A-K Valley basketball playoff capsules: Games for Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021

By: Greg Macafee
Friday, February 26, 2021 | 7:10 PM

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Saturday’s games

Boys

Class 5A

Preliminary round

18-West Allegheny (7-6) at 15-Plum (8-5)

Noon, Saturday

Coaches: Andrew Tsangaris, West Allegheny; Mark Marino, Plum

Winner players: At 1-New Castle (16-2), 6 p.m. Wednesday

About West Allegheny: The Indians won two of their final three games and put together a five-game winning streak in the middle of their season. Four of their losses came at the hands of Chartiers Valley and New Castle. They won all of their nonsection games.

About Plum: The Mustangs won their final four games, including section opponents Armstrong (twice) and Hampton. They lost to No. 4 Highlands by three points Feb. 12 after losing to them by 34 earlier in the year. Senior guard Connor Moss leads the Mustangs in scoring (18.5 ppg).

Class 5A

Preliminary round

20-Kiski Area (5-14) at 13-Trinity (8-8)

Noon, Saturday

Coaches: Will Saunders, Kiski Area; Tim Tessmer, Trinity

Winner plays: At 4-Highlands (13-4), 6 p.m. Wednesday

About Kiski Area: The Cavaliers lost four starters from last year’s team. They won two of their final five games and won both of their sectional matchups against Woodland Hills.

About Trinity: The Hilltoppers finished third in Section 2-5A behind No. 1 and 2 seeds Chartiers Valley and New Castle. They averaged 58.1 points per game while allowing 62.8. They lost three of their final four games.

Class 2A

Preliminary round

21-Riverview (3-11) at 12-Burgettstown (7-11)

Noon, Saturday

Coaches: Paul Sapotichne, Riverview; Tim Murray, Burgettstown

Winner plays: At 5-Jeannette (12-4), 6 p.m. Wednesday

About Riverview: Senior guard Gideon Deasy leads the Raiders in scoring with around 13 points per game. They scored a season-high 66 points against South Side Beaver on Feb. 3 and lost two of their games by five points or fewer, including a five-point loss to No. 4 Springdale on Jan. 19.

About Burgettstown: After losing their first five games, the Blue Devils won five of six from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5, including an eight-point win over No. 3 Sto-Rox. They lost to Sto-Rox by 21 earlier in the year. They finished their season losing four of their final five games.

Girls

Class 2A

Preliminary round

17-Springdale (5-11) at 16-Aliquippa (5-11)

Noon, Saturday

Coaches: Jerry Clark, Springdale; Dwight Lindsey, Aliquippa

Winner plays: At No. 1 Neshannock (13-2), 6 p.m. Tuesday

About Springdale: The youthful Dynamos, in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, earned their first section win in more than five years with a Section 4 victory over Jeannette. Sophomores Grace Gent and Caity Stec and freshman Katerina Puskar are team scoring leaders. Springdale won three straight for the first time since 2012 with consecutive victories over Jeannette (Feb. 13), Valley (Feb. 16) and Leechburg (Feb. 22).

About Aliquippa: The Quips return to the WPIAL playoffs after a one-year hiatus. Aliquippa has scored 41.4 points a game but has surrendered 50.3. Sophomore guard Angel Henry leads the team in scoring at 17 points a game. She had 27 in a loss to Shenango (14-6) on Jan. 21.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .