A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsule for March 8, 2024

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 1:54 PM

Purchase Photo Options

PIAA basketball playoffs

Boys

Class 5A

First round

Fox Chapel (15-11) vs. Cathedral Prep (15-10)

7 p.m. Friday at Hagerty Family Events Center, Erie

District seeds: Fox Chapel 7-5; Cathedral Prep 10-1

Winner plays: Winner of 3-2 Hershey (21-3)/7-6 Bethel Park (13-13) on Tuesday in second round (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Will Siegel, Fox Chapel; Michael Thompson, Cathedral Prep

Layup lines: Fox Chapel defeated Bethel Park, 57-36, in the WPIAL’s fifth-place game. Siegel had 16 points, and Jefferson Moorefield-Brown added 10. The Foxes have been idle since that game Feb. 28 — a span of nine days between contests. Siegel and junior guard/forward Asher White were first-team all-section selections, and Moorefield-Brown was a second-team pick. … Cathedral Prep started the season 0-5 and was 3-8 at one point before going on a five-game winning streak. The Ramblers went 9-3 in Region 7 play in District 10. They average 64.3 points and allow 58.7 ppg. Cathedral Prep has won five straight games, including a 62-45 victory over Obama Academy on March 1 in a PIAA subregional game. Thompson, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, had 19 points, and Nando Mirarchi added 14. Mirarchi, a 5-11 sophomore guard, leads the team at 14.3 ppg. Guards Amaree Pickens (13.0 ppg) and Spencer Kanne (10.8) also average double-figures.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel