What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 24, 2021: Perennial powers meet in girls hoops

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, February 23, 2021 | 11:45 PM

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Thirty years ago, Penn Hills and North Allegheny were doing battle for supremacy in WPIAL Class AAAA girls basketball.

The Indians defeated the Tigers, 68-49, to win their sixth consecutive district championship.

Penn Hills would defeat North Allegheny again in the 1992 title game, 65-41, for a record seventh straight WPIAL AAAA crown.

Fast forward to 2021 with the regular season winding down, and now it is NA with the dominant girls basketball program in the WPIAL.

Once the playoffs start, the Tigers will be shooting for a repeat title and the Tigers’ fourth Class 6A championship in the last five years.

On Wednesday, North Allegheny travels to Penn Hills. The Indians are prepping for success in the upcoming deep Class 5A tournament.

A thirst for first

After a near two-week shutdown, Section 2-3A girls basketball leader South Park is tuning up its game in the hopes of a long postseason run.

Part of that tune-up is a showdown with Waynesburg (9-1, 12-4). The Raiders have only one section loss, and that was to the Eagles, 50-41 on Jan. 25.

Trailing by two points after three quarters, South Park (7-0, 9-2) outscored host Waynesburg 17-6 to remain perfect in the section.

Junior Nora Ozimek led the Eagles with 14 points while junior Clara Paige Miller had a game-high 15 points for the Raiders.

Ozimek averages 15 points per game to lead South Park while freshman Kaley Rohanna average over 17 points per game for Waynesburg.

Second is not too shabby

Nobody could catch four-time defending WPIAL girls basketball champion North Catholic in Section 1-3A this season.

However, two dangerous teams that would like to see if the third time is a charm in the 3A playoffs square off for second place in the section Wednesday.

Laurel visits Mohawk in a matchup between two teams with a combined 28-5 record with four of those losses coming at the hands of the Trojans.

The only other loss came in the first meeting between these two strong Lawrence County programs when the Warriors beat the host Spartans, 62-51 on Jan. 18.

Senior Paige Julian scored a game high 21 points for Mohawk, which trailed Laurel 40-35 after three quarters but outscored the Spartans 27-11 to roll to victory.

Sophomores Regan Atkins and Reese Bintrim each scored 15 points for the Spartans.