What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Dec. 2, 2025: An early season section opener in girls basketball

By: Don Rebel
Monday, December 1, 2025 | 10:01 PM

The first of many, many WPIAL basketball section games tips off Tuesday with a girls Class 5A section opener.

Originally scheduled for Dec. 22, the Section 4-5A lid-lifter between host Thomas Jefferson and Uniontown has been moved up three weeks.

The game marks the season opener for a Uniontown team that finished tied for sixth place in the seven-team section with Albert Gallatin.

The Red Raiders finished the campaign with only one section victory and an overall record of 5-16.

Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson is already off to a 2-0 start this season with dominating victories over Quaker Valley and Knoch in the Montour tipoff tournament this past weekend.

The Jaguars finished in second place behind WPIAL champion Peters Township in the section and 22-6 overall.

TJ lost to Peters Township in both the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA second round.

While the Jaguars are without Robert Morris commit Kaylee D’Angelo, who tore her ACL, they do return leading scorer and Campbell commit Maggie Spell.

In the two games last season between the Jaguars and Red Raiders, Thomas Jefferson won both section contests and outscored Uniontown in the two wins, 138-37.

The game tips off at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a boys nonsection battle of Class 5A playoff teams from last year when Uniontown (0-0) visits Thomas Jefferson (2-0).

Scotties revenge

After moving down from Class 4A to 3A, the Southmoreland boys basketball enjoyed an outstanding season in 2024-2025 that included a nine-game winning streak that led to winning the Section 4-3A title by three games over runners-up Ligonier Valley and Waynesburg.

For as much excitement as the Scotties generated with 18 wins in 26 games, they have likely stewed over bookend losses to Keystone Oaks.

Southmoreland began the season with a 22-point loss at home to the Golden Eagles and was eliminated from the PIAA playoff berth chase with a Class 3A seventh-place game loss by 12 points at Keystone Oaks.

On Tuesday, the Scotties open the season with a nonsection trip to Keystone Oaks (2-0).

The Golden Eagles began the season this past weekend with two wins in the South Side tipoff tournament with a three-point win over Winchester Thurston and a 34-point rout of Western Beaver.

KO senior guard Erond Jakupi eclipsed 1,000 points for his career by scoring a combined 62 points in the two wins.

Hope springs eternal

While there are a handful of WPIAL boys basketball nonsection games Tuesday pitting playoff teams from a year ago against each other, there are two contests featuring four boys teams that are more than thrilled to put last season way behind them and start fresh.

Class 4A Yough visits 6A Connellsville and 3A Freedom travels to Class A Cornell.

The Cougars, Falcons, Bulldogs and Raiders finished the 2024-2025 campaign with a combined record of eight wins and 77 losses.

This is the season opener for Connellsville, Freedom and Cornell while Yough enters this road game with a record of 0-1.