Handful of A-K Valley basketball teams get No. 5 seeds in WPIALs

By: Michael Love
Monday, February 13, 2023 | 7:09 PM

The WPIAL boys and girls basketball “second season” now is set as the 12 brackets were revealed Monday afternoon.

The Highlands and Deer Lakes boys and St. Joseph and Knoch girls lead the Alle-Kiski Valley qualifiers as all four drew No. 5 seeds in their respective tournaments.

“We definitely have a tough first-round draw,” said Deer Lakes boys coach Albie Fletcher, who will guide his Lancers (13-8) into a Class 3A first-round matchup with Ellwood City (15-7) at home Monday at 7 p.m.

“They were kind of who we thought we would get based on some of the predictions, so we already started to prepare a little bit. They have had great success as a program recently and also this year.”

Two years ago, Ellwood City made a magical run to a WPIAL title as the No. 11 seed in Class 3A.

“Don Rebel said it on his broadcast that this is like Christmas morning for basketball coaches and their players,” Fletcher said.

“The atmosphere and environment that comes with the playoffs is so special. The guys are excited to open at home in front of the students and community.”

Deer Lakes, co-champions of Section 3 with Shady Side Academy at 10-2, saw a seven-game win streak in section play snapped with a loss to the Bulldogs on Friday. The Lancers won the first meeting, 53-51, on Jan 17.

Shady Side is seeded third.

Burrell (13-9), which finished one game back of the leaders in Section 3, drew the No. 10 seed in Class 3A and will travel to No. 7 Yough on Monday at 7.

The Highlands boys (19-3), winners of five in a row, finished runner-up to Hampton in Section 1 of Class 4A, and the only two section setbacks were to the champion Talbots.

The Golden Rams, who reached the semifinals in Class 5A last year, now turn their attention to a home first-round matchup with No. 12 Elizabeth Forward (8-13) on Monday at 7.

Elizabeth Forward finished fourth in a rugged Section 3 with No. 2 Laurel Highlands and No. 3 Uniontown leading the way.

The potential is there for a third game between Highlands and Hampton, the No. 4 seed, in the quarterfinals.

“We’re excited,” Highlands coach Corey Dotchin said. “It is a standard now for this team to be ready with a goal of getting to the WPIAL championship. This is the best time of the year.”

“February Madness” will continue over the next two weeks and conclude March 2-4 with the 12 championship games at Petersen Events Center.

Consolation games return this year to determine several of the boys and girls PIAA qualifiers.

Fox Chapel won last year’s WPIAL Class 6A boys title. Now in the Class 5A bracket, the Foxes, 13-8 before a game Monday against McKeesport, have their work cut out for them as they hope to get back to the WPIAL title game. The No. 11 seed will visit No. 6 Thomas Jefferson (15-7) in the first round Friday.

Kiski Area (11-11) is the No. 14 seed in Class 5A, and the Cavaliers will play at No. 3 North Hills (17-5) on Friday at 8. Freeport (13-8) is the No. 15 seed in Class 4A and will take on Laurel Highlands (19-2) on Monday at 7.

Knoch (7-14) drew the No. 16 seed in Class 4A and will host a play-in game Thursday at 7 p.m. against No. 17 West Mifflin. The winner moves to the first round against top seed Lincoln Park (21-1) on Monday.

Freeport and Knoch finished tied for third place in Section 1.

The Apollo-Ridge girls (19-3) finished runner-up to No. 1 seed Shady Side Academy in Section 3-3A. The Vikings earn the No. 6 seed and host No. 11 Mohawk (14-8) at noon Saturday.

“The girls are really excited to host a playoff game. Apollo-Ridge hasn’t hosted a playoff game, boys or girls, in the history of the school district,” veteran coach Ray Bartha said.

“Mohawk likes to press, and they have a big girl, like 6-foot or 6-1. We will trade films with them and then get to work.”

Mohawk won back-to-back WPIAL Class 3A titles in 2020 and 2021.

Burrell joins Apollo-Ridge in the Class 3A bracket. The No. 15 Bucs (10-12), who defeated Deer Lakes last Thursday in a winner-take-all for fourth in Section 3, will face No. 2 Laurel (19-2) on Saturday at noon.

The St. Joseph girls kicked off their season with a 54-48 win over Belle Vernon, the No. 8 seed in Class 4A, and the Spartans (18-3) remained strong throughout the regular season.

They are the No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 Geibel (11-11) on Monday at 7. The top four seeds in Class A received byes to the quarterfinals.

Also in Class A, No. 7 Riverview (11-9) will host No. 10 Avella (12-10), and No. 9 Leechburg (7-11) travels to No. 8 West Greene. Both games are Monday at 7.

While North Catholic was the class of Section 1-4A and is seeded second, Knoch (14-7) and Highlands (14-7) split their season series and finished tied for second place at 9-3.

Knoch, which made a run to the Petersen Events Center last year and won its first-ever state playoff game, will host No. 12 Hopewell (10-12) in the first round Tuesday at 7.

At the same time, No. 6 Highlands will host No. 11 Laurel Highlands (11-11).

Penn Hills (10-10), Plum (12-9) and Kiski Area (9-12) finished tied in the Section 2-5A standings at 6-6.

Penn Hills, the No. 14 seed who will face McKeesport in the first round Tuesday, won the tiebreaker for third.

Plum and Kiski Area split their season series and finished tied for fourth.

Kiski Area, which earned a WPIAL playoff spot for the first time since 2012, is No. 15 and will face No. 2 Oakland Catholic on Tuesday at Fox Chapel.

Plum, the No. 16 seed, will have one more home game as it hosts No. 17 Montour (7-14) on Thursday in a play-in game at 7 p.m. The winner will face No. 1 South Fayette (20-2) in the first round next Tuesday.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.