Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL basketball playoff capsule for Feb. 28, 2022

By: Michael Love
Sunday, February 27, 2022 | 5:13 PM

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Monday’s game

Boys

Class 5A semifinals

5-Highlands (18-6) vs. 1-Laurel Highlands (23-0)

8 p.m. at AHN Arena, Peters Township

Winner plays: Winner of 6-Gateway (15-5)/2-New Castle (22-1) in championship game at 8 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center.

Layup lines: Highlands is hoping to punch its ticket to a WPIAL title game for the second time in three seasons. Several Golden Rams players remember the 2020 run to Petersen Events Center and the WPIAL Class 4A title-game victory over Belle Vernon. Highlands earned a spot in this year’s semifinals with a come-from-behind 51-49 victory at No. 4 Penn Hills on Thursday. The Golden Rams erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Junior Jimmy Kunst scored 17 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. He hit the tying and winning field goals. The Golden Rams have won six of their last seven games … Laurel Highlands has led Class 5A in both scoring average (76.3) and scoring defense (46.7). The Mustangs rolled past Woodland Hills in the first round 74-44 before fending off the challenge of No. 8 Hampton, 52-44, in the quarterfinals Thursday. Keondre DeShields, a 6-foot-3 junior, led Laurel Highlands against the Talbots with a game-best 18 points. Senior forward Jayden Pratt added 14 points, and junior guard Rodney Gallagher had 12 for the Mustangs. Laurel Highlands also is hoping to make it back to the Pete for the second time in three years. The Mustangs won the Class 5A crown in 2020.

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: Highlands, Laurel Highlands