A-K Valley WPIAL basketball playoff capsules: Games for Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 | 3:03 PM

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WPIAL basketball playoffs

Boys

Class 4A

Quarterfinals

4-Hampton (21-2) vs. 5-Highlands (20-3)

8 p.m. Thursday at North Allegheny High School, McCandless

Winner plays: Winner of 1-Lincoln Park (22-1)/8-South Allegheny (19-4) in semifinals Monday (site, time TBD)

Players to watch: Robert Coll, Hampton; Cam Reigard, Highlands

Layup lines: These Section 1 rivals are quite familiar with one another. Hampton swept the season series to claim the section title at 10-0, winning 73-58 on Jan. 3 and 51-46 on Jan. 27. Both of those wins, however, came with guard Peter Kramer in the lineup. He had 37 and 13 points, respectively. The 6-foot-4 junior is ineligible for the postseason after transferring from Shady Side Academy last summer. Hampton is coming off a 65-50 win over No. 13 Blackhawk in the first round. Coll had 16 points, Liam Mignogna added 14, Eric Weeks scored 13, Jaden McMeeken tallied nine and Brennan Murray eight in a balanced attack. The Talbots have won 15 straight games since a 71-63 loss to Chartiers Valley on Dec. 27. … Highlands is averaging 75.7 points behind Braydn Foster (20.4), Jimmy Kunst (17.5) and Reigard (15.2). In Monday’s 71-34 win over Elizabeth Forward, Reigard had 17 points, followed by Foster with 15, Kunst with 14, Landan Signorella with 11 and Jordyn Tavarez with 10. The Golden Rams have won six straight games since losing to Hampton.

Class 3A

Quarterfinals

4-Mohawk (20-3) vs. 5-Deer Lakes (14-8)

6 p.m. Thursday at Moon High School, Moon Township

Winner plays: Winner of 1-Steel Valley (13-9)/9-Seton LaSalle (12-10) in semifinals Monday (site, time TBD)

Players to watch: Bobby Fadden, Mohawk; Bryce Robson, Deer Lakes

Layup lines: Mohawk tied Neshannock for the Section 1 title with a 10-2 record and averages 66.9 points, second in Class 3A to Deer Lakes (69.7). The Warriors finished the regular season with back-to-back losses to Neshannock and Central Valley but bounced back in the first round to beat Derry, 66-56. Fadden (17.5 ppg) scored 32 points in the win. Mohawk is trying to reach the WPIAL semifinals for the first time since 1970. … Deer Lakes also is looking to end a long drought of reaching the final four. The Lancers’ last trip to the semifinals was in 1985. They are coming off a 76-57 win over Ellwood City, where Robson and Billy Schaeffer each scored 17 points and Nate Litrun added 16. The Lancers, who shared the Section 3 title with Shady Side Academy, have won nine of their last 11 games.

Girls

Class A

Quarterfinals

5-St. Joseph (19-4) at 4-Monessen (15-5)

7 p.m. Thursday at Monessen High School, Monessen

Winner plays: Winner of 8-West Greene (13-9) at 1-Union (15-6) in semifinals Monday (site, time TBD)

Players to watch: Anna Kreinbrook, St. Joseph; Hailey Johnson, Monessen

Layup lines: A win for St. Joseph will put it in the semifinals for the second year in a row. The Spartans upset three-time defending champion Rochester in the quarterfinals last year. St. Joseph left no doubt Monday in a 64-26 quarterfinals victory over Geibel Catholic. Junior Julie Spinelli led all scorers with 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists. Kreinbrook, also a junior, scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds and five blocks. She has 102 blocks on the season. Sophomore Gia Richter added 13 points. … Monessen, a youthful team with no seniors on the roster, captured the Section 2 championship with a 9-1 record. The Greyhounds lost their regular-season finale but had won 13 in a row before that after a 2-4 start. Three players scored in double figures for Monessen in a win over Avella on Feb. 9 which clinched the outright section crown. Freshman guard Madison Johnson led with 13, freshman guard/forward Na’Jaziah Carter scored 12 and junior guard/forward Hailey Johnson chipped in with 11. … The winner of Thursday’s matchup also will clinch a PIAA playoff spot. The loser of the game is not done, however, as it will enter a play-in bracket to determine the fifth-place entry to the state tournament.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Hampton, Highlands, Mohawk, Monessen, St. Joseph