A century’s worth of PIAA basketball championship factoids

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, March 19, 2020 | 5:50 PM

Suspending the playoff after two rounds was not what the PIAA had in mind on the 100th anniversary of its basketball championships, but the coronavirus outbreak has the tournament on hold.

The finals were originally scheduled to start Thursday in Hershey.

While the candles are still burning on the state playoff championship cake, here are some tasty state playoff factoids that can be enjoyed whether the 2020 postseason continues or not.

First PIAA champion:

Harrisburg Tech in 1920

First PIAA champion from the WPIAL:

McKeesport in 1921

First two-time PIAA champion from the WPIAL:

Homestead in 1924 and 1939

PIAA champion from WPIAL on 50th anniversary (1970):

Beaver Falls boys

PIAA champions from WPIAL on 75th anniversary (1995):

Ringgold boys, Blackhawk boys, Shady Side Academy boys, North Catholic girls

Classification expansion:

PIAA had one classification from 1920 to 1944

PIAA had two classifications from 1945 to 1950

PIAA had three classifications from 1951 to 1983

PIAA had four classifications from 1984 to 2016

PIAA has six classifications from 2017 to present

First PIAA girls championship:

1973

First PIAA girls champion from WPIAL:

Franklin Regional in 1979

PIAA championships played in Pittsburgh:

At the Pavilion at Pitt Stadium (located beneath the ramps inside Gate 2): 1929, 1931, 1934, 1953, 1955, 1961

At Pitt’s Fitzgerald Fieldhouse: 1963, 1965

At Civic Arena in Pittsburgh: 1966, 1968, 1971, 1979

Most PIAA champions from the WPIAL in a single year

2014: 5 (New Castle boys, Lincoln Park boys, Blackhawk girls, Seton LaSalle girls, Vincentian Academy girls)

1989, 1995, 2004, 2019: 4

Three finals reached double-overtime, two involving WPIAL teams:

1999 Boys AA — Annville-Cleona 69, Quaker Valley 57

2009 Boys AA — Imhotep Charter 75, North Catholic 67

Most PIAA playoff victories by a WPIAL boys team:

Aliquippa 84

Others: Beaver Falls 61, Blackhawk 48, New Castle 43, Monessen 42, Uniontown 39, Lincoln Park 34, Sto-Rox 33, Washington 33 (Farrell has 79 with a majority of those wins coming as a WPIAL member.)

Most PIAA championships won by a WPIAL boys team:

Farrell 7

Others: Aliquippa 5, Beaver Falls 4, Blackhawk 4, Uniontown 4, Sewickley Academy 3

Most PIAA championships won by a WPIAL girls team:

North Catholic 8

Others: Blackhawk 4, Oakland Catholic 4, Vincentian Academy 4, Mt. Lebanon 3, Seton LaSalle 3, Aliquippa 2, Hopewell 2

First PIAA repeat boys champions from the WPIAL:

Irwin in 1947-48

Other repeat winners: Irwin in 1953-54, Farrell in 1959-60, Midland in 1973-74, Monessen in 1988-89, Duquesne in 1993-94, Blackhawk in 1995-96

PIAA three-peat boys champions from the WPIAL:

None, although Midland won four titles in six years in 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1976

First PIAA repeat girls champions from the WPIAL:

North Catholic in 1983-84

Other repeat winners: Blackhawk in 1999-2000, Hopewell in 2006-07, Blackhawk in 2014-15, Vincentian Academy in 2014-15

PIAA three-peat girls champions from the WPIAL:

North Catholic in 1993-95 (The Trojans lost in the 1992 and 1996 state finals.)

Mt. Lebanon in 2009-11 (The Blue Devils lost in the 2008 state finals.)

Tags: Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Blackhawk, Franklin Regional, Hopewell, Lincoln Park, McKeesport, Monessen, Mt. lebanon, New Castle, North Catholic, Oakland Catholic, Quaker Valley, Seton La Salle, Sewickley Academy, Sto-Rox, Uniontown, Vincentian Academy, Washington