The PIAA Basketball playoffs tipped off Friday night with a pair of wins by Washington County teams. Burgettstown girls rallied from a 12-point first quarter deficit to down District 6 runner-up United in overtime. Kaitlyn Nease led the Blue Devils with 18 points. Eden Rush had 15, including a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Jillian Frazier had 11 for the winners. Peters Township boys advanced by outlasting Milton Hershey School. The Indians led by five after one, were tied at the break, up five again after three, and pushed the margin to seven in the final minute of the game. Brendan McCullough (21), Mickey Vaccarello (14) and Nate Miller (10) all reached double figures for Peters Township. Chartiers-Houston and Waynesburg girls teams both lost and were eliminated. PIAA Brackets
Trinity scored just four points over the final 11 minutes of the first half and never recovered, losing to Cathedral Prep. Senior Eden Williamson led Trinity with 12 points in her final game.
Friday, March 10, First Round (winners to Tuesday)
2A Girls Burgettstown 57, United 52 OT
2A Girls Homer Center 43, Chartiers-Houston 20
3A Girls Mercyhurst Prep 73, Waynesburg 35
5A Boys Peters Township 60, Milton Hershey 53
Saturday, March 11, First Round (winners to Wednesday)
5A Girls Cathedral Prep 48, Trinity 30
Tuesday, March 14, Second Round (sites/times to be determined) (winners to Friday)
5A Boys 7-2 Peters Township vs. 3-7 Lampeter-Strasburg, 5:15 pm at Altoona WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
2A Girls 7-3 Burgettstown vs. 10-1 Kennedy Catholic, 6:45 pm at New Castle WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here