Westmoreland County teams well-positioned for high seeds in WPIAL boys, girls basketball playoffs

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, February 8, 2025 | 5:40 PM

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The WPIAL will unveil its boys and girls basketball playoff seedings and brackets Monday.

Tournaments could begin as early as Thursday. The WPIAL finals are set for Feb. 27, 28 and March 1 at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

Westmoreland County’s representation will be strong on both sides, with a number of legitimate title contenders.

Local boys qualifiers are: Norwin (10-11) in 6A; Latrobe (18-4), Penn-Trafford (13-9), Franklin Regional (11-11) and Kiski Area (14-6) in 5A; Belle Vernon (18-4) and Derry (11-9) in 4A; Southmoreland (17-4) and Ligonier Valley (13-8) in 3A; Jeannette (19-2) and Greensburg Central Catholic (20-2) in 2A; and Monessen (13-7) in A.

County girls teams in the playoffs are Norwin (12-6) in 6A; Franklin Regional (15-6), Penn-Trafford (22-0), Latrobe (10-10) and Greensburg Salem (13-8) in 5A; Burrell (12-9), Belle Vernon (10-11), Mt. Pleasant (5-15) and Yough (11-10) in 4A; and Greensburg Central Catholic (16-4) and Ligonier Valley (7-14) in 3A.

Penn-Trafford beat five 6A teams on the way to an unbeaten regular season and should garner respect from the committee, although it will be tough to unseat three-time defending 5A champion South Fayette for the No. 1 seed.

“That’s for someone with a higher pay grade than mine,” Penn-Trafford coach John Giannikas said. “We have played a pretty tough schedule, and that should count for something.”

Another notable thing to watch for is the Greensburg Central Catholic boys earning the No. 1 seed in 2A and rival Jeannette potentially getting the No. 2 or 3 seed and playing in the bracket opposite GCC. This would keep the teams’ hopes alive of meeting in the finals.

“We’ll see what happens,” Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. “I think we’ll get the 2 or 3. Our two losses are to the top 2A team in the state. And we beat several 3A playoff teams.”

If GCC gets the No. 1 and Jeannette drops to No. 4 or lower, the teams likely would have to meet again in the semifinals, not the finals. Both of Jeannette’s losses are to GCC.

“I don’t think the WPIAL will put us and GCC on the same side,” Batts said. “Us against them in the final would sell a lot of tickets at the Pete.”

GCC coach Christian Hyland said he would not be shocked if his team did not get No. 1. But …

“I think we’ve put together a solid resume to be in the top two,” Hyland said.

Section champions usually get the nod for better seeds and home games in the first round if their gyms meet WPIAL requirements (size, safety regulations, etc.). Sewickley Academy and Chartiers-Houston also won section titles in 2A.

Most quarterfinals and all semifinals will be played at neutral sites, according to the WPIAL.

There are larger seating restrictions for higher classes. For instance, the GCC boys are in 2A and likely can host, but the GCC girls are in Class 3A and might have to play away.

Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional, Latrobe, Belle Vernon, and GCC have their boys and girls teams in the postseason.

Local section winners are the GCC, Kiski Area, Belle Vernon and Southmoreland boys, and the Norwin, Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford girls. All are in line for top-five seeds.

Franklin Regional had not won a section since 1979, Southmoreland since 1992, Kiski Area since 2013 and Penn-Trafford since 2015.

The Norwin (6A) and GCC girls (2A) are returning WPIAL champions.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Jeannette, Kiski Area, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Monessen, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Yough