A-K Valley basketball playoff capsules: Games for Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021
By:
Friday, February 26, 2021 | 7:10 PM
Saturday’s games
Boys
Class 5A
Preliminary round
18-West Allegheny (7-6) at 15-Plum (8-5)
Noon, Saturday
Coaches: Andrew Tsangaris, West Allegheny; Mark Marino, Plum
Winner players: At 1-New Castle (16-2), 6 p.m. Wednesday
About West Allegheny: The Indians won two of their final three games and put together a five-game winning streak in the middle of their season. Four of their losses came at the hands of Chartiers Valley and New Castle. They won all of their nonsection games.
About Plum: The Mustangs won their final four games, including section opponents Armstrong (twice) and Hampton. They lost to No. 4 Highlands by three points Feb. 12 after losing to them by 34 earlier in the year. Senior guard Connor Moss leads the Mustangs in scoring (18.5 ppg).
Class 5A
Preliminary round
20-Kiski Area (5-14) at 13-Trinity (8-8)
Noon, Saturday
Coaches: Will Saunders, Kiski Area; Tim Tessmer, Trinity
Winner plays: At 4-Highlands (13-4), 6 p.m. Wednesday
About Kiski Area: The Cavaliers lost four starters from last year’s team. They won two of their final five games and won both of their sectional matchups against Woodland Hills.
About Trinity: The Hilltoppers finished third in Section 2-5A behind No. 1 and 2 seeds Chartiers Valley and New Castle. They averaged 58.1 points per game while allowing 62.8. They lost three of their final four games.
Class 2A
Preliminary round
21-Riverview (3-11) at 12-Burgettstown (7-11)
Noon, Saturday
Coaches: Paul Sapotichne, Riverview; Tim Murray, Burgettstown
Winner plays: At 5-Jeannette (12-4), 6 p.m. Wednesday
About Riverview: Senior guard Gideon Deasy leads the Raiders in scoring with around 13 points per game. They scored a season-high 66 points against South Side on Feb. 3 and lost two of their games by five points or fewer, including a five-point loss to No. 4 Springdale on Jan. 19.
About Burgettstown: After losing their first five games, the Blue Devils won five of six from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5, including an eight-point win over No. 3 Sto-Rox. They lost to Sto-Rox by 21 earlier in the year. They finished their season losing four of their final five games.
Girls
Class 2A
Preliminary round
17-Springdale (5-11) at 16-Aliquippa (5-11)
Noon, Saturday
Coaches: Jerry Clark, Springdale; Dwight Lindsey, Aliquippa
Winner plays: At No. 1 Neshannock (13-2), 6 p.m. Tuesday
About Springdale: The youthful Dynamos, in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, earned their first section win in more than five years with a Section 4 victory over Jeannette. Sophomores Grace Gent and Caity Stec and freshman Katerina Puskar are team scoring leaders. Springdale won three straight for the first time since 2012 with consecutive victories over Jeannette (Feb. 13), Valley (Feb. 16) and Leechburg (Feb. 22).
About Aliquippa: The Quips return to the WPIAL playoffs after a one-year hiatus. Aliquippa has scored 41.4 points a game but has surrendered 50.3. Sophomore guard Angel Henry leads the team in scoring at 17 points a game. She had 27 in a loss to Shenango (14-6) on Jan. 21.
Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .
More Basketball
• WPIAL launches investigations into Baldwin, Imani Christian over ‘possible recruiting violations’• Penn Hills notebook: Basketball grad to play professionally in Ireland
• New coach Gabby Baldasare excited to fill big shoes with North Allegheny girls basketball
• Woodland Hills provides ‘right situation’ for Steve Scorpion’s 2nd chance as head coach
• Gene Brisbane resigns as Derry girls basketball coach