What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Jan. 7, 2022: Boys basketball unbeatens collide

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, January 6, 2022 | 6:24 PM

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Once you reach the one-month mark of the WPIAL basketball regular season, the “battle of unbeaten” matchups become rare.

However, two Section 2-4A teams who are a combined 13-0 collide on the first “Frayday” of 2022.

First place will be up for grabs when Montour (7-0) hosts Quaker Valley (6-0).

Both teams have won their first three section games, the Quakers by an average of 28 points per game and the Spartans by a 20-point average.

Both teams were impressive in their 2022 debuts Tuesday.

Senior Adou Thiero broke the Quaker Valley school record for most points in a game when he scored 44 points in a 54-point rout of Hopewell.

Montour was paced by Isayah Mosley’s 16 points while Diaun Pinkett added 14 points in the Spartans’ 47-32 win at Central Valley.

You can watch the black and gold showdown at 7:30 p.m. on Trib HSSN.

Almost perfect

Another big Friday showdown in WPIAL basketball was nearly a perfect battle.

Northern rivals take to the court for the first of three regular season meetings when North Hills visits North Allegheny.

It has been a great start for last week’s HSSN Team of the Week as North Hills sits alone in first place in Section 1-6A with a record of 3-0 in the section and 9-0 overall.

North Allegheny is 2-1 in section and 8-1 overall. The lone blemish came Tuesday when the Tigers lost to Butler, 84-78.

NA has had the advantage in recent years in this rivalry. The Tiegrs won six straight until the Indians upset them last season, 60-41, in a game that ended an eight-game winning streak for North Allegheny and was only the fourth win of the year for North Hills.

You can listen to the game on Trib HSSN at 7:30 p.m.

Opposite directions

Thirty-three years ago, Penn Hills defeated McKeesport, 56-46, to win the 1989 WPIAL Class AAAA girls basketball championship.

It was the fourth straight crown won by the Indians, who continued on for three more years to end up with seven straight district championships and eight titles in 10 years.

McKeesport won its first and only girls basketball championship nine years later in 1998 thanks to the play of then-senior Swin Cash.

Now these two eastern rivals are headed in opposite directions.

McKeesport is in first place in Section 4-5A with an 8-0 overall record.

Penn Hills is still searching for its first won of the season. The Indians are 0-7.

The two meet at Penn Hills in the opener of a girls-boys doubleheader at 6 p.m. Friday.