WPIAL lacrosse champions to face off in Thursday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 | 11:18 PM

It's not often when you get a WPIAL champion vs. champion matchup in any sport during the regular season. Sure, it has no bearing on the standings and the playoff chase, but the 2017 district champs square off Thursday in boys lacrosse.

WPIAL Class AAA champion Peters Township will host Class AA winner Mars.

The Fightin' Planets are looking to three-peat and are off to a 4-1 start, while the Indians look to become the first repeat champion in Class AAA as they are 7-1 thus far in 2018.

Another nonsection battle of playoff teams from a year ago in boys' lacrosse will be Freeport going up against South Fayette. Both teams are 3-2 this season.

Snowball slate

Yes, there are morning flurries in the forecast, but if the fields can stand some flakes before clearing out in the afternoon, a busy day of softball awaits.

In Section 1-6A, first-place Canon-McMillan brings a 3-0 record to Mt. Lebanon in a battle of playoff teams from a year ago. The 4-2 Blue Devils lost 6-5 in Canonsburg last month. The game can be heard here at 4:15 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Two teams chasing Class 5A defending champion West Allegheny in Section 3 meet as Mars visits Moon. While the Indians are a perfect 4-0 in section play, the Tigers are 5-1 and the Fightin' Planets are 3-1. On Monday, Moon crushed Mars in a make-up game 13-0.

The two top teams in Section 1-4A battle for first place as defending PIAA champion Mt. Pleasant travels to Indiana. The Vikings are 4-0 and the Little Indians 3-1 in section play. Mt. Pleasant won the first meeting 8-0.

One intriguing WPIAL baseball section game that will conclude the first half for both teams in Section 1-5A is Fox Chapel hosting Mars. Both teams lost to North Hills in the first half while the Foxes also fell to Armstrong last week.

Curtain drops on second half

The second half of section play begins Thursday in WPIAL Class AAA boys volleyball.

At the midway point, the three section leaders in Class AAA are Bethel Park in Section 1, North Allegheny in Section 2 and Penn-Trafford in Section 3.

The only battle of ranked teams Thursday takes place when North Allegheny visits Shaler in Section 2. The Titans' only section loss in the first half came March 27, when the Tigers rolled to a 3-0 win. The rematch can be heard on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

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

Tags: Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Fox Chapel, Indiana, Mars, Moon, Mt. lebanon, Mt. Pleasant, North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township, Shaler