Westmoreland County PIAA basketball playoff preview capsules for March 7, 2026

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, March 6, 2026 | 11:01 AM

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Girls

Class 5A

First round

West York (16-10) at Penn-Trafford (20-6)

1 p.m. Saturday

District/place: West York 3-6; Penn-Trafford 7-3

Winner plays: Winner of 3-8 Milton Hershey (17-9)/7-1 South Fayette (25-1) Wednesday in second round (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Cam Forsythe, West York; Hanna Weishaar, Penn-Trafford

Layup lines: West York finished third in the York-Adams Division II standings behind York Suburban and Susquehannock. The Bulldogs fell to Lampeter-Strasburg, 50-46, in the District 3 fifth-place game. Brooke Nails scored 16, and Maya Shah added 12 in the loss. Forsythe, a junior, averages 14.5 points and Nails 12.8. The Bulldogs made the second round of the state tournament last year and lost to South Fayette, 70-41. They reached the quarterfinals in 2010. … Penn-Trafford earned a home game with a 54-51 win over Peters Township in the WPIAL third-place game. Torrie DeStefano, a Seton Hill commit, scored 19 in the win. The Warriors have won 25 straight at home, a school record. An energetic backcourt features Izzie Fontana, twins Hannah and Olivia Weishaar and Raya Johnson. The Warriors lost in the PIAA first round last year to Middletown, 52-50. This is the Warriors’ sixth state-tournament appearance. They have never won more than two games in a year in the PIAA playoffs.

Class 4A

First round

Belle Vernon (22-4) at Clearfield (18-6)

1 p.m. Saturday

District/place: Belle Vernon 7-5; Clearfield 9-1

Winner plays: Winner of 10-4 Fairview (20-5)/7-2 Blackhawk (22-1) Wednesday in second round (time, site TBD).

Players to watch: Lyla McConnell, Belle Vernon; Sonny Diehl, Clearfield

Layup lines: Belle Vernon, which set a program record for wins this season, qualified for the PIAA playoffs for just the third time. The Leopards have had little interaction with teams outside of WPIAL territory. Their last appearance was in 2018, when they lost to Beaver, 74-43, in the first round. Belle Vernon made the second round in 1998 and lost to West Mifflin, 62-43. This year, Belle Vernon won its first section title since 1999. This will be the young team’s fifth postseason game. After a 61-56 loss to Elizabeth Forward in the WPIAL quarterfinals, it beat Burrell and South Park to take fifth in the WPIAL. … Clearfield advanced to the PIAA playoffs with a 64-22 victory over Carrick in a subregional play-in game. Diehl, a 6-foot junior forward, had 23 points, five rebounds and five steals in the win. Mia Helsel added 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and Evie Helsel had 15. Diehl averages 21 points and 11.8 rebounds. She will present an interesting matchup with Belle Vernon’s 6-1 Aubrey Brown. Clearfield. Evie Helsel averages 18.4 points. Clearfield made the second round of the state tournament last year and lost to Blackhawk, 58-32.

Boys

Class 3A

First round

Ligonier Valley (14-12) at Bishop Guilfoyle (23-4)

2:30 p.m. Saturday

District/place: Ligonier Valley 7-7; Bishop Guilfoyle 6-1

Winner plays: Winner of 7-3 South Park (21-4)/8-2 Perry (4-20) in second round Wednesday (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Michael Wisniewski, Ligonier Valley; Alex Krimmel, Bishop Guilfoyle

Layup lines: Ligonier Valley returns to the PIAA tournament for the first time since 2019-20, its last year in District 6 before rejoining the WPIAL. The Rams upset Keystone Oaks (47-44) in the WPIAL first round before falling to South Park (56-39) in the quarterfinals. They moved into the consolation bracket and, after a 72-45 loss to Seton LaSalle, finally solved Southmoreland in the seventh-place game, 60-50. Michael Vargulish-Graver had a game-high 24 points, and 6-7 Greyson Daugherty added 10. Wisniewski is a career 1,000-point scorer. The Rams have only one state playoff win in eight appearances, 52-41 over Burgettstown in 1987. The Rams fell to Windber, 28-27, in the second round. … Bishop Guilfoyle knocked off defending champion Forest Hills, 74-54, to win the District 6 championship. Krimmel had 20 points, and Consiglio added 19 in the district final, which saw the Crusaders make 12 of 19 3-pointers. Taurean Consiglio, Jake Kissell and Tyson Lestochi are key seniors. Bishop Guilfoyle and Ligonier Valley played in the Shootout at Saint Vincent earlier in the season. Bishop Guilfoyle was frustrated when Latrobe rested its starters in the showcase. The Crusaders won, 74-28, playing against backups. Bishop Guilfoyle reached the second round last year and lost to South Allegheny, 55-47. The Crusaders are in the state playoffs for the 11th straight year. They reached the quarterfinals in 2020-21. They were 2A state champions in 2018-19.

Class 2A

First round

Northern Cambria (17-8) at Jeannette (22-2)

1 p.m. Saturday

District/place: Northern Cambria 6-3; Jeannette 7-2

Winner plays: Winner of 9-1 Redbank Valley (18-7)/7-6 Jefferson-Morgan (23-3) in second round Wednesday (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Parker Shutty, Northern Cambria; Markus McGowan, Jeannette

Layup lines: Northern Cambria qualified for its third straight PIAA tournament with a 60-46 win over Claysburg-Kimmel in the District 6 consolation game. Shutty, a 5-foot-8, 220-pound senior who is a two-way lineman in football, had 23 points in the win. Zach Cavallo scored 18 for the Colts. Shutty had 11 last year against Jeannette in a PIAA second-round game won by the Jayhawks, 70-54, in Johnstown. The Colts lost in the state first round in 2023-24. Northern Bedford, like Jeannette, has one state title (1965). … WPIAL runner-up Jeannette will look to rebound from a 52-38 loss to Sewickley Academy in the district final at Petersen Events Center. The Jayhawks never led as they saw their 20-game winning streak end. Xavier Odorisio-Farrow and McGowan scored 10 each in the loss. The Jayhawks are 25-22 all-time in the state tournament. Last year, they lost to rival Greensburg Central Catholic, 46-35, in the quarterfinals. They also made the quarterfinals in 2023-24 and lost to Fort Cherry, 70-60. McGowan and Kymon’e Brown are 1,000-point scorers. Brown is a Robert Morris football commit.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Jeannette, Ligonier Valley, Monessen, Penn-Trafford