A-K Valley WPIAL basketball capsules for Feb. 15, 2019

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 14, 2019 | 11:00 PM

Friday’s games

Boys

First round

Class A

No. 9 Leechburg (12-9) vs. No. 8 Bishop Canevin (14-7)

8 p.m. Friday at Fox Chapel

Winner plays: No. 1 Vincentian (14-7) on Thursday in quarterfinals.

Coaches: Corey Smith, Leechburg; Gino Palmosina, Bishop Canevin

Points scored/allowed: Leechburg, 59.9/51.5; Bishop Canevin, 60.5/48.8

Players to watch: Connor McDermott, Leechburg (Jr., G); Aidan Logan, Bishop Canevin (Sr., F)

Last WPIAL playoff appearance: Leechburg: 2018, quarterfinals (lost to Sewickley Academy, 83-49); Bishop Canevin, 2017, semifinals (lost to Sewickley Academy, 67-51)

About Leechburg: The Blue Devils barely missed out on a share of the Section 3-A championship, losing in overtime to St. Joseph in their regular-season finale. Leechburg is the most recent boys basketball team from the Alle-Kiski Valley to win a WPIAL championship (2007).

About Bishop Canevin: The Crusaders return to the WPIAL playoffs under a new coach after going 5-17 last season. Two sophomores and a freshman start for Canevin, which won nine of its final 12 games.

No. 5 St. Joseph (17-5) vs. No. 12 West Greene (7-14)

8 p.m. at Mt. Lebanon

Winner plays: No. 4 Monessen (14-8) on Thursday in quarterfinals.

Coaches: Kelly Robinson, St. Joseph; Jim Romanus, West Greene

Points scored/allowed: St. Joseph, 65.0/53.4; West Greene, 51.8/56.8

Players to watch: Andrew Sullivan, St. Joseph (So., G); Ben Jackson (Jr., F)

Last WPIAL playoff appearance: St. Joseph: 2017, first round (lost to Rochester, 81-75); West Greene: 2018, first round (lost to Imani Christian, 46-39)

About St. Joseph: The Spartans claimed the Section 3-A championship, its first outright title since 2000. Sullivan leads St. Joseph in scoring, but the Spartans also have three top senior starters in Grant Bendis, a career 1,000-point scorer, Daniel Fábregas and Matt Arvay.

About West Greene: The Pioneers clinched their fourth consecutive playoff berth, a program record, with a 67-45 win over Jefferson-Morgan in their section finale. They’ll need to overcome their recent struggles, including a 2-7 record in their final nine games.

Girls

First round

Class 2A

No. 11 Riverview (9-12) vs. No. 6 South Side Beaver (14-8)

6:30 p.m. at Hampton

Winner plays: No. 3 Laurel (18-4) or No. 14 Chartiers-Houston (8-14) on Thursday in quarterfinals.

Coaches: Keith Stitt, Riverview; Dave Wilson, South Side Beaver

Points scored/allowed: Riverview, 41.4/40.9; South Side, 46.1/38.6

Players to watch: Francesca Lio, Riverview (Jr., F); Jess Barber, South Side (Sr., G)

Last WPIAL playoff appearance: Riverview: 2018, first round (lost to Serra Catholic, 53-52); South Side: 2018, first round (lost to Laurel, 45-33)

About Riverview: Last season’s playoff loss came when Serra hit a half-court buzzer-beater. Lio averages 11.1 points and 11.4 rebounds. Junior Sydney McDonough is Riverview’s all-time leader in assists, with 277.

About South Side: The Rams are making their third consecutive WPIAL playoff appearance. A magic number for South Side might be 40 points — the team won 14 of its 16 regular-season games when it reached that total.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Leechburg, Riverview, South Side, St. Joseph