PIAA basketball subregional on tap in Tuesday’s 3 games to watch

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, March 5, 2018 | 11:32 PM

The PIAA basketball playoffs tip off with first round play on Friday and Saturday as the field for the Road to Hershey has been set through the 12 district playoffs this past week. However there are two more state playoff spots up for grabs involving a school from the City League.

Both the boys and girls teams from Westinghouse will take part in state sub-regional games on Tuesday. The Bulldogs boys' team (16-6) will battle Chestnut Ridge (17-6) from District 5 for a spot in the Class 3A bracket while the Bulldogs girls team (13-9) faces Tussey Mountain (16-9) from District 5 for a spot in the Class 2A brackets.

The two games take place at Allderdice, with the girls game tipping off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game at 7:30 p.m.

Battle of the champions

The first round and quarterfinals continue in the PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs Tuesday with one of the marque matchups being a battle of 2017 champions when Peters Township hosts Plum at the Printscape at Southpointe. The puck drops at 7 p.m., and the game can be heard on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

This is a rare matchup of defending champions in the PIHL which was made possible when Plum was moved up after winning the Penguins Cup Class 2A championship a year ago. The Mustangs struggled in 3A this season and finished with a 7-11 mark, but they were able to grab the eighth and final playoff spot in the classification.

Now they face a Peters Township team that followed up on its 2017 Penguins Cup crown with a regular-season championship and a 14-4 record. The Indians beat the Mustangs, 1-0, to close out the regular season one week ago. Jack Lang scored the game's only goal in the third period in a goalie showdown between Adam Ulan for Peters Township and Sergio Benitez of Plum.

Two more frozen quarterfinals

There is another Class 3A quarterfinal hockey game scheduled for Tuesday when rivals Butler and North Allegheny meet at the Baierl Ice Complex in a game that can be head on Trib HSSN at 8:30 p.m..

The two teams split their two regular season games with a pair of one-goal decisions. North Allegheny beat Butler, 3-2, in November, and the Golden Tornado returned the favor with a 4-3 victory in mid-January.

The Division II quarterfinals conclude with the No. 4 vs 5 matchup as Connellsville hosts Elizabeth Forward.

The Class A first round also wraps up when Kiski Area visits Indiana with the winner moving on to face West Allegheny on Thursday.

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

Tags: Butler, Connellsville, Elizabeth Forward, Indiana, Kiski School, North Allegheny, Peters Township, Plum, Westinghouse