All-time WPIAL girls basketball championship games No. 9: 1991 St. Francis Academy tops Geibel Catholic

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 19, 2018 | 7:18 PM

The TribLive High School Sports Network will be counting down the Top 10 boys and girls WPIAL basketball championship games leading up to the 2018 title games March 1-3 at the Petersen Events Center.

TRIBHSSN is the exclusive audio and video home for all 12 WPIAL championship games, which will be broadcasted and video streamed live at TribHSSN.triblive.com.

Here is the second installment of a 10-part series ranking the top WPIAL girls basketball championship games in district history.

No. 9: 1991 — WPIAL Class A finals: St. Francis Academy 63, Geibel Catholic 60

Talk about your crossroads title games. This championship contest set the stage for one dominating run while marking the end of an era for the other school.

St. Francis Academy was a small all-girls school located in Castle Shannon in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. It had a well-earned reputation of dominance on the hardwood with a WPIAL Class A championship in 1985 and back-to-back district crowns in 1989 and 1990.

With shrinking enrollment, the diocese decided to close the doors to the school after the 1990-91 school year, so the Ciscans went out with a bang. They held Geibel Catholic's dynamic duo of Robin Guerriere and Erin Rupp somewhat in check in the title game as St. Francis went out on top with 63-60 victory. The win avenged the Ciscans' 69-60 loss to the Gators in December of that season.

But shed no tears for the previously-unbeaten Gators, for after another loss in the district finals in 1992 to Serra Catholic, Geibel went on a tear with four consecutive WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball championships and an overall record of 106-9 from 1993-96.

Don Rebel is a TribLIVE High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Geibel