Westmoreland basketball playoff preview capsules for Saturday’s games

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 22, 2018 | 5:30 PM

WPIAL basketball playoff capsules

Boys

Class 6A

Quarterfinals

No. 9 Latrobe (15-7) vs. No. 1 Mt. Lebanon (19-3)

3 p.m. Saturday at Canon-McMillan

On the air:TribHSSN.triblive.com

Winner plays: Winner of No. 4 Central Catholic (14-8)/No. 5 Penn Hills (20-3) on Wednesday in semifinals.

Coaches: Brad Wetzel, Latrobe; Joey David, Mt. Lebanon.

Players to watch: Bryce Butler, 6-5, Jr., G, Latrobe; Antonio Garofoli, 5-9, Sr., G, Mt. Lebanon.

Layup lines: Two of the WPIAL's highest-scoring teams could put on a track meet. … Reed Fenton scored 24 points and Butler had 23 to power the Wildcats past Butler in the first round, 73-66. The Golden Tornado came back from 16 down in the third quarter to take the lead late before Latrobe regained control. … Latrobe leads 6A teams in scoring at 72.5 points a game. … Senior center Marcus Dudzenski and senior forward Jason Armstrong are a quietly productive frontcourt tandem for the Wildcats, and are physical defenders. … Latrobe is in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season and is trying to reach the semifinals for the second time in three years. … Mt. Lebanon, the WPIAL's choice as the favorite in a field many coaches believe is wide open, has not played since Feb. 9, a 14-day layoff. The Blue Devils won the Section 2 title. … Mt. Lebanon lost in the first round last year to Woodland Hills, 47-43. … Talented long-range shooter Garofoli leads the Blue Devils in scoring at 17 ppg. He had 44 points and 11 3-pointers in one game. … Latrobe has scored 70 or more points 15 times and Mt. Lebanon has done it 10 times. … David played at Pitt from 1982-86. … Both teams have losses to No. 7 seed Canon-McMillan. … The winner qualifies for the state playoffs.

Class 4A

Quarterfinals

No. 3 Belle Vernon (17-5) vs. No. 6 Ambridge (13-9)

1:30 p.m. Saturday at West Allegheny

On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com

Winner plays: Winner of No. 2 New Castle (18-4)/No. 7 South Fayette (16-7) on Wednesday in semifinals.

Coaches: Kyle DeGregorio, Belle Vernon; Mark Jula, Ambridge.

Players to watch: Cameron Nusser, 5-9, So., G, Belle Vernon; Aaron Hilzendeger, 6-6, Jr., F, Ambridge

Layup lines: Belle Vernon, the Section 3 champion, enters the postseason having won eight of its past 10 games and received a bye to the quarterfinals. The Leopards have a deep rotation that often has 10 players seeing minutes. Nusser is a threat from beyond the arc. Joey Sabolek, Griffin LaCarte, Bryce Washington and Derek Thomas have all had double-digit scoring efforts this season. … Ambridge trailed No. 11 Deer Lakes at halftime Wednesday but rallied in the final two quarters for a 62-56 victory. Hilzendeger, who scored 13 points, is part of a sizeable frontcourt that includes 6-foot-7 Liam Buck, who had 21 points against Deer Lakes. Hilzendeger averages nearly 20 points.

Tags: Ambridge, Belle Vernon, Latrobe, Mt. lebanon