A-K Valley basketball playoff capsules: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020

By: Greg Macafee
Friday, February 14, 2020 | 6:11 PM

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Boys

Class 2A

First round

No. 4 Springdale (19-3) vs. No. 13 Sewickley Academy (7-12)

2:30 p.m. Saturday at Shaler

Winner plays: No. 5 Laurel (14-8) vs. No. 12 Winchester Thurston (10-10) Friday in the quarterfinals

Coaches: Aaron Epps, Springdale; Win Palmer, Sewickley Academy

Points scored/allowed: Springdale, 64.3/53.8; Sewickley Academy, 48.1/53.3

Players to watch: Demitri Fritch, Springdale (jr., G/F); Max Belt, Sewickley Academy (jr., G)

About Springdale: The Dynamos captured their first section championship since 1993 after only suffering one loss in section play. They earned big victories over Sto-Rox, Greensburg Central Catholic and swept rival Riverview. They started off the season undefeated before losing their 11th game to Shady Side Academy. Springdale is looking for its first title since 1989.

About Sewickley Academy: The Panthers won back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2017-18. This season, they’ve earned wins over Serra Catholic, Laurel and South Side. They’ve lost their last three games coming into the playoffs, including a 40-point blowout by No. 1 seed Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

Class A

First round

No. 8 Leechburg (15-5) vs. No. 9 Geibel Catholic (14-8)

1 p.m. Saturday at Thomas Jefferson

Winner plays: No. 1 Vincentian Academy (18-4) Thursday in the quarterfinals

Coaches: Damian Davies, Leechburg; Don Porter, Geibel Catholic

Points scored/allowed: Leechburg, 70.6/54.9; Geibel Catholic, 67.0/60.3

Players to watch: Dylan Cook, Leechburg (jr., G); Enzo Fetsko, Geibel Catholic (sr., G)

About Leechburg: The Blue Devils are in search of their first WPIAL title since 2007, and they are in the playoffs for a school-record fifth straight year. Damian Davies is back at the helm of the team and has them running on all cylinders late in the season. They’ve won seven of their last eight games, beating Imani Christian (88-76) and Clairton (85-40) during that stretch. They also scored 103 points against Aquinas on Jan. 21.

About Geibel Catholic: The Gators have four different players scoring in double digits and have secured wins over Riverview and Aquinas. Like Leechburg, the Gators scored 103 points on Aquinas in a 103-99 high-scoring battle. They finished as the No. 3 seed in Section 2-A behind Bishop Canevin and Monessen.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Geibel, Leechburg, Sewickley Academy, Springdale