A-K Valley PIAA basketball playoff capsules for Friday’s games

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, March 8, 2018 | 5:27 PM

Friday's games

Boys

Class 5A first round

Highlands (18-5) vs. Franklin Regional (20-5)

6 p.m. at Fox Chapel

Winner plays: Hollidaysburg (16-7)/Carrick (19-5)

Coaches: Tyler Stoczynski, Highlands; Steve Scorpion, Franklin Regional

Players to watch: Johnny Crise, 6-6, So., F, Highlands; Nate Leopold, 6-0, Sr., G, Franklin Regional

Layup lines: Round 4 between the Section 3 rivals comes 10 days after Franklin Regional topped Highlands, 48-40, in the WPIAL semifinals. The teams split in the regular season with Franklin Regional winning the first meeting 70-46, and Highlands taking the second game 87-68. … Shawn Erceg leads Highlands in scoring at 12 points per game. Crise, Romello Freeman and Luke Cochran average 10 points. The Golden Rams are 16-2 in their last 18 games. Highlands has struggled as a team at the free throw line, shooting 55 percent for the season. … Franklin Regional will look to rebound from a 54-44 loss to Mars in the WPIAL championship.

Class 4A first round

Valley (14-5) vs. Sharon (23-2)

8 p.m. at Slippery Rock University

Winner plays: Greater Johnstown (18-7)/Valley (14-5)

Coaches: Mark Faulx, Valley; Zach Sarver, Sharon

Players to watch: Dru Stokes, 6-0, Sr., G, Valley; Elite Williams, 6-0, Jr., G, Sharon

Layup lines: Valley is in the PIAA playoffs for the first time in nine years and will look to earn its first victory in the state tournament in 19 years. Stokes, Alex Ward, Deonte Ross, Darius Johnson and Nyjewel Carter provide a balanced attack for Valley. Stokes had 22 points in Valley's WPIAL first-round victory over South Park and Ross, who missed the first month of the season with an injury, scored 21. The Vikings fell to WPIAL runner-up Quaker Valley, 53-47, in the quarterfinals. … Sharon claimed its first District 10 title in 27 years with a 71-66 win over Hickory on Saturday. Williams led four Tigers in double-figures with 21 points.

Girls

Class 2A first round

Leechburg (19-5) vs. West Middlesex(21-4)

5 p.m. at Slippery Rock University

Winner plays: Kane (22-2)/Bellwood Antis (23-3)

Coaches: Joel Ceraso, Leechburg; Mike Williams, West Middlesex

Players to watch: Mikayla Lovelace, 5-9, Sr., G, Leechburg; Delaney Dogan, 5-11, Sr., F, West Middlesex

Layup lines: Leechburg is in the state playoffs for the second consecutive year and won its first-round game last year 55-51 over Coudersport. Lovelace, the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,028 career points and an IUP recruit, leads an all-senior lineup with Cam Davies, Brittany Robilio, Makenzie Fello and Daesha Knight. The five have played together as starters for the majority of their careers other than when Fello missed her sophomore season because of injury. Leechburg is 7-3 in its last 10 games and is coming off a loss to Chartiers-Houston in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

— Jerin Steele