PIAA boys basketball pairings: ‘Round 4’ awaits section rivals in 5A bracket

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, March 4, 2018 | 3:12 PM

It's Round 4 of Mars vs. Hampton and Franklin Regional vs. Highlands.

The Class 5A section rivals will open the PIAA boys basketball playoffs Friday night by facing one another for a fourth time this season.

Sites and times were announced Sunday.

The current state playoff brackets force WPIAL teams to face one another in the first round in both Class 6A and 5A boys, a disliked quirk that's going away next season.

The PIAA board in January revealed updated brackets for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons that would eliminate those first-round rematches.

Franklin Regional and Highlands split their two regular-season matchups before Franklin Regional won in the WPIAL semifinals. Mars defeated Hampton three times this season.

In Class 6A, Central Catholic and Pine-Richland will meet for the third time after splitting their regular-season series.

The complete PIAA brackets can be viewed here:

Class 6A

Class 5A

Class 4A

Class 3A

Class 2A

Class A

Here's a list of PIAA first-round games involving WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League teams.

Class 6A

7-1 Penn Hills (23-3) vs. 7-6 Fox Chapel (17-6) at North Hills, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

7-2 Pine-Richland (20-6) vs. 7-5 Central Catholic (14-9) at Fox Chapel, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

7-3 Mt. Lebanon (20-4) vs. 8-1 Allderdice (24-2) at Obama Academy, Saturday, 4 p.m.

7-4 Woodland Hills (20-4) vs. 6-1 State College (23-1) at Bald Eagle Area, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Class 5A

7-1 Mars (21-4) vs. 7-5 Hampton (11-13) at Fox Chapel, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-2 Franklin Regional (20-5) vs. 7-4 Highlands (18-5) at Fox Chapel, Friday, 6 p.m.

7-3 Trinity (20-5) vs. 10-1 Cathedral Prep (11-12) at Edinboro University, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Class 4A

7-1 New Castle (21-4) vs. 10-4 Fort LeBoeuf (8-15) at Butler, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-2 Quaker Valley (23-1) vs. 10-3 Grove City (18-7) at CW North Catholic, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-3 Belle Vernon (18-6) vs. 10-2 Hickory (20-5) at Sharon, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-4 Indiana (18-6) vs. 6-2 Johnstown (18-7) at Forest Hills, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-5 South Fayette vs. 9-1 Clearfield (15-9) at St. Mary's, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-6 Valley (14-5) vs. 10-1 Sharon (23-2) at Slippery Rock University, Friday, 8 p.m.

Class 3A

7-1 Lincoln Park (19-6) vs. 6-4 Mount Union (14-11) at CW North Catholic, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

7-2 Seton LaSalle (19-6) vs. 6-3 Central Cambria (14-11) at Peters Township, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

7-3 Aliquippa (17-7) vs. 6-2 Richland (21-4) at Johnstown, Saturday, 5:30 p.m.

7-4 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (13-12) vs. 10-2 Greenville (15-9) at Meadville, Saturday, 7 p.m.

7-5 Burgettstown (16-7) vs. 8-1 Westinghouse or 5-1 Chestnut Ridge

7-6 Shady Side Academy (14-9) vs. 10-1 Fairview (22-3) at Edinboro University, Saturday, 7 p.m.

Note: Westinghouse and Chestnut Ridge play Tuesday at Allderdice

Class 2A

7-1 Sewickley Academy vs. 10-4 Cochranton at Northgate, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

7-2 OLSH (22-3) vs. 6-4 Homer Center (14-10) at Canon-McMillan, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

7-3 Chartiers Houston (19-6) vs. 5-2 Conemaugh Township (14-9) at Pitt-Johnstown, Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

7-4 Jeannette (19-4) vs. 6-2 Purchase Line (20-5) at Central Cambria, Saturday, 5:30 p.m.

7-5 Leechburg (14-7) vs. 10-2 Cambridge Springs (20-5) at Meadville, Saturday, 5:30 p.m.

7-6 Springdale (13-9) vs. 10-1 West Middlesex (19-6) at Sharon, Saturday, 7 p.m.

Class A

7-1 Vincentian Academy (18-7) vs. 9-4 Cameron County (17-7) at Northgate, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-2 Union (17-6) vs. 9-3 North Clarion (21-4) at Butler, Friday, 6 p.m.

7-3 Cornell (18-7) vs. 5-1 Shade (22-3) at Pitt-Johnstown, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-4 Imani Christian (13-10) vs. 6-1 Bishop Carroll (17-8) at Central Cambria, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

7-5 Propel Andrew Street (17-6) vs. 10-1 Kennedy Catholic (18-4) at Slippery Rock University, Friday, 6:30 p.m.

7-6 Eden Christian (16-6) vs. 9-1 Johnsonburg (19-6) at Clarion University, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

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