A-K Valley boys squads eye basketball playoff pairings

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, February 4, 2018 | 8:33 AM

The WPIAL basketball playoff pairings committee meets Feb. 12 to set the brackets for the boys and girls playoffs in 12 classifications.

Several A-K Valley boys squads already know they will be playing in the postseason, while a couple of others still are fighting to be included.

Playoff trips will be on the line this week as the regular season comes to a close.

The playoff teams in Section 3 of 6A are set with Penn Hills (10-2), Woodland Hills (10-2), Fox Chapel (9-3) and Latrobe (9-3) getting the job done.

The Foxes, 15-4 overall, can improve their stock this week as they close out the section slate with a key game Tuesday at Latrobe before hosting Plum on Friday.

In Section 3 of 5A, Franklin Regional (8-1) and Highlands (8-1) have not decided the championship with one game remaining for each Tuesday evening. The Panthers host playoff-bound Greensburg Salem (3-6), while the Golden Rams visit a Gateway (6-3) team also headed to the playoffs.

Franklin Regional and Highlands split their season series, each winning big on its home court.

The playoff qualifiers are set in Section 1 of 4A: Indiana (9-1), Valley (8-3), Freeport (7-3) and Deer Lakes (7-3). The Lancers clinched a spot in the postseason with Saturday's 43-41 overtime victory over Valley.

Saturday's game was rescheduled from early January when bad weather postponed the original contest. The two teams meet again on Tuesday.

Freeport visits Deer Lakes on Friday to complete the section schedule.

A balanced Section 3-3A has Burrell and Shady Side Academy leading the way with 6-3 section marks with one game left, and both are in the playoffs. East Allegheny, also in the postseason, has two games remaining and is in title contention at 5-3.

Shady Side hosts Steel Valley (4-5) on Tuesday while Burrell travels to Apollo-Ridge (1-7).

East Allegheny visits South Allegheny (4-5) on Tuesday and Apollo Ridge on Wednesday.

South Allegheny holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Steel Valley for fourth should the teams finish tied. A three-way tie, also involving East Allegheny, would put East A and South Allegheny in the postseason based on head-to-head results against the other two teams in the scenario.

In Section 1-2A, Jeannette (8-1), Serra Catholic (8-2) and Leechburg (7-4) are in, and Springdale (5-5) is trying to hold off Greensburg Central Catholic (4-6) for the fourth and final playoff spot.

The Dynamos and Centurions split their season series.

Springdale hosts Serra on Tuesday, and the Dynamos clinch a playoff spot with a win or a loss by GCC at Summit Academy (3-8) that same night.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Highlands, Latrobe, Leechburg, Penn Hills, Plum, Riverview, St. Joseph, Valley, Woodland Hills