A-K Valley basketball playoffs preview capsules for Friday’s games

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 15, 2018 | 7:21 PM

Friday's games

Boys

WPIAL Class 3A

First round

No. 5 Burrell (10-12) vs. No. 12 Riverside (12-9)

8 p.m. at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic

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Winner plays: No. 4 Aliquippa (15-6)/No. 13 South Side Beaver (9-12)

Layup lines: Burrell earned the best seed of the three teams that tied for the Section 3 title, with Shady Side Academy receiving the No. 7 seed and East Allegheny No. 8. Burrell held section opponents under 40 points in eight of 10 games. The backcourt tandem of Jake Okopal and Logan Bitar has played a key role for the Bucs, along with center Donovan Russell. … Riverside finished fourth in Section 1, but did score a nonsection victory over Indiana, which is the No. 4 seed in Class 4A. Senior guard Ty Thellman is Riverside's leading scorer at 16 points per game.

Girls

WPIAL Class 5A

First round

No. 1 Trinity (19-3) vs. No. 16 Plum (6-16)

8 p.m. at West Allegheny

On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com

Winner plays: No. 8 South Park (13-9)/No. 9 Ambridge (12-10)

Layup lines: For the second consecutive year, Plum will play Trinity in the first round. The Mustangs fell 61-20 last year. Plum earned a playoff berth by defeating Franklin Regional, 46-36, in the final Section 4 game of the year. Freshman forward Kennedie Montue has had a breakout season. … Trinity, the Section 3 champ, was the only team in Class 5A to finish with a perfect section record. Riley DeRubbio averages nearly 18 points. The Hillers made the semifinals last year and lost in the finals two years ago.

WPIAL Class 2A

First round

No. 5 Serra Catholic (14-7) vs. No. 12 Riverview (11-10)

6:30 p.m. at Northgate

On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com

Winner plays: No. 4 Greensburg C.C. (12-10)

Layup lines: Riverview went 4-1 in Section 2 play in its last five games to secure fourth place and return to postseason after missing last season. Sophomore guard Sydney McDonough leads the Raiders in scoring, averaging 12 points. Mckenzie Smail, the lone Raiders senior, averages just under eight points. … Serra Catholic shared the Section 3 title with Greensburg Central Catholic. Gigi Mele-Madigan, Rylan German and Rayna Andrews all average more than 10 points.

No. 6 Leechburg (18-4) vs. No. 11 Frazier (13-9)

6:30 p.m. at West Allegheny

On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com

Winner plays: No. 3 Chartiers-Houston (17-5)

Layup lines: Leechburg's senior starters Mikayla Lovelace, Brittany Robillio, Daesha Knight, Cam Davies and Makenzie Fello enter the postseason after making a run to the WPIAL quarterfinals and PIAA second round last year. Lovelace, Leechburg's all-time leading scorer and an IUP recruit, averages over 24 points and needs 31 to reach 2,000 for her career. The Blue Devils average 62 points. … Frazier features Brooke Poling, who averages 24 points and is the school's all-time leading scorer. The Commodores are seeking their first playoff victory since 2015.

— Jerin Steele

Tags: Burrell, Frazier, Leechburg, Plum, Riverside, Riverview, Trinity