2026 WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball championship breakdown: South Fayette vs. Thomas Jefferson

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 12:01 PM

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WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball championship

No. 1 South Fayette vs. No. 2 Thomas Jefferson

7 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center

Audio broadcast: Trib HSSN

WPIAL titles: South Fayette 4 (2024, ‘23, ‘22, ‘16); Thomas Jefferson 0

South Fayette (24-1)

Coach: Bryan Bennett

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

1, Lailah Wright, 5-7, jr., G

3, Haylie Lamonde, 5-8, sr., G

14, Juliette Leroux, 5-11, sr., G/F

21, Ella Vierra, 5-9, so., G

24, Ryan Oldaker 5-11, sr., G

How they got here: South Fayette defeated No. 16 Kiski Area, 79-18, in the first round; No. 9 Trinity, 26-23, in the quarterfinals; and No. 12 Peters Township, 66-27, in the semifinals.

Notable: After winning three WPIAL titles between 2022-24 and finishing second last year to Peters Township, South Fayette has been the top-ranked team in Class 5A all season. … En route to winning the Section 3 title at 12-0, the Lions averaged a WPIAL-high 70.2 ppg while allowing just 33.9 ppg. … Their lone loss came against Miami Country Day (Fla.) at the Tampa Bay Invitational in December. … Four South Fayette players earned first-team all-section honors — guards Lailah Wright, Haylie Lamonde, Ryan Oldaker and Juliette “JuJu” Leroux. All four started last season’s WPIAL title game, and each scored in double figures in the semifinal win over Peters Township — Leroux (20), Oldaker (12), Lamonde (12), Wright (10). … Guards Kenzie Rumberger and Ella Vierra were second-team selections. … Oldaker (Marist), Leroux (Florida Atlantic) and Lamonde (South Carolina Upstate) are Division I college commits, while Wright and Vierra also are drawing Division I interest. … Coach Bryan Bennett was named the section’s coach of the year. … In addition to winning three of the past four WPIAL titles, the Lions were crowned PIAA champions last winter and were state runners-up in 2023.

Thomas Jefferson (23-2)

Coach: Matt Gould

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

2, Riley McCabe, 5-8, sr., G

3, Emma Altavilla, 6-0, jr., F

5, Emily Hritz, 5-5, jr., G

22, Maggie Spell, 5-10, sr., G

24, Alexandra Wilson, 6-1, jr., F

How they got here: Thomas Jefferson beat No. 15 Penn Hills, 65-26, in the first round; No. 7 Fox Chapel, 72-44, in the quarterfinals; and No. 6 Penn-Trafford, 69-41, in the semifinals.

Notable: Thomas Jefferson is seeking its first WPIAL girls basketball championship. … The Jaguars are riding a 15-game winning streak. Their lone losses were to Class 6A finalist Norwin and Bishop Guilfoyle. … TJ claimed the Section 4 title with a 12-0 record and outscored opponents 60.6-39.9 on average. … After reaching the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA second round last season, the Jaguars had high expectations behind senior Campbell commit Maggie Spell, senior Frostburg State commit Riley McCabe and junior guard Kaylee DeAngelo, a Robert Morris recruit. DeAngelo, however was lost for the season with a knee injury. … Spell, a 2,000-point scorer in her career, averages nearly 18 ppg. … Spell and McCabe were first-team all-section. Juniors Allie Wilson (Mercyhurst) and Emily Hritz were second-team picks. … Coach Matt Gould was the Section 4 coach of the year. … Thomas Jefferson last reached the WPIAL finals in 2019 when the Jaguars lost to Chartiers Valley.

Next up: The winner will open the PIAA playoffs March 7 against the eighth-place finisher from District 3. The loser will play the District 3 seventh-place finisher.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: South Fayette, Thomas Jefferson