Monday afternoon, the WPIAL Basketball Committee will release its six boys basketball playoff brackets. Those pairings will include 10 Washington & Greene County teams, six of them in the Class 2A bracket. Following is a playoff primer on all six boys brackets.
Class 6A – 11 teams with five first-round byes. Upper St. Clair (20-2) will be the top seed, with New Castle, Imani Christian, Central Catholic and Fox Chapel rounding out the top five. Butler, Mt. Lebanon and Seneca Valley should host opening-round games.
Class 5A – 17 teams including Peters Township (15-6). Montour (20-1) has been the #1 ranked team all season. Baldwin, Uniontown, Chartiers Valley and Moon Area will round out the top five. Peters Township is likely to be seeded 7th, funneling into a possible quarterfinal rematch with Baldwin.
Class 4A – 12 teams. Belle Vernon, Beaver Area, North Catholic and Avonworth should be the top four seeds, each receiving first-round byes. Central Valley, Deer Lakes, Elizabeth-Forward and Knoch should host opening-round games.
Class 3A – 16 teams including Charleroi (10-11), McGuffey (15-6) and Waynesburg (9-11). Aliquippa, South Allegheny, Mohawk and Bishop Canevin are likely the top four seeds, followed by Southmoreland and South Park. Keystone Oaks, Ligonier Valley, and McGuffey are next in line with the Highlanders likely settling in at #9, having to open the playoffs on the road.
Class 2A – 21 teams, including six from Washington/Greene Counties. Greensburg Central Catholic, Sewickley Academy, Neshannock, Jeannette and Chartiers-Houston (19-2) will be the top five seeds. Fort Cherry (12-8), Jeff-Morgan (14-7) and West Greene (12-8) will be in the next group of seven teams, six of whom will avoid preliminary games. Bentworth (10-10) and Beth-Center (9-13) will certainly have to play opening night.
Class 1A – 8 teams. Neighborhood Academy will be #1, followed by Serra Catholic and Nazareth Prep, the Section 1 champion. Serra beat Nazareth in mid-January to earn the second spot. Aquinas Academy will be fourth and host the quarterfinal round match-up, likely with Geibel Catholic.