What to watch for in WPIAL sports March 1, 2021: Basketball playoffs enter March Madness

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, February 28, 2021 | 10:33 PM

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Day 2 of the 2021 WPIAL boys and girls open basketball tournament officially becomes March Madness.

The preliminary round concludes with 22 boys and girls games Monday with all but one of them starting at 6 p.m. The Steel Valley at Charleroi boys game is an 8 p.m. tip.

Boys play-ins

• Speaking of Steel Valley, the Ironmen entered last week having played just one game all year because of various covid shutdowns.

Steel Valley crammed in four games last week, all losses, in preparation for the district playoffs.

The Ironmen visit Charleroi on Monday to play for the No. 10 seed in the boys Class 3A tournament. The Cougars have won four straight and five of their last six overall.

• While the girls opted out, Ligonier Valley gets a taste of the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs Monday when it visits Brownsville.

The Rams were District 6 runners-up to Richland in Class 3A a year ago and finished with a record of 23-4.

Both Ligonier Valley and Brownsville enter this battle for the No. 16 seed with four wins each.

All 11 Class 4A and 3A boys playoff games can be seen or heard Monday only on Trib HSSN.

Girls pigtails

• Moon and Indiana are on opposite ends of the district map with the Tigers’ home in the west and the Little Indians’ in the far east.

Ten years ago, these two girls basketball programs were also polar opposites.

Indiana reached the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals and lost to eventual champion Blackhawk, 69-61. The Little Indians finished the 2011 season with a record of 24-3.

There were no deep playoff runs for Moon in 2011. In fact, there was a total eclipse from the win column as the Tigers finished 0-22.

Moon will host Indiana in Monday for the No. 14 seed in the girls Class 5A bracket.

• Oakland Catholic has double-digit wins, including a victory over No. 2 seed Chartiers Valley.

Laurel Highlands has four wins total against three teams that have won a total five games all season.

Yet when the two square off Monday, it will be the Eagles flying high and long to Fayette County to battle the Mustangs for the Class 5A No. 10 seed.

All 10 WPIAL Class 5A preliminary round games can be seen or heard Monday on HSSN.