2026 WPIAL Class A girls basketball championship breakdown: Geibel Catholic vs. Serra Catholic

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 1:00 PM

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WPIAL Class A girls basketball championship

No. 4 Geibel Catholic vs. No. 2 Serra Catholic

3 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center

Audio broadcast: Trib HSSN

WPIAL titles: Geibel Catholic 7 (1998, ‘96, ‘95, ‘94, ‘93, ‘88, ‘84); Serra Catholic 4 (2005, ‘03, 1999, ‘92)

Geibel Catholic (23-1)

Coach: Sara Larkin

Projected starting lineup

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

0, Janiah Darnell, 5-9, jr., F

10, Mallory Clemmer, 6-1, so., F

11, Alexa Morgan, 5-7, fr., G

15, Emaleigh Horn, 5-5, fr., G

22, Emma Larkin, 5-5, sr., PG

How they got here: Geibel defeated St. Joseph, 55-53, in the quarterfinals; and No. 1 Aquinas Academy, 52-50 in overtime, in the semifinals.

Notable: Geibel Catholic had just one loss all season — a 51-50 defeat against Serra Catholic on Feb. 5. The Gators beat Serra Catholic, 64-55, on Jan. 12. … Geibel has averaged 66.8 ppg this season, tops in Class A. It has limited opponents to 29.1 ppg, also best in the classification. … Emma Larkin and Mallory Clemmer were each among the WPIAL’s leading scorers during the regular season at 24.8 ppg and 22.2 ppg, respectively. … Clemmer had 24 points, and Larkin scored 13 in the semifinal victory against Aquinas. … In the quarterfinals, Clemmer scored the game-winning basket with 5.5 seconds left, then made a last-second steal. She had 13 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Larkin scored 34 points in the quarterfinal win. … Geibel Catholic is among six teams with seven WPIAL titles, trailing only North Catholic (23), Vincentian Academy (11) and Blackhawk, Mt. Alvernia and Penn Hills, with eight each. Blackhawk will try for a ninth title Saturday.

Serra Catholic (17-6)

Coach: Mike Voit

Projected starting lineup

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

0, Bella Dumbroski, 5-9, so., G

3, Niki Sfanos, 5-6, sr., G/F

14, Lexi Pearce, 5-6, fr., G

24, Abby Genes, 5-8, sr., G

25, Aryanna Kinard, 5-7, G/F

How they got here: Serra Catholic beat No. 7 Sewickley Academy, 53-49, in the quarterfinals; and No. 3 Union, 48-36, in the semifinals.

Notable: Serra Catholic shared the Section 2 title with Geibel Catholic at 13-1. … The Eagles caught fire late in the season, rattling off eight straight wins before a loss to Class 2A WPIAL finalist Winchester Thurston in the regular-season finale. … Serra Catholic averaged 57.6 ppg while allowing 39.6. … Bella Dumbroski averaged 21 ppg this season and was among the top scorers in the WPIAL. … In the semifinal victory over Union, Dombroski had 19 points, including three 3-pointers, and Lexi Pearce added 12. … Serra Catholic has won four WPIAL titles, including two in a three-year stretch between 2023-25. … The Eagles played in the WPIAL championship in 2024 but lost to Greensburg Central Catholic.

Next up: The winner will open the PIAA playoffs March 7 against the fourth-place finisher from District 6. The loser will play the District 6 third-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: Geibel, Serra Catholic