Big schools open 2nd half of section play to hightlight Tuesday’s 3 things to watch

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, January 21, 2019 | 8:45 PM

The second half of section play in WPIAL boys basketball tipped off for many teams last week, but all of Class 6A and some other smaller sections will get the ball rolling on the final three weeks Tuesday.

The three section leaders in 6A will begin the second half on the road.

In Section 1, first-place Pine-Richland (5-0) visits fourth-place Seneca Valley (2-3).

Pine-Richland rolled to victory at home in the first meeting, 81-57. You can hear the game on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

In Section 2, Mt. Lebanon (5-0) heads south on Route 51 to Baldwin (1-4) to take on the fifth-place Highlanders. In the first meeting, the Blue Devils cruised, 72-43.

Finally, in Section 3, the top two teams square off as Latrobe (5-0) visits Fox Chapel (4-1) with section title ramifications at stake.

With the Wildcats winning the first meeting, 66-62, another victory over the Foxes will gives Latrobe a two-game lead with four section games remaining.

You can listen to this game at TribHSSN.TribLive.com

Big week for the Planets

Defending WPIAL boys’ 5A champions Mars has been cruising along on top of Section 3 with a nine-game winning streak.

But the Fightin’ Planets are going to have their hands full this week.

On Tuesday, Mars hits the road to take on third-place Shaler. The Titans are having a big year at 6-2 in the section and 11-4 overall and gave the Fightin’ Planets all they could handle in the first meeting, a 68-62 Mars win.

You can watch the game as Mars at Shaler is the TribLive High School Sports Network video stream Game of the Week.

On Friday, Mars returns home to battle second-place Franklin Regional (7-1).

One vs. two

The first meeting had everything, including a little controversy.

Now the top two teams in Section 1 and Class 3A collide for a second time when Lincoln Park hosts Aliquippa on Tuesday.

In the first meeting, Aliquippa had a two-point lead with 5 seconds left. The Quips’ Zuriah Fisher got the rebound of a missed free throw, passed the ball to Gevon Tyson, who threw the ball up in the air assuming time would run out on the clock.

But the clock never started on the rebound and there was still time left when Lincoln Park’s Keeno Homes caught the ball and was fouled. Holmes hit both free throws to tie the game, and the Leopards won 73-69 in overtime.

Since then, both teams have been racking up the victories with Lincoln Park going 8-1 since that first game, with five more section triumphs to add to their 83-game section win streak.

Aliquippa is 8-3 since the Dec. 18 heartbreaking loss to the Leopards. The Quips are 6-1 in the section and 10-4 overall.

Quips-Leopards II can be heard Tuesday at TribHSSN.TribLive.com

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Aliquippa, Baldwin, Fox Chapel, Latrobe, Lincoln Park, Mars, Mt. lebanon, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shaler