Four Washington County teams qualified for the upcoming PIAA basketball playoffs–Avella & Trinity girls, Peters Township & Ringgold boys–along with West Greene girls. In addition, another 11 teams in regional coverage area qualified for the five-round two week tournaments that begin Friday, March 6th. The PIAA pairings have been posted. PIAA Brackets. We’ll carry three of the four Washington County teams’ first-round games this weekend. Here’s the first-round schedule for the 16 area teams (Wash/Greene match-ups are bold):
Friday, March 6
4A Boys Ringgold vs. 3-1 Lancaster Catholic, 7 pm at Warwick HS, Lititz — WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
4A Boys Belle Vernon vs. 9-1 Clearfield, 7:30 pm at St. Mary’s
5A Boys South Fayette vs. 3-1 Muhlenberg, 5 pm at Milton Hershey
5A Boys Chartiers Valley vs. 3-2 Milton Hershey, 5 pm at Harrisburg
5A Boys Thomas Jefferson vs. 3-3 New Oxford, 6 pm at Dallastown
6A Girls Bethel Park vs. 3-5 Gov. Mifflin, 6 pm at Peters Township
6A Girls Upper St. Clair vs. 6-2 State College, 7 pm at Bald Eagle Area
6A Girls Mt. Lebanon vs. 6-1 Altoona, 7:30 pm at Mt. Aloysius
Saturday, March 7 1A Girls Avella vs. 9-1 Coudersport, 2 pm at St. Mary’s — WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here 1A Girls West Greene vs. 10-1 Kennedy Catholic, 2:30 pm at Peters Township
6A Boys Upper St. Clair vs. Allderdice, 1:30 pm at Fox Chapel 6A Boys Peters Township vs. 10-2 McDowell, 4:00 pm at Edinboro University
6A Boys Mt. Lebanon vs. 3-4 Cedar Crest, 4:30 pm at Peters Township
5A Girls Thomas Jefferson vs. 6-1 Portage, 1 pm at Mt. Aloysius
5A Girls Chartiers Valley vs. 10-3 Warren, 3 pm at South Fayette 5A Girls Trinity vs. 7-5 Penn Hills, 4:30 pm at South Fayette — WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sidney Crosby takes full responsibility for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ current rut. Evander Kane had a goal and an assist, Martin Jones made 30 saves in his 24th career shutout and the San Jose Sharks sent the Penguins to their first six-game losing streak in eight years with a 5-0 victory on Saturday night. “I put it on myself,” Crosby said. “I have to step up in key situations. When you’re down like this and losing games, you need big plays and big performances. I haven’t done that. That’s on me.” Crosby has one goal, no assists and a minus-8 rating during the team’s first six-game skid since the 2011-12 season. Pittsburgh has been outscored 24-8 with all the losses in regulation, falling from first place to third in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins even went winless on a California swing against the bottom three teams in the Western Conference, having lost to Los Angeles and Anaheim earlier in the week. Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Timo Meier and Joel Kellman also scored to give the Sharks back-to-back wins following a five-game losing streak.
Washington & Jefferson outscored host St. Vincent in each quarter, upsetting the #1 seed in the PAC Women’s Basketball semifinals. #2 Grove City jumped in front, then held off a Westminster second half rally as the Wolverines beat the Titans. Friday’s winners meet in Saturday’s PAC Championship game. On the men’s side, the final is set: #5 Geneva, winners of two straight road playoff games, will take on top-seeded Grove City.
The winners of Saturday’s PAC Championship games earn the League’s automatic bids to the NCAA Division III tournaments.
PAC Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (Friday at St. Vincent) #2 Grove City over #3 Westminster, 70-58
#4 Wash & Jeff over #1 St. Vincent, 74-53
Finals (Saturday, 5 pm at St. Vincent)
#4 Washington & Jefferson vs. #2 Grove City
PAC Men’s Basketball Championship Finals (Saturday, 7:30 pm)
#5 Geneva at #1 Grove City
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – John Gibson made 28 saves, Brendan Guhle scored the winning goal in the second period and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Danton Heinen and Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Ducks, who have won two straight for the first time in over three weeks. Anaheim was missing its top three defensemen. Jason Zucker scored both of Pittsburgh’s goals. The left wing has 19 goals, with five coming in nine games with Pittsburgh since he was acquired from Minnesota. The Penguins have five straight regulation losses for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Trinity closed the first half with an 8-0 run, rolling to a comfortable win over Woodland Hills and a berth in Saturday’s 5A Girls championship game. The Hillers will face defending WPIAL/PIAA champion Chartiers Valley. The Colts scored the first 19 points of the game against Thomas Jefferson and were never threatened. Elsewhere, 6A Mt. Lebanon shut down Central Catholic while #1 Butler needed overtime to advance for the second straight game. The Golden Tornado’s win over Upper St. Clair keeps Peters Township’s PIAA playoff hopes alive. Belle Vernon knocked off 4A New Castle to reach the finals, The Leopards will face #1 Highlands who beat Blackhawk, extending Ringgold’s state playoff hopes for a few more days. We’re working on our Saturday broadcast plans and could bring you as many as four championship games. Bracket & Listen links and the complete schedule for our coverage follow.
WPIAL Basketball Championships at Petersen Events Center Thursday, Feb. 27
5 pm 2A Girls #2 Biship Canevin vs. #4 Laurel
7 pm 1A Boys #1 Vincentian vs. #3 Cornell
9 pm 3A Boys #1 Lincoln Park vs. #2 North Catholic
Friday, Feb. 28
3 pm 1A Girls #2 West Greene vs. #1 Rochester
5 pm 2A Boys #1 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart vs. #2 Sto-Rox
7 pm 4A Girls #1 North Catholic vs. #2 Southmoreland
9 pm 5A Boys #3 Mars Area vs. #8 Laurel Highlands
Saturday, Feb. 29
11 am 3A Girls #1 Beaver vs. #2 Mohawk
1 pm 4A Boys #6 Belle Vernon vs. #1 Highlands 2:50 pm 5A Girls #3 Trinity vs. #1 Chartiers Valley — WJPA-FM (95.3)
7 pm 6A Girls #1 Bethel Park vs. #2 North Allegheny
9 pm 6A Boys #3 Mt. Lebanon vs. #1 Butler
Geneva continued its upset run through the PAC Men’s Basketball tournament. The #5 Golden Tornado followed up a road win at #4 W&J with an impressive rout at #2 Chatham. Now, top-seeded Grove City awaits in the championship game Saturday following the Wolverines’ one-point win over St. Vincent. On the women’s side, the top four seeds are headed for #1 St. Vincent for their final four weekend.
The winners of Saturday’s PAC Championship games earn the League’s automatic bids to the NCAA Division III tournaments.
PAC Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (Friday at St. Vincent)
#3 Westminster vs. #2 Grove City
#4 Wash & Jeff vs. #1 St. Vincent
Finals (Saturday at St. Vincent)
Semifinal winners
PAC Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (Thursday)
SF 1 Grove City 70, St. Vincent 69
SF 2 Geneva 91, Chatham 63
Maria Sharapova says she is retiring from professional tennis at the age of 32. The five-time Grand Slam title champion and former No. 1-ranked player has been dealing with shoulder problems for years. She played only two matches this season and lost both. Sharapova burst onto the tennis scene at 17 when she won Wimbledon in 2004. She would go on to complete a career Grand Slam with two titles at the French Open and one each at the U.S. Open and Australian Open. She served a 15-month ban after failing a doping test in 2016.
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Patrick Reed closed with a 4-under 67 to take the Mexico Championship. Reed was two shots back with four to play before reeling off three straight birdies to overtake Bryan DeChambeau for his second World Golf Championship title. He recovered from a wild tee shot into the trees on 18 to two-putt from 35 feet to wrap up his eighth PGA title at 18 under. DeChambeau appeared to seize control with five birdies in a six-hole stretch starting at No. 9. He settled for second after completing a 65. Jon Rahm and Erik Van Rooyen were three off the pace and one ahead of Rory McIlroy.
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Ryan Newman has said through a statement that he suffered a head injury in his crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 but did not disclose details. Roush team president Steve Newmark opened a news conference before Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by reading a lengthy statement from Newman. Newman wrote that he was fortunate to avoid any internal organ damage or broken bones, and that the doctors have been pleased with his progress over the last few days. He said he is looking forward to getting behind the wheel again. However, there’s no timetable for his return to competitive racing. Newmark said it is Newman’s intent to race for the 2020 Cup championship this season, and the driver plans to ask NASCAR for an exemption to qualify for the playoffs once he’s medically cleared to return.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Braden Holtby made 33 saves to help the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 and end their losing streak at four. The Capitals vaulted over their archrivals into first place in the Metropolitan Division. T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal with 9:20 left in the third period to give Washington just its second victory in eight games. Former Penguins winger Carl Hagelin scored twice in the third period for the Capitals. Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist and Evgeni Malkin scored for Pittsburgh. The Penguins lost their third in a row to cool off and fall into second place.
Washington & Jefferson outscored host St. Vincent in each quarter, upsetting the #1 seed in the PAC Women’s Basketball semifinals. #2 Grove City jumped in front, then held off a Westminster second half rally as the Wolverines beat the Titans. Friday’s winners meet in Saturday’s PAC Championship game. On the men’s side, the final is set: #5 Geneva, winners of two straight road playoff games, will take on top-seeded Grove City.