girls and 14 boys – have qualified for the upcoming WPIAL playoffs.

Two local teams – the Peters Township boys and South Fayette girls, both in Class 5A – received No. 1 seeds when the playoff pairings were released Monday afternoon.

Peters Township (19-3), the champion of Section 1, took an 11-game winning streak into a non-section game Monday night against Baldwin. The Indians received the top seed ahead of No. 2 Penn Hills (16-3).

The South Fayette girls (20-2) are the defending Class 5A champions. The Lions have won 14 in a row. South Fayette’s only loss to a WPIAL opponent was a 43-40 setback at Class 6A Norwin in mid-December.

The Trinity girls (15-6) are the No. 4 seed in Class 5A.

The PT boys begin postseason play Friday (7 p.m.) at home against Penn-Trafford (7-15).

As it has done in recent seasons, the WPIAL gave home games to the higher seeded teams in the opening round, if the school’s gymnasium is deemed large enough to hold a playoff-sized crowd.

The South Fayette girls will debut Tuesday against the winner of a preliminary round game between Plum and Montour.

The South Fayette game will be part of a doubleheader on the Lions’ home court. The 6 p.m. opener will match the Fort Cherry boys (20-2), the No. 3 seed, against Clairton (10-12). The Rangers were the WPIAL runner-ups last year and have won 18 straight. Their only losses have come against a pair of Class 5A teams, Trinity and West Allegheny. Fort Cherry is seeded behind No. 1 Aliquippa (16-6) and No. 2 Bishop Canevin (18-4).

The WPIAL playoffs begin Thursday. Two local boys teams from Class 2A Section 4 will be in action in preliminary round games. Bentworth (12-10) is at Laurel (6-15) and Carmichaels (12-10) plays at South Side Beaver (7-15).

Twelve local teams begin play Friday, including a Class 2A girls game that has Fort Cherry (14-8) playing at Chartiers-Houston (15-7). It’s the only first-round game that matches two local schools.

Nine local teams – five girls and four boys – won either an outright section title or shared a championship. They received widely different seeds.

Among the girls section winners, Waynesburg (19-3), a WPIAL semifinalist last year, received only a No. 8 seed in Class 3A and will host ninth-seeded Seton LaSalle (12-9) at noon Saturday. Raiders coach Chris Minerd said he was stunned by his team’s seeding.

“That’s the worst-ever seeding I’ve seen for an outright section champion,” he said. “What kind of message does that send to all the schools, that a section championship means nothing?

“I know a lot of people aren’t happy with their seeding, but nobody can tell me we’re an 8-seed when we won a competitive section outright. It’s sad. It diminished what we accomplished in the section. … I feel bad for the girls. They’ve worked hard and I feel slighted.”

Minerd said his team will be playing with a little extra motivation in the postseason.

“We know teams from Washington and Greene counties have to play that way in the playoffs,” he said. “I’ll tell my team to keep playing and control what you can control and do the best you can.”

In Class 2A, section champions Burgettstown (17-5) and Washington (18-4) are seeded fifth and sixth, respectively. Monessen (15-5), the Class A Section 2 champion, is seeded fourth.

“I thought we’d be the fifth seed,” Burgettstown coach Megan Zitner admitted. “I was hoping to be seeded higher. When you compare our scores with the top four teams, in the games we played against common opponents, we’re very competitive with all of them.”

Class 3A Section 4 boys co-champion Washington (15-6) received the No. 8 seed and will play at home Monday against ninth-seeded Seton LaSalle (11-10). Monessen (20-2), which shared the Class A Section 2 title, is seeded sixth.

The Chartiers-Houston boys (16-6) is the only local team to finish as a section runner-up and not receive a home game. The Bucs are seeded ninth in Class 2A and will play at Shenango (14-8) in the first round Tuesday.

Bucs head coach Rich Tranquill refused to play the disrespect angle and instead looks at what the Bucs could accomplish.

“We were hoping for as high as the No. 7 seed. We’re disappointed we’re not playing at home,” he said. “The guys are excited. We had a good practice (Monday).

“If we win one game, then our chances of making the state playoffs are good. We’ve played pretty well on the road, with only two losses. I’m proud of the way our guys have played all season.”