Westmoreland high school week ahead: Week of Jan. 22, 2018
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Sunday, January 21, 2018 | 10:21 PM
MONDAY
Girls basketball
Tasked with having to rally from a slow start, Greensburg Central Catholic (7-6, 6-2 Section 3-2A) has answered the call. The Centurions have won five in a row and are back in the section race. Surging GCC will host first-place Serra Catholic (9-4, 7-1) on Monday night.
• The playoff race in Section 3-4A will be aided by the results of two key games: No. 4 Keystone Oaks (12-3, 8-0) at Mt. Pleasant (5-9, 3-5) and Southmoreland (9-6, 3-5) at Belle Vernon (11-4, 7-1).
• An important Section 4-5A game has Armstrong at Franklin Regional. Armstrong won the first meeting 40-36.
• Also in Section 3-2A, Jeannette will go for an upset when it visits California.
Hockey
Franklin Regional (9-4) looks to keep pace with South/East Division-leading Latrobe as the Panthers take on Upper St. Clair (7-5) at 7:15 p.m. at Ice Castle.
• Latrobe (10-4) and Hempfield (8-3) face off at 7:15 at Kirk Nevin Arena.
TUESDAY
Boys basketball
Franklin Regional has not lost in Section 3-5A this season, but the Panthers (11-2, 5-0) will face a stern road test when they visit Highlands (9-3, 3-1). Franklin Regional won the first meeting 70-46, but coach Steve Scorpion anticipates a tougher challenge from the Golden Rams, who average 65 points.
• Another good game from that section features Armstrong (6-8, 2-3) at Greensburg Salem (8-5, 1-3).
• In ultra-competitive Section 3-6A, Hempfield (4-11, 1-7) goes to Plum (5-10, 0-8), Penn Hills (15-1, 7-1) visits Norwin (9-6, 4-4) and Penn-Trafford (6-10, 3-5) goes to Latrobe (10-5, 5-3).
• Belle Vernon (9-4, 5-2) hosts South Park (6-6, 4-3) in Section 3-4A, and Mt. Pleasant (3-13, 1-5) at Derry (5-6, 3-3) could be a decent game in Section 1-4A.
Girls basketball
Injury-plagued Penn-Trafford (7-7, 3-3), fresh off its buzzer-beating thriller against Norwin, visits Section 2-6A-leading Latrobe (11-2, 5-0), and Penn Hills (8-6, 2-3) goes to Norwin (6-8, 4-2).
WEDNESDAY
Wrestling
Seven sites will host section tournaments as the WPIAL team postseason begins. The top five teams at each tournament advance to the WPIAL finals Feb. 3. Matches begin at 6 p.m.
• Hempfield hosts Section 1-AAA with Armstrong, Greensburg Salem, Kiski Area, Plum and Franklin Regional.
• Section 2-AAA at Peters Township has Belle Vernon, Connellsville, Upper St. Clair, Thomas Jefferson and Mt. Lebanon.
• In Class AA, Derry hosts McGuffey, Elizabeth Forward, Jefferson Morgan and Mt. Pleasant.
THURSDAY
Girls basketball
The top two teams in Section 2-6A meet again as Norwin heads to Latrobe to try to avenge a 60-45 loss.
• In Section 3-5A, Greensburg Salem will play at first-place Trinity, and Belle Vernon heads to South Park in a Section 3-4A clash.
Boys basketball
Derry is in position to chase a playoff berth in Section 1-4A, and a home win over Deer Lakes would help.
Hockey
The local game to watch in the PIHL has Penn-Trafford taking on Armstrong at 8:20 p.m. at Center Ice in Delmont.
FRIDAY
Boys basketball
Gateway was flat the first time it played Franklin Regional in Section 3-5A, but the Gators look to avoid a sweep against the neighboring Panthers.
• Section 3-6A has Hempfield at Woodland Hills, Norwin at Latrobe and Plum at Penn-Trafford.
Diving
The Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships open with the diving portion of the competition, starting at 5 p.m. at Derry.
SATURDAY
Swimming
The WCCA championships continue at Derry. Swimming begins at 10 a.m. Defending champions are: Franklin Regional (Class AAA girls), Hempfield (AAA boys) and Derry (AA girls and boys).
— Bill Beckner Jr.
Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Hempfield Area, Jeannette, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford
More High School Basketball
• WPIAL launches investigations into Baldwin, Imani Christian over ‘possible recruiting violations’• Westmoreland high school notebook: Puck drops for area’s PIHL teams
• Penn Hills notebook: Basketball grad to play professionally in Ireland
• New coach Gabby Baldasare excited to fill big shoes with North Allegheny girls basketball
• Dana Petruska comes out of retirement to take over as girls basketball coach at Deer Lakes