Westmoreland lookahead for Week of Jan. 14, 2019

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, January 13, 2019 | 7:12 PM

Highlights of the week ahead in Westmoreland high school sports:

MONDAY

Girls basketball: Latrobe starts a six-game homestand at “The Den” against Penn-Trafford in a key Section 3-5A game.

Another key game, in Section 1-4A, features Apollo-Ridge at Greensburg Salem, and two of the top teams in Section 3-4A meet with Elizabeth Forward traveling to Belle Vernon.

Another 3-4A game to watch is No. 5 Southmoreland at Mt. Pleasant.

The top local Class A game of the night has No. 5 Clairton at No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic in Section 3.

Hockey: A local matchup that could produce some offensive fireworks is Latrobe vs. Franklin Regional in a PIHL Class AA Southeast matchup at 8 p.m. at Center Ice Arena in Delmont.

Penn-Trafford faces Baldwin at 7 p.m. at Ice Castle, and Wheeling Catholic travels to play Norwin at 6 at Center Ice.

TUESDAY

Boys basketball: Latrobe always gets a stern test from Hempfield on the road and the top-ranked Wildcats expect nothing less when they visit the Spartans Field House in a Section 3-6A matchup.

The section also has a rivalry clash with Penn-Trafford visiting Norwin.

No. 5 Jeannette hits the road for a first-place showdown in Section 2-2A at No. 4 Serra Catholic.

Other area games of note: Kiski Area at No. 5 Franklin Regional (3-5A); Derry at Highlands (1-4A); Mt. Pleasant at Yough (1-4A); and Clairton at Greensburg Central Catholic (3-A). 

Girls basketball : Two of the top five teams in Class 6A meet as Fox Chapel hosts No. 4 Norwin.

WEDNESDAY

Wrestling: Dual-meet season is heating up and several local matches will go a long way in determining postseason seeding. In Section 1-AAA, No. 6-ranked Greensburg Salem heads to No. 3 Hempfield. No. 10 Franklin Regional hosts No. 1 Kiski Area, and Plum is at No. 8 Norwin.

Section 3-AA has Mt. Pleasant at No. 3 Derry, and Yough travels to No. 10 Elizabeth Forward.

Boys basketball: Ligonier Valley hosts Purchase Line in a Heritage Conference game.

THURSDAY

Girls basketball: Franklin Regional will host first-place Gateway in Section 2-5A. In Section 1-6A, Norwin visits Pine-Richland, and Hempfield travels to Bethel Park. Penn-Trafford will look for an upset when it hosts Penn Hills in Section 3-5A, and Southmoreland looks to avenge a loss to visiting West Mifflin in Section 3-4A.

Boys basketball : A nonsection game to watch is Elizabeth Forward at Norwin. 

Hockey : Mars visits Hempfield in a Class AA matchup at Nevin Arena, and Penn-Trafford plays Moon at the Baeirl Complex.

FRIDAY

Boys basketball : Greensburg Central Catholic could be leading Section 3-A but an early-season loss to St. Joseph has them a game out of first. The Centurions can even their season series with the Spartans when the teams meet in Carbon.

Franklin Regional at Hampton (3-5A) and Jeannette at Brentwood (2-2A) are other section games to watch.

Girls basketball : Plum at Greensburg Central Catholic is an interesting nonsection game. 

Wrestling: The Allegheny County Wrestling Championships begin at noon at Fox Chapel. Early rounds will continue through the quarterfinals.

SATURDAY

Boys basketball : Latrobe is the lone Westmoreland area team at the inaugural MLK Weekend Stand Against Violence Showcase Presented by IGS Energy at Woodland Hills. The three-day event features more than a dozen teams. Latrobe plays District 1 Abington at 2 p.m.

Monessen at Belle Vernon in a nonsection game that reunites long-time Monessen coach Joe Salvino, now the coach at Belle Vernon, with his former school.

Girls basketball : Monessen takes on Sto-Rox at noon in the Pittsburgh Classic at Ambridge.

Upstart Southmoreland faces a tough road test at South Park.

Wrestling: The Allegheny County Wrestling Championships continue at Fox Chapel. Action begins at 10 a.m. with semifinals, followed by consolation semifinals at 1 p.m., consolation finals at 4, Parade of Champions at 5:45 and finals at 6.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.