Fort Cherry struggled through three quarters, scrambled back close in the fourth only to fall to South Side in the 2A girls quarterfinals. Trailing by 16 through three, the Rangers twice got within 4 points but couldn’t close the deal, dropping into the consolation bracket. Rainey Staub led the rally, scoring 10 of her game-high 19 points in the final 8 minutes. Fort Cherry, with a state tournament berth in hand, will face Rochester in the Round I consolations Friday as the four quarterfinal loser play to determine their seeds in the state bracket. The West Greene boys lost to #1 Imani Christian. The Pioneers also enter the Round I consolation bracket but must win two straight to qualify for the PIAA tournament.
In dramatic fashion, a group of Washington & Greene County teams that numbered 24 has been cut down to five as the WPIAL Basketball playoffs move through quarterfinal round action. After Wednesday’s action, girls teams from Peters Township, Trinity and West Greene are still alive in the championship brackets along with boys teams from Fort Cherry and Canon-McMillan. Quarterfinals in the remaining eight brackets are scheduled over the next two nights. We’ll have the Peters Township & Trinity girls and Fort Cherry boys quarterfinal games on the WJPA Sports Network, both on-air and online. And, as we move through the brackets, we’ll have live coverage of as many games as we can, on-air and online. Our audio stream is free to all. The video, when possible, will be streamed through WPIAL partner NFHS Network (subscription required, links provided).
PIAA tournament spots will also be claimed over the next several days. So far, the Fort Cherry girls are the only team from the two-county area to have wrapped up a spot in the state tournament that begins March 8th. A Boys (Fort Cherry) and 5A Girls (Trinity) each send the top seven teams to the PIAA meaning they’ll each clinch with one more win, and they’ll have three chances to get that win. 6A Girls sends the top four teams meaning Peters Township must win Thursday to clinch. Only the top three advance to the state tournament in 6A Boys so Canon-McMillan will have to win twice, including Friday night’s quarterfinal against Central Catholic. Only the top 5 advance in 1A Boys and 1A Girls. For WPIAL brackets, CLICK HERE.
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, Feb. 21
2A Girls #12 South Side Area 50, #4 Fort Cherry 42 Listen/Watch Here
1A Boys #1 Imani Christian 60, #8 West Greene 26
Thursday, Feb. 22
6A Girls #2 Peters Township 58, #7 Pine-Richland 46 Listen/Watch Here
1A Girls #1 Union 59, #8 West Greene 14
Friday, Feb. 23
6A Boys #7 Canon-McMillan vs. #2 Central Catholic, 7 pm at Gateway
5A Girls #3 Trinity vs. #6 South Fayette, 5:45 pm at Peters Township, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen/Watch Here
2A Boys #4 Fort Cherry vs. #5 Bishop Canevin, 7:45 pm at Peters Township, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen/Watch Here
Consolation Round I
Friday, Feb. 23
2A Girls Fort Cherry vs. Rochester, 6 pm at Montour (winner to 5th place game, loser to 7th place game)
1A Boys West Greene vs. Monessen, 7 pm at Monessen (winner to 5th place game, loser eliminated)