Black and blue battle highlights a busy night of WPIAL girls hoops on Thursday

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, January 23, 2020 | 1:04 AM

Last year, Peters Township was perfect in cruising to the Section 2-6A title.

It was only the third year in over a decade and a half that particular basketball section’s chase did not come down to either Bethel Park or Mt. Lebanon wearing the crown.

All seems right with the axis of the South Hills girls hoops world as the section crown will once again be a Black and Blue battle.

Bethel Park is 9-0 in the section and a perfect 14-0 overall as it prepares to host second-place Mt. Lebanon.

The Blue Devils are 8-1 in the section, 13-3 overall, with one of those losses coming at the hands of the Black Hawks on Dec. 19.

Bethel Park lost a big halftime lead, then pulled away to beat visiting Mt. Lebanon, 65-52. Black Hawks senior Maddie Dziezgowski, who eclipsed 1,000 points in her career earlier this week, scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Hawks over the Devils.

First of two 2-5A showdowns

We should get a better feel for the championship chase in Section 2-5A over the next two days.

On Thursday, Armstrong visits Gateway followed on Friday by a key battle when Plum hosts Mars.

Those are the top four teams in the section, and they are separated by only a game and a half.

Plum leads with a 6-1 record, followed by Gateway at 6-2. Both Mars and Armstrong check in with 5-3 records.

At the moment, Hampton is on the outside looking in at the playoff chase with a 3-4 section record.

Teams in 2-5A will play 12 total section games.

Two for 3-3A

A similar scheduling situation is set for Thursday in Section 3-3A as the top four teams will go head-to-head.

Going into Thursday’s action, there is a three-way tie for first place with Carlynton, Deer Lakes and Derry all tied with 7-2 section records.

East Allegheny has a half-game lead over Shady Side Academy in the fight for fourth place.

Deer Lakes will visit Carlynton while Derry visits East Allegheny.

Tags: Armstrong, Bethel Park, Carlynton, Deer Lakes, Derry Area, East Allegheny, Gateway, Mars, Mt. lebanon, Plum