Most area high school basketball teams have one game remaining in the first half of their seasons with another complete trip through section ahead. Girls teams have a full schedule on Monday’s slate with Peters Township girls wrapping up Tuesday as part of their girls/boys doubleheader at Bethel Park. Boys teams’ first trip through section games is slated to end tomorrow night. There’s no real break as teams return to section play on Thursday/Friday.
Wrestling squads are nearing the end of their dual meet campaigns, at least the matches that count toward WPIAL/PIAA Team Tournament qualifying. The top two teams in each section will qualify for the WPIAL Team Tournaments along with two wild cards in each classification. The WPIAL Team Tournament brackets will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 22, the day after the final matches.
Here’s a look at Monday’s girls action and what it means:
6A Section 2 Canon-McMillan (4-1) maintained a share of the lead with Norwin, beating Connellsville, 55-22.
5A Section 2 Trinity (4-2) won at Uniontown, 52-40, keeping the Hillers a game ahead of Peters Township (2-3) and Bethel Park. Those two play Tuesday with the winner taking over sole possession of fourth place.
4A Section 3 Ringgold (3-4) won at home against Mt. Pleasant, 33-29, pulling the Rams into a three-way tie for fourth place with the Vikings and Laurel Highlands.
3A Section 3 McGuffey (4-2) lost at Seton-La Salle, 56-48. Coupled with Waynesburg’s 62-28 home win over Charleroi (1-5), the Highlanders are in a three-way tie for second place with the Raiders and Keystone Oaks. KO topped Wash High (2-4), 41-36, pushing the Little Prexies two games back of the playoff pack.
2A Section 2 Fort Cherry (5-0) sits alone atop the section after a 60-15 win at South Side (3-2). Burgettstown (4-1), moves into second place with a 40-17 home win against Carlynton (0-5).
2A Section 3 Chartiers-Houston (6-0) leads the section after its 60-24 home win against Bentworth (2-3). The Bearcats dropped into fourth place with the loss. California (4-1) took over sole possession of second place with a 38-29 win at Beth-Center (3-2). Jeff-Morgan (1-4) picked up its first win of the season, beating winless Carmichaels, 33-17.
1A Section 2 West Greene (5-2) and Avella (1-6) have both completed their first trips through the league. West Greene is solidly in third place, two games back of the first place Geibel Catholic, one game better than Bishop Canevin (4-3) a 47-23 winner at Mapletown (0-7). Avella sits two games back of the final playoff spot in the 8-team section.