Class 5A, 2A quarterfinals on tap in Saturday’s 3 girls basketball games to watch

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 23, 2018 | 6:36 PM

Three days of WPIAL girls basketball quarterfinal action concludes Saturday as the spotlight shines on Class 5A and Class 2A contests. This will also mark the 2018 playoff debuts for Bishop Canevin, East Allegheny, Neshannock and Mohawk.

Class 5A quarterfinals: West Allegheny vs. Chartiers Valley at Baldwin, noon

They share the same section, they share the same 17-6 overall record and Saturday, they share the same goal of winning and advancing to the WPIAL Final Four. West Allegheny and Chartiers Valley prepare to meet for a third time this basketball season with the winner taking a 2-1 lead in the season series and moving on to the district semifinals.

West Allegheny won the Section 1 championship and earned the No. 3 seed in the 16-team bracket. The Indians won a WPIAL girls basketball playoff game for the first time since they beat Hampton in the 2011 Class 3A preliminary round. A year ago, West A fell in the first round to Gateway. The Indians beat the Colts, 52-48, at home in the team's first game of 2018. It has been 12 days since West Allegheny last hit the court. The Indians lost that game to the top seed in 6A, North Allegheny, 61-50. Grace Faulk had 16 points to lead the Indians.

Last year, Chartiers Valley won it all from the same spot in the brackets as they are this year, the No. 6 seed. The Colts have hit their stride after an 8-6 start, winning nine games in a row, including a 49-39 victory at home over West Allegheny in late January. The M&M girls (Meg and Mac) enjoyed a big night as Megan McConnell had 21 points and MacKenzie Wagner added 16 in handing the Indians their only section loss. McConnell enjoyed another big night in the first round as she scored 23 points in a win over Armstrong.

Class 5A quarterfinals: Thomas Jefferson vs. Gateway at Baldwin, 3 p.m.

All coaches want to see their team improve as the season progresses in the hopes they are playing their best ball come prime time in February. If that is the case, then Thomas Jefferson coach George Vlassich and Gateway coach Curtis Williams head to Baldwin on cloud 9.

The Jaguars have won seven in a row in clinching the Section 2-5A championship, while the Gators are even hotter, winning a dozen straight heading into the rubber game between these two teams.

Thomas Jefferson beat Gateway, 37-33, in December behind Jenna Clark's 13 points. In the opening round of the district playoffs, Alyssa DeAngelo scored 20 points while teammates Marina Petruzzi and Clark each scored 16 in the Jaguars' 84-45 rout of Montour. TJ led 24-8 after one quarter and increased their lead to 49-18 by halftime as the Jaguars showed why they were one of the top seeds in a tough and deep classification.

Among the 12 straight wins for Gateway was a 48-47 double-overtime cliffhanger at home over Thomas Jefferson last month. Jordan Edwards scored 19 and Lexi Jackson chipped in 16 in handing the Jaguars their only section loss. Gateway got defensive in a first-round playoff victory over Ringgold, holding the Rams to nine first-half points in a 39-28 victory. Jackson had 18 and Edwards 12 for the Gators, who hope to avoid a loss in the quarterfinals for the second straight season.

Class 3A quarterfinals: East Allegheny vs. Seton LaSalle at Gateway, 1 p.m.

A once-dominating girls basketball program hopes to return to the glory days against one of the premiere programs of today. It wasn't that long ago when Seton LaSalle was one of the feared programs in the district when the Rebels captured WPIAL championships in four of five years between 2011-15. While the Rebels have fallen back in the pack a bit, East Allegheny has been a force the last two years, going a combined 44-0 in the last two regular seasons.

But some will say it's the postseason that counts and it's time for the Wildcats to make a run at gold while they still have one of the top players in the district in Amani Johnson. Johnson, who eclipsed the 2,000-point plateau earlier this season, averages nearly 27 points. This is the second straight year East Allegheny is the No. 2 seed. Last year, after beating Avonworth in the quarterfinals, the Wildcats fell to Neshannock in the semifinals.

Seton LaSalle finished 9-13 in the regular season and in a tie for third place in Section 3-3A. But that was all forgotten after the Rebels stunned Riverside in the first round 50-48. The green and gold outscored the Panthers, 33-24, in the second half to erase an early deficit. Alyssa Pollice led the way with 19 points, while Layni Ziegler was right behind with 18 points for Seton LaSalle.

Don Rebel is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Chartiers Valley, East Allegheny, Gateway, Seton-LaSalle, Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny