The WPIAL Basketball Championships got underway Thursday with three games at the Petersen Events Center in Oakland. Four games are set for Friday with five more on Saturday. WPIAL Brackets CLICK HERE
Peters Township was held 11 points under its season scoring average and fell to #2 Penn Hills in the WPIAL 5A Boys championship game. Peters led by as much as five points in the first quarter before the first of several Penn Hills runs tied the game. The teams traded the lead late in the second quarter with Peters going to the lockerroom up, 30-29. Penn Hills scored the first eight points of the third period and Peters was never able to pull even the rest of the way. The winners had several 6-0 runs and a pair of 8-0 runs to capture their 6th WPIAL title. Brendan McCullough led Peters Township with 19 points. Peters’ leading scorer for the season, Jack Dunbar, was injured in the first minute of the game and missed extended periods of the second half. The junior finished with 15 points, 11 of those in the first half. Nate Miller had 11. Daemar Kelly had game honors with 23. Noah Barren added 22 for Penn Hills. Both teams had already qualified for the PIAA tournament starting next Friday night.
Trinity girls downed Mars in the 5A fifth-place game. Both teams have already qualified for the state playoffs.
Thursday, Mar. 2
5A Boys Championship, Petersen Events Center
#2 Penn Hills 70, #1 Peters Township 65
5A Girls State Qualifier Bracket, 5th Place
#4 Trinity 46, #7 Mars Area 42