Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: 5 teams already punched playoff tickets

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Five teams from Westmoreland County have secured spots in the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs with just more than a week to play in the regular season.

The qualifiers include defending WPIAL 6A champion Norwin (10-6), Section 1-5A leader Franklin Regional (12-5) and undefeated Penn-Trafford (18-0), which should be in line for a top-three seeding in 5A.

Also headed to the postseason are Latrobe (10-7) in 5A and Greensburg Central Catholic (13-3) in 3A.

Unlike past years when the WPIAL took the top four teams from each section, this season, sections with eight or more teams will qualify the top five teams and sections with seven or fewer schools will send the top four.

Chasing the record

Clairton’s Iyanna Wade has been nothing short of legendary in her nonstop scoring run.

The 5-foot-4 senior point guard who averages 44 points shoots over, drives around and goes right at much taller players.

While Wade’s pursuit of 3,000 points continues, she is chasing two Westmoreland County players who were legendary in their own right.

One of them set the standard.

Monessen’s Gina Naccarato and Charel Allen still hold the Nos. 1 and 2 spots in the WPIAL all-time scoring list, Naccarato at 3,364 points and Allen at 3,110.

Wade is fifth all-time now with 2,749 points.

Brooke Stewart of East Allegheny is third with 3,055, and Steel Valley’s Jess Strom is fourth with 2,840.

Wade has scored 65 and 60 points in games during her career. Neither Naccarato nor Allen scored more than that. Naccarato has the Monessen single-game mark of 58.

Kerr makes commitment

Greensburg Salem senior Regan Kerr will continue her playing career at Geneva of the NCAA Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

Kerr, a three-year starter, is averaging 6.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Golden Lions.

Kerr had a unique double-double last week against Kiski Area with 11 rebounds and 10 assists in an important 47-31 win.

A notable statistic from the win: Greensburg Salem had 17 assists on 17 field goals.

Sizable impact

Jeannette guard Navarah Smith couldn’t have given her team much more in a loss last week.

Smith scored 83.3% of the Jayhawks’ points in a 52-36 loss to Riverview. She finished with 30.

Though Smith can score, she has shown a knack for blocking shots and being disruptive on the defensive end.

Layups

Local games of note Thursday night include Mt. Lebanon at Norwin (Section 2-6A), Indiana at Latrobe (2-5A), Laurel Highlands at Belle Vernon (3-4A) and Southmoreland at Mt. Pleasant (3-4A). … Derry senior Jane Huss erupted for a career-high 37 points Tuesday in a 66-57 win over Ligonier Valley. Huss hit four 3-pointers. It was the most points scored by a Derry girl since Tiana Moracco dropped 39 in a game in 2022. … Franklin Regional ran its winning streak to eight with a 59-43 victory at Fox Chapel.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Jeannette, Monessen, Norwin, Penn-Trafford