Class 6A, 4A boys wrap up WPIAL quarterfinals in 3 games to watch Saturday

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 23, 2018 | 6:15 PM

It's the midway point on the Path to the Pete as Round 2 of the boys basketball district playoffs wraps up Saturday, setting the stage for the Final Four in Class 6A and Class 4A with four quarterfinals clashes in each classification.

Class 6A quarterfinals: Central Catholic vs. Penn Hills at Canon-McMillan, noon

It was 10 years ago that Central Catholic celebrated its only WPIAL basketball championship with a thrilling title-game victory over Moon that was documented in the TribHSSN's Top 10 WPIAL boys basketball championship games of all time .

It has been 15 years since Penn Hills last wore a boys basketball district crown after a triumph over Upper St. Clair in 2003. It would surprise nobody if one of these two teams were golden in 2018.

Many thought Central Catholic would be the top seed when the brackets came out last week. Following a rare miss from the 2017 postseason, the Vikings bounced back to win the Section 1-6A title and were awarded the No. 4 seed. They still earned a first-round bye and will be hitting the court for a game for the first time in 12 days. Marist recruit Luke Nedrow is a key player for the Vikings, who have some size and versatility inside and on the perimeter.

Penn Hills has a big man who can dominate as well in Daivon Stephens. He had 14 points in the Indians' narrow 52-51 first-round victory over Upper St. Clair. Corey Fulton led Penn Hills with 15 points. The Indians finished the regular season 5-3 in their final eight after winning their first 14 games. The last time these former section rivals faced each other in the postseason was March 13, 2004, when the Indians beat the Vikings, 65-54, in a PIAA quarterfinal playoff game.

Watch this game on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Class 6A quarterfinals: Fox Chapel vs. Pine-Richland at North Hills, noon

Fox Chapel and Pine-Richland last met on the hardwood in boys basketball in the first round of the 2015 WPIAL playoffs. The Foxes were the No. 12 seed in that 16-team Quad-A bracket and pulled off a 49-35 stunner. That was the last WPIAL boys basketball playoff loss for Pine-Richland.

The Rams look for a ninth consecutive district playoff victory Saturday after the two-time champions survived a scare in the first round last Saturday. Phil Jurkovec had 23 points and Dan Petcash added 18 as the Rams came back late to knock off Bethel Park, 66-62. Pine-Richland finally has its entire team intact after missing players because of football commitments and injury for a good portion of the regular season. Center Andrew Kristofic is a force on the blocks now that he is back from a thumb injury.

Fox Chapel might be rusty, but the Foxes certainly won't be intimidated by Pine-Richland. The Foxes haven't played in nearly two weeks and lost in their regular season finale to Central Catholic. But before that, nobody was playing better ball in the classification. Fox Chapel had won nine straight and 12 of 13 before the loss to the Vikings. Carson Cohen is one of the top scorers in 6A, averaging more than 20 points. He scored 22 points in Fox Chapel's regular-season finale.

Class 4A quarterfinals: Indiana vs. Uniontown at Gateway, 2:30 p.m.

This is a matchup of two schools located in two basketball-loving towns that have a reputation of hopping in their cars or fan buses and driving off to support their beloved high school teams. And drive they will Saturday afternoon. The commute from Uniontown to Gateway is 1 hour, 7 minutes, while the drive from Indiana to is 1 hour, 2 minutes.

Indiana captured a fifth consecutive section championship by beating out both Valley and Freeport by two games in Section 1-4A. Last year, the WPIAL rewarded the four playoff teams from Section 2 with first-round byes. There was talk of doing that again this season, however section champs Belle Vernon and Indiana were seeded 3 and 4 and did not play in the opening round. At one point, Indiana was 13-1 this season, but went 4-4 in its final eight games. Carlos Carter is a key for the Little Indians' success as he average 23.7 points.

The much anticipated Indiana vs. Central Valley quarterfinal was scrapped after the Warriors were stunned by No. 12-seed Uniontown in Round 1 on Wednesday. The Red Raiders trailed 47-40 after three quarters, but held Central Valley to only 10 fourth-quarter points while Uniontown scored 19. Trenton Uphold led the Red Raiders with 22 points while Billy Deshields added 15. It was Uniontown's first postseason victory since 2014.

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

Tags: Fox Chapel, Greensburg C.C., Indiana, Penn Hills, Pine-Richland, Uniontown