Westmoreland County PIAA basketball playoff capsules for March 7, 2025

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, March 6, 2025 | 2:22 PM

PIAA basketball playoffs

Boys

Class 5A

First round

Latrobe (20-6) at Exeter Township (14-11)

7 p.m. Friday

District seeds: Latrobe 7-6; Exeter Township 3-2

Winner plays: Winner of 7-7 Moon (19-7)/6-1 Greater Johnstown (24-1) Tuesday in second round

Players to watch: Ian DeCerb, Latrobe; Jayden Ware, Exeter Township

Layup lines: Latrobe is back in the state tournament for the first time since 2016-17 ,when the Wildcats finished sixth in the WPIAL. That year, they lost to Pine-Richland in the first round 83-82. They also lost in the first round in 2016, 70-60, against North Hills and in the 2004 first round to Connellsville, 75-70. This year, after a 59-51 win over Kiski Area in the WPIAL first round, the Wildcats lost to Montour, 60-52, and went 1-1 in the consolation bracket, defeating Moon, 62-53, and falling to nemesis Uniontown, 69-38. Max Butler is a 1,000-point scorer. Latrobe’s last state playoff win was in 1987, 87-56 over Johnstown. … Exeter Township dropped a 69-49 decision to Hershey in the District 3 championship at Hershey’s Giant Center. The eighth seed, Exeter Township, got 17 points from Jayden Ware and eight from Aidan Dauble. The Eagles average 60.1 points. Exeter Township is located in Reading, about an hour northwest of Philadelphia.

Penn-Trafford (14-12) at Hershey (21-3)

6 p.m. Friday

District seeds: Penn-Trafford 7-8; Hershey 3-1

Winner plays: Winner of 7-5 Uniontown (16-8)/10-1 Meadville (22-4) Tuesday in second round

Players to watch: Brayden Stone, Penn-Trafford; Cameron Sweeney, Hershey

Layup lines: Penn-Trafford returns to the PIAA tournament for the first time since 2001, when the Warriors finished sixth in the WPIAL and lost to George Junior Republic, 59-54, in overtime in the first round. This year’s team has played four postseason games on the road, including a 60-45 upset of No. 2 seed Baldwin in the first round. After a 64-59 loss to Mars in the quarterfinals, the Warriors lost back-to-back consolation-round games, 86-73 to Uniontown and 75-59 to Moon. Zach Feldman has been playing well in the post of late. The Warriors’ last PIAA win came in 1993, 76-63 over Punxsutawney. … Hershey won its first district championship since 1974 with a 69-49 win over Exeter Township in the District 3 title game at Hershey’s Giant Center. Sweeney scored a game-high 28 points, James Campbell IV added 12 and Jack Zakovitch had 10. Hershey made the PIAA tournament last year and lost to visiting Bethel Park in the first round 59-45. The Trojans are 11-0 at home this season. They average 64.5 points.

Class 4A

First round

Farrell (12-11) at Belle Vernon (21-4)

7 p.m. Friday

District seeds: Farrell 10-5; Belle Vernon 7-1

Winner plays: Winner of 7-3 Avonworth (19-6)/10-2 Sharon (18-8) Tuesday in second round

Players to watch: Juelz Johnson, Farrell; Tommy Davis, Belle Vernon

Layup lines: Farrell edged past Oil City in the District 10 fifth-place game 54-50. Johnson scored 13 points, and Trae Cousin had 13, including three 3-pointers, for the Steelers, who played nine players in the game. Farrell was coming off a 52-51 win over Harbor Creek in overtime in a consolation semifinal. Johnson had 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in the win. Cousin and Dorean Cain scored 11 each. … Belle Vernon held off North Catholic, 54-49, to win its first WPIAL title since 1978. The 6-foot-6 Davis was on his game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Dom Ghilani grabbed 13 rebounds for the Leopards. Zion Moore, a career 2,000-point scorer, and playmaking guard Trevor Kovatch scored 12 each. Coach Joe Salvino, 73, who is retiring, won two PIAA titles when he coached at Monessen for 34 years. The Leopards average 67.6 points. Belle Vernon didn’t make the state playoffs last year.

Girls

Class 6A

First round

Norwin (15-8) vs. Altoona (23-2)

7 p.m. Friday

District seeds: Norwin 7-2; Altoona 6-1

Winner plays: Winner of 3-6 Mechanicsburg (24-2)/1-2 Garnet Valley (24-2)

Players to watch: Ava Christopher, Norwin; Brionna Hudson, Altoona

Layup lines: Norwin fell short in its bid for back-to-back WPIAL titles as it lost to Upper St. Clair, 45-40, in the title game. Christopher had 11 points and five rebounds, and Belle Furno hit two 3-pointers in the second half to spark a comeback from 13 down. Norwin reached the PIAA semifinals two years ago and the quarterfinals last year, losing to Cedar Cliff and Spring-Ford. Kendall Berger is a career 1,000-point scorer. … Altoona captured its third straight District 6 championship with a 41-37 win over State College, its 20th straight victory. Hudson, a freshman, scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The win was the 100th in coach Chris Fleegle’s career. The Lions have 32 district titles. Altoona lost to Chartiers Valley in the first round last year 44-43. Norwin then defeated Chartiers Valley, 56-47, to reach the state quarterfinals. Altoona has more than 1,000 all-time wins, including four PIAA titles. The Lions are 10-2 at home but 13-0 on the road.

Class 3A

First round

Cambria Heights (19-8) vs. Greensburg Central Catholic (21-5)

7 p.m. Friday, at Southmoreland

District seeds: Cambria Heights 6-3; Greensburg Central Catholic 7-1

Winner plays: Winner of 10-2 Seneca (17-6)/7-3 OLSH (22-4) Tuesday in second round

Players to watch: Gracey Vinglish, Cambria Heights; Erica Gribble, Greensburg Central Catholic

Layup lines: Cambria Heights led by 18 in the third quarter before holding back Richland, 63-54, in the District 6 consolation game. Vinglish made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points, and Sienna Kirsch had 21 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. The 5-8 Kirsch averages 22.7 points and 10.2 rebounds. She plays for the Western PA Bruins AAU organization. … Greensburg Central Catholic made it back-to-back WPIAL championships with a 56-51 victory over Shady Side Academy in the final. GCC won the WPIAL 2A title last season. Gribble had one of her best postseason games with 31 points, making 12 of 24 shots and scoring 14 in the fourth. She is a Richmond commit. Jayla Peterson scored 15 points, with eight coming in the fourth. GCC has reached the PIAA semifinals the past two seasons, which prompted its move up a classification. Kennedy Catholic eliminated GCC the last two years but remained in 2A.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Greensburg C.C., Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford