A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 17, 2026

By: Michael Love
Monday, February 16, 2026 | 5:00 PM

Girls

Class 2A

First round

12-Apollo-Ridge (12-10) at 5-Rochester (12-9)

7 p.m. Tuesday

Winner plays: Winner of 13-Riverview (10-8)/4-Fort Cherry (15-5) on Friday in quarterfinals (site/time TBD)

Players to watch: Madison Hughley, Apollo-Ridge; Tia Yellock, Rochester

Layup lines: Apollo-Ridge finished Section 4 play in a three-way tie for second place with Riverview and Jeannette behind champion Winchester Thurston. The Vikings won nine of 11 games in January and closed with a three-game win streak in the section to forge the tie in the standings. One of those wins, a key 40-36 triumph over rival Riverview, featured 17 points from Hughley, a sophomore guard. Hughley also tallied 26 in a 13-point win over Frazier and 21 more in a victory over The Ellis School. Last year, Apollo-Ridge routed Ligonier Valley in a play-in game before running into No. 1 Neshannock in the first round. The Vikings defense is giving up just 36.8 points per game. … Rochester is led by the scoring and rebounding of Yellock, a Wheeling University commit and a 1,000-point scorer. The Rams finished as runners-up to Neshannock in Section 1. Rochester went 4-6 down the home stretch of the regular season. The Rams, as the No. 10 seed, rallied late to defeat Riverview in last year’s first round en route to a fifth-place WPIAL finish and a spot in the PIAA playoffs. Rochester won three straight WPIAL Class A titles from 2019-21.

13-Riverview (10-8) at 4-Fort Cherry (15-5)

7 p.m. Tuesday

Winner plays: Winner of 12-Apollo-Ridge (12-10)/5-Rochester (12-9) on Friday in quarterfinals (site/time TBD)

Players to watch: Blake Huffman, Riverview; Brooke Carnali, Fort Cherry

Layup lines: Riverview finished Section 4 in a three-way tie for second place with Apollo-Ridge and Jeannette behind champion Winchester Thurston. The Raiders will be without the services of senior leading scorer Isabel Chaparro (25 points per game) for the postseason while she recovers from a knee injury suffered against Jeannette on Jan. 22. The Raiders players rallied around each other in that game to defeat the Jayhawks, 55-50. Huffman, a senior; freshman Mia Murphy; senior Lana Lynch; and junior Juliette Brun help provide core leadership in Riverview’s entry into the playoffs. The Raiders are in the postseason for the eighth year in a row … Fort Cherry captured the Section 2 championship with a 10-0 record and won 10 of 11 since the start of January. The only loss in that stretch came to Class 3A Waynesburg by eight points. The Rangers challenged themselves early and improved despite a 1-4 start. Senior forward Carnali and senior point guard Bella Bianchini front a team trying to win Fort Cherry’s first WPIAL title and make a return to the PIAA playoffs. The Rangers were the No. 5 seed last year and made the quarterfinals before falling to No. 4 South Side.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Fort Cherry, Riverview, Rochester