What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 16, 2023: WPIAL basketball playoffs tip off

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 | 11:48 PM

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The curtain rises Thursday on the 2023 Path to the Pete with one boys first-round game and three boys and two girls preliminary round games.

While five games will decide the No. 16 seed or in one case, the No. 15 seed, one playoff contest will decide a spot in the boys Class 5A quarterfinals.

The WPIAL gymnastics championships at Moon have forced the Battle of the Tigers between McKeesport (10-10) and Moon (12-10) to be moved up 24 hours to Thursday.

Both sets of Tigers finished in second place in their sections.

No. 12 seed McKeesport ended up going 2-2 to close the season after winning four straight games. The Tigers finished a distant second behind Gateway in Section 3.

No. 5 seed Moon won three of its last four games to tie Mars for second place in Section 4, two games behind North Hills.

The winner advances to play the Woodland Hills at Gateway winner in the 5A quarterfinals Wednesday.

All six WPIAL basketball playoff games Thursday can be seen or heard on Trib HSSN at 7 p.m.

Girls pigtails

The first WPIAL executive director of the WPIAL, Charles “Ace” Heberling would always refer to preliminary round playoff games as pigtail games because they would hang off the full 16-team bracket.

There are two pigtail girls basketball games on opening night of the WPIAL basketball playoffs.

In Class 5A, Montour (8-14) finished in fourth place in Section 4 and will visit Plum (12-10), which needed an upset of section champion Indiana on the final night of section play to finish in a three-way tie for third place with Penn Hills and Kiski Area in Section 1-5A.

That Mustangs win was their only victory in their last five games while the Spartans ended the season with two straight wins.

The winner visits Class 5A top seed South Fayette in first-round action Tuesday.

In Class 3A, Yough (10-11) will host Beaver Falls (9-11).

The Cougars ended up tied with McGuffey and Charleroi for third place in Section 4-3A despite losing three straight games at the end of the season, while the Tigers won two of their last three games and finished in fourth place in Section 1-3A.

Boys prelims

There are three WPIAL boys preliminary round games Thursday, with two of them in Class 2A.

Both 2A play-in games feature the four teams tied for fourth place in Sections 1 and 4.

The No. 15 seed is at stake when Carmichaels (12-10) visits South Side (7-15).

The Mighty Mikes finished 3-2 in their final five games and ended up tied with Bentworth for fourth place in Section 4-2A.

The Rams lost three of their final four games and finished tied with Laurel for fourth place in Section 1-2A.

The winner travels to No. 2 Bishop Canevin on Tuesday to battle the three-time defending champion Crusaders.

For the No. 16 seed, Laurel (6-16) hosts Bentworth (12-10).

The Spartans only won one game in their last 11 but still finished tied with South Side for fourth place.

The Bearcats ended the season winning two in a row after dropping five straight to tie Carmichaels.

The Bentworth at Laurel winner travels to top-seed Aliquippa on Tuesday.

The other boys preliminary round game Thursday has West Mifflin (9-12) visiting Knoch (8-14) for the No. 16 seed in Class 4A.

The Titans lost their final five games to drop into a tie for fourth place with Avonworth in Section 4-4A.

The Knights finished strong, going 3-2 in their final five games to finish tied for third place with Freeport in Section 1-4A.

The winner heads to Midland on Monday to square off with top seed Lincoln Park.