No holiday for Class 3A boys basketball teams in Monday’s 3 games to watch

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, February 18, 2018 | 11:48 PM

The WPIAL basketball playoffs almost take the day off Monday as students and teachers celebrate Presidents Day. But there is a four-game schedule from the Class 3A boys bracket that includes a school named Lincoln (Park) and a team from Washington County.

All games can be heard on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Class 3A first round: East Allegheny vs. Burgettstown at Peters Township, 6:30 p.m.

This game matches the eight and nine seeds in the bracket.

No. 8 seed East Allegheny (11-9), a tri-champion from Section 3, has two 6-foot-4 seniors in Olajawon Owens and T.J. Banks. Owens scored 26 and 20 points in EA’s final two regular-season games. The team enters the playoffs winning three in a row and six of its past seven.

No. 9 Burgettstown (15-6), which finished second in Section 4, leads all WPIAL Class 3A teams in scoring with a 71-point average. Senior guard Ryan Lounder is a 15-point scorer.

Class 3A first round: Shady Side Academy vs. Avonworth at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, 6:30 p.m.

Section 3 tri-champion Shady Side Academy (13-8) wants to repeat last year’s deep playoff run, but it has a challenging path as the No. 7 seed. The Indians reached the WPIAL semifinals last season. They are led by Grady Munroe (6-2, so.) and Frankie Fuhrer (5-11, sr.), who combined for 56 points in the team’s past two games.

This year’s postseason journey starts with No. 10 Avonworth (12-10), the third-place team in Section 2. The Antelopes’ Turner Grau scored 38 points combined in his team’s past two games.

Class 3A first round: Lincoln Park vs. Carlynton at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, 8 p.m.

Could a No. 16 seed upset a No. 1?

Only Class 3A boys has a full 16-team playoff bracket, so here’s the one shot this year for the ultimate underdogs. Lincoln Park (15-6) was the WPIAL title favorite all season behind junior guard Keeno Holmes, a 21-point scorer.

A fourth-place finisher from Section 2, Carlynton (9-14) reached the WPIAL first round by defeating Brownsville, 70-55, in a preliminary round game Friday to earn the No. 16 seed.

The other Class 3A matchup Monday pairs No. 2 Seton LaSalle (16-5) and No. 15 South Allegheny (11-11) in an 8 p.m. matchup at Peters Township.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.