Lady Gators seeded second; LH put at No. 8
Jonathan Guth | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic’s girls basketball team rode a 21-1 overall record and its first section championship in 17 years to a No. 2 seed in Class A in the WPIAL playoffs.
The WPIAL playoff pairings were released Monday afternoon and the Lady Gators, who were 13-1 in winning Section 1-A, received a first-round bye and will open their postseason at home on Feb. 20 against No. 7 West Greene or No. 10 Eden Christian, who meet on the Lady Pioneers’ floor on Feb. 17.
The top four seeds in Class A are Union, Geibel, Clairton and Serra Catholic.
Laurel Highlands was seeded eighth in Class 4A and hosts No. 9 Knoch in a 7 p.m. game on Feb. 17.
Also in the playoff field are Belle Vernon, Mount Pleasant, Brownsville, Beth-Center, California and Carmichaels.
Lady Mustangs coach Stewart Davis wasn’t surprised his team was matched up against Knoch but did feel LH deserved a slightly higher seed. Laurel Highlands finished third with an 11-3 mark in Section 3-4A and was 16-5 overall. Central Valley, which was 8-4 and third in Section 2-4A and 14-7 overall, was seeded seventh.
“I didn’t foresee being an eighth seed because I didn’t think Central Valley had as strong of a season as we did,” Davis said. “We played a strong non-section schedule. I think what hurt us was the road loss at South Park, and also the fact we’re a Fayette County team and I don’t think they do us teams around here fair all the time.”
If Laurel Highlands can get past Knoch it would likely play top-seeded Blackhawk in the quarterfinals.
Davis feels the deep playoff run his team had last year, when it reached the WPIAL semifinals and won a PIAA playoff game, will help his squad this year.
“I think we’re a little more mature and ready to play this year,” Davis said. “Last year was our growth season. We didn’t place that expectation on us to go that far. Being that we did play in those games it gave us a lot of valuable experience.
“We’re going to go in and prepare for Knoch and get a game plan for them. I did get a chance to watch Knoch. Being at home, with the community behind us and the energy we’ll have in that building, that should give us a big advantage.
“Everyone is eager to get going.”
Also among local teams in Class 4A, No. 10 Belle Vernon (11-11, 8-6, fourth in Section 3-4A) is at Central Valley and No. 14 Mount Pleasant (6-15, 5-9, tied for fifth in Section 3-4A) is at No. 3 North Catholic (19-3, 13-1, tied for first in Section 1-4A), both on Feb. 17.
The top four seeds in Class 4A are Blackhawk, Oakland Catholic, North Catholic and Elizabeth Forward.
Brownsville (13-9, 5-7, fourth in Section 3-3A) qualified in Class 3A for the second year in a row and was seeded 15th. The Lady Falcons play at No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic (17-4, 12-2, second in Section 2-3A) on Friday.
The top four seeds in Class 3A are Shady Side Academy, Greensburg Central Catholic, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Keystone Oaks.
In Class 2A, No. 9 Beth-Center (13-8, 7-3, tied for second in Section 3-2A) is at No. 8 Laurel (9-13, 5-5, tied for third in Section 1-2A), No. 12 California (11-7, 7-3, tied for second in Section 3-2A) is at No. 5 Fort Cherry (17-3, 9-1, tied for first in Section 2-2A) and No. 15 Carmichaels (3-18, 3-7, tied for fourth in Section 3-2A) is at No. 2 Aliquippa (15-4, 9-1, tied for first in Section 1-2A), all on Feb. 18.
The top four seeds in Class 2A are Neshannock, Aliquippa, Winchester Thurston and South Side.
The top four seeds in Class 6A are Norwin, Upper St. Clair, Seneca Valley and Canon-McMillan.
The top four seeds in Class 5A are South Fayette, Peters Township, Penn-Trafford and Shaler.
The number of PIAA qualifiers out of each bracket was also revealed as follows: Class 6A (3), Class 5A (8), Class 4A (6), Class 3A (6), Class 2A (7) and Class A (6).