The WPIAL Basketball Playoffs continue over the weekend. We’ll update the daily schedule here. You can hear live coverage of four more first round games on WJPA over the next several days. All of our broadcasts will be available online as well. There are now ten teams from Washington County (5 girls, 5 boys) plus two girls teams from Greene County left in the brackets with championships set for the Petersen Events Center March 2-4. WPIAL Brackets CLICK HERE
Saturday, Feb. 18
3A Girls #4 Avonworth 48, #13 McGuffey 30
3A Girls #3 Neshannock 73, #14 Charleroi 29
3A Girls #8 Waynesburg 64, #9 Seton-La Salle 55
Avonworth led the McGuffey girls by nine at intermission, then powered in 13 straight points to open the third quarter. The Antlelopes never looked back. Alexis Ewig led the Highlanders with 9 points, most of them in the final period. Neshannock led 45-16 at the half, led by a school-record 40 points from Marian Haggerty. Bella Carroto led Charleroi with 10 points. Waynesburg advanced with a win in the 8-9 game, paced by Kaley Rohanna’s 31 points. Josie Horne added a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds).
Friday, Feb. 17
2A Girls #7 Chartiers-Houston 38, #10 Ft. Cherry 36
2A Girls #11 Aliquippa 45, #6 Wash High 39
2A Girls #5 Burgettstown 56, #12 Winchester Thurston 40
2A Girls #4 Greensburg Central Catholic 83, #13 California 23
2A Girls #1 Shenango 63, #16 Carmichaels 32
5A Boys #2 Penn Hills 38, #15 Trinity 29
5A Boys #1 Peters Township 66, #16 Penn-Trafford 55
1A Boys #4 Geibel Catholic 70, #13 Avella 33
1A Boys #5 Neighborhood Academy 70, #12 Mapletown 41
1A Boys #7 Aquinas Academy 61, #10 Jeff-Morgan 40
The winners all advance to Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The 2A girls winners also clinched berths in the PIAA tournament where the WPIAL qualifies eight teams.
Chartiers-Houston girls built a 10-point halftime lead only to see Ft. Cherry tie the game early in the fourth before the Bucs held off the upset bid. Kaydan Buckingham (11 points) and Ava Capozzoli (10) led CHHS. Cayleigh Brown’s 15 points weren’t enough for #6 Wash High girls as the Little Prexies were upset at home by Aliquippa. The Quips got 16 points from Aunesty Johnson, 11 more from Angel Henry. Kaitlyn Nease paced the Burgettstown girls with 18 points on the way to a comfortable win over Winchester Thurston. Jill Frazier’s 16 points helped the Blue Devils to a 29-8 lead at the break. Sky Still and DaShae Cochran combined for all but three of Winchester Thurston’s points.
Trinity boys hung around with #2 Penn Hills, trailing by only four with just under seven minutes to play but couldn’t pull off the upset. Daemer Kelly hit all 13 of his free throws, part of his game-high 21 points to lead the Indians. Jonah Williamson and Jacob Dunkle each had 8 points for the Hillers. Brendan McCullough and Jack Dunbar combined for 30 points for the Peters Township boys as the #1 Indians went up big early and held Penn-Trafford at arms length the rest of the way. Tyler Freas score 18 for the Warriors. Avella boys trailed 21-6 after the first quarter and never recovered despite Westley Burchiant’s 22 points.