2015 WPIAL Girls Basketball Playoff Preview

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 13, 2015 | 1:09 PM

It starts with 74 basketball teams and will conclude in two weeks with four teams lifting the golden basketball. Here is a preview laden with plenty of postseason Factoids for the 2015 WPIAL Girls Basketball Playoffs.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA

Defending champion: Penn-Trafford

Top seeds: Penn-Trafford first, North Allegheny second, Norwin third, Bethel Park fourth

High scorers: Amanda Kalin, Pine-Richland, 20.0; Alayna Gribble, Norwin, 18.0.

Check this out: Last year was the first time a team from Section 1 made the championship. And two of them made it last year (Penn-Trafford and Hempfield). Penn-Trafford is the No. 1 seed this year and Norwin, the No. 3 seed, also is from Section 1. Penn-Trafford won a section title this year for only the fifth time in school history. … All four No. 1 seeds in the WPIAL playoffs are defending champion. The others are Blackhawk, Seton-LaSalle and Vincentian. … Gateway gives up only 34.9 points a game, the best in Class AAAA. … The top offensive team in the AAAA bracket is North Allegheny, which averages 59.4 a game. One of North Allegheny’s top players is Meg Morningstar, who is a Notre Dame volleyball recruit. … Mt. Lebanon vs. Penn Hills is one of the top first-round games. Both teams are 13-9. … Norwin finished second to Penn-Trafford in Section 1, but don’t underestimate Norwin. With Alayna Gribble (18.0), Norwin can make some noise.

Remember when: North Allegheny hasn’t been to a title game since 1999. That year, North Allegheny lost in the championship for the third year in a row, losing to Oakland Catholic, 45-42. It was the first WPIAL title for Oakland Catholic coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, who is now Pitt’s coach.
 

WPIAL CLASS AAA

Defending champion: Blackhawk

Top seeds: Blackhawk first, Mars second, Indiana third, Chartiers Valley fourth

High scorers: Chassidy Omogrosso, Blackhawk, 26.7; Claire Oberdorf, Greensburg Salem, 26.5.

Check this out: Five of the top six leading scorers in the WPIAL during the regular season were from Class AAA and all five are in the playoffs. Besides Omogrosso and Oberdorf, the other three are McGuffey’s Sammie Weiss, Beaver’s Lexi Posset and Belle Vernon’s Kaitlyn Slagus. … Blackhawk has two Division I college players in Omogrosso (Duquesne) and Courtney Vannoy (Loyola, Md.). … Two of the top three scoring teams in the entire WPIAL are in the Class AAA bracket. Blackhawk led the WPIAL, averaging 69 points a game. Ambridge was third at 64.9. … Hampton allows only 34 points a game and is in the playoffs for the 23rd consecutive seasons, the fourth-longest current streak in the WPIAL.

Remember when: The two highest-scoring efforts in Class AAA playoff history came against Blackhawk. Tanisha Wright scored 51 against Blackhawk in the 2000 AAA championship game. One year later, Jess Strom scored 45 in the 2001 semifinals. But Blackhawk won both games.

WPIAL CLASS AA

Defending champion: Seton-LaSalle

Top seeds: Seton-LaSalle first, Burrell second, Greensburg Central Catholic third, Carlynton fourth

High scorers: Alexa Williamson, Chartiers-Houston, 22.1; Katie Stang, Riverside, 21.3.

Check this out: Greensburg Central Catholic won its 27^th section title, the second-most in WPIAL history behind North Catholic’s 32. Seton-LaSalle is third in section titles with 22. … Char-Houston’s Williamson stands 6-1 and was the WPIAL’s seventh-leading scorer during the regular season. And get this: she’s only a freshman. … Greensburg Central has outscored opponents, 62-33. … Burrell made it to the semifinals two years ago for the first time in school history. Last year, the Bucs made it to the WPIAL final. Is this the year they make it to the top of the mountain? … If Burrell would meet Seton-LaSalle in the title game, there would be four Division I college players on the court. Seton-LaSalle’s Cassidy Walsh is going to Pitt and Nicolete Newman to Cleveland State. Burrell’s Sydney Bordonaro is headed to Pepperdine and Natalie Myers to Youngstown State. … Avonworth made the playoffs with an 8-13 record and is in the playoffs for the 24^th consecutive season, the third-longest current streak in the WPIAL.

Remember when: Fifteen years ago, Kristen Bonner set a WPIAL playoff record for 3-pointers when she had nine against Ford City. Six years later, Bethel Park’s Katie Kendall tied the record with nine against Woodland Hills.
 

WPIAL CLASS A

Defending champion: Vincentian

Top seeds: Vincentian first, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic second, California third, Quigley fourth

High scorers: Sam Breen, North Catholic, 23.2; Ciara Clark, Aliquippa, 20.9.

Check this out: North Catholic is in the playoffs for the 40^th consecutive season, the longest streak in WPIAL history. Serra is in for the 33^rd year in a row, the second-longest streak. … Vincentian is trying to win a fourth consecutive WPIAL title. Penn Hills, Oakland Catholic and Geibel are the only teams to win four in a row. … Vincentian’s Brenna Wise already has more than 2,000 career points, but she is closing in on 1,000 rebounds. Wise has won 103 games during her career. Vincentian is No. 2 in the WPIAL in scoring at 67.8 points a game. … California made it to the semifinals last year for the first time in school history, and is looking to go further this year. … Jefferson-Morgan plays Cornell in a first-round game tomorrow. The boys teams from the same two schools square off in a first-round game tonight. Both games are at Baldwin.

Remember when: In the first round of the 1988 WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, North Catholic set a WPIAL playoff record for most points with a 100-49 victory against Ellwood City. North Catholic’s leading scorer in that game was Molly Larkin with 19 points. She is now Molly Rottman and the highly successful Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic coach.