East Allegheny girls basketball heads to Charleroi as part of 3 things to watch Thursday in WPIAL athletics

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | 6:24 PM

The first day of February … it may be the shortest month of the year, but it is also the busiest with lots of winter high school sports action every day. Thursday is no different with plenty of WPIAL girls basketball action.

One of the top contests is a battle for first place in Section 2-3A as East Allegheny takes its perfect overall record to the Mon Valley to take on Charleroi.

The Wildcats are 9-0 atop the section and 18-0 overall. They are led by one of the top players in the district and the second leading scorer in Amani Johnson, who is averaging 26.5 points.

Johnson is part of a high-scoring offense that is third in the WPIAL, averaging 64.6 points.

That makes for an interesting matchup against Charleroi (16-2, 9-1). The Cougars yield only 35.3 points per game, which is the second best mark in Class 3A, only behind East Allegheny.

East Allegheny crushed Charleroi, 69-27, back on Jan. 8. The rematch can be heard Thursday on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Frozen frenzy

The final month of the regular season in high school hockey begins with 11 PIHL games Thursday.

The top game of the night is a Class 3A battle of playoff-bound teams as Seneca Valley takes on Mt. Lebanon.

The Raiders are quietly knocking on the door of first place as they trail front running Peters Township by one point. Seneca Valley is 10-2-0-2 with a pair of overtime loss points.

Meanwhile, Mt. Lebanon is 8-5-0-1 and in fifth place in 3A. But the Blue Devils are only five points behind Peters Township and can move into a tie for fourth place with North Allegheny if they can knock off the Raiders.

Seneca Valley goaltender Logan Johnson registered a shutout in the first meeting between these teams back in October, a 4-0 triumph for the Raiders.

Soccer schedules revealed

On Tuesday, the WPIAL unveiled the high school football schedules for the next two seasons. On Thursday, the district will release the futbol slates for 2018 and 2019.

The WPIAL continues to release its fall sports schedules in phases with both boys and girls soccer schedules being unveiled.

Part of the anticipation is when will fans see a pair of 2017 championship rematches between section foes?

Boys 3A finalist Montour and West Allegheny are Section 2 rivals. The Spartans edged the Indians, 1-0, in the title match last fall.

Then on the girls' side, 4A finalists Penn-Trafford and Norwin will play each other twice in Section 3. The Warriors stunned the Knights, 2-1, in a championship overtime thriller. Also, Class A powers Greensburg Central Catholic and Shady Side Academy remain foes in Section 1. They will meet two times in the regular season after the Centurions dethroned the Indians in the 2017 finals.

Boys Class A defending champion Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic will now be playing a Class 2A schedule as is the case with 2017 champion Moon moving up from 3A to 4A in girls soccer.

Don Rebel is a TribLIVE High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Charleroi, East Allegheny, Greensburg C.C., Montour, Moon, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, North Catholic, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township, Seneca Valley, Shady Side Academy, West Allegheny