What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Jan. 9, 2025: Reigning WPIAL champs collide in Class 3A girls basketball

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, January 8, 2025 | 10:30 PM

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On Tuesday, the spotlight fell on a WPIAL 6A boys basketball showdown between No. 1 Imani Christian and No. 2 Upper St. Clair in a battle of 2024 district champions.

Now on Thursday, a similar matchup is set in girls basketball.

Reigning WPIAL Class 3A champion Shady Side Academy hosts 2024 Class 2A winner Greensburg Central Catholic in a Section 2-3A showdown.

The Centurions are ranked No. 2 in the class, right behind the top-ranked Bulldogs.

GCC is 3-0 in the section and 7-2 overall. Since losses to Class 5A powers South Fayette and Peters Township in their first four games, the Centurions have won five straight games.

SSA has been perfect with a 5-0 section record and a 12-0 mark overall.

Both teams have been dominant through the first month of the season.

The average margin of victory for Shady Side Academy has been 28 points while Greensburg Central Catholic has outscored its opponents by an average of nearly 20 points.

Both have been led by two of the top scorers in the WPIAL as 11th graders.

Junior Karis Thomas is averaging 19.5 points per game for the Bulldogs while junior Erica Gribble has scored 22.2 points per game for the Centurions.

You can watch the game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on Trib HSSN.

Battle of Thoms Run

South Fayette and Chartiers Valley are neighboring school districts separated by only a 6-mile stretch of Thoms Run Road.

There is also very little separation between the two schools in the WPIAL girls basketball standings.

South Fayette leads Section 3-5A with a record of 5-0 and has won 12 of its 13 games overall.

The top-ranked Lions have won four straight games since suffering their only loss of the season to St. Mary’s of New York over the holidays.

Chartiers Valley is knocking on the door, a half-game back in the section with a 4-0 record.

The Colts are 8-4 overall but have won 10 of their last 12 games, including two straight.

These programs have dominated Class 5A in girls hoops. They have combined to win six straight WPIAL championships and seven of the eight 5A titles all-time.

South Fayette is the three-time defending district champ while Chartiers Valley captured gold in 2017, along with three straight titles from 2019-2021.

Bounce-back mode

After great anticipation for their boys basketball showdown at Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Class 6A top-ranked Imani Christian took it on the chin.

The Saints were pummeled by the Panthers, 74-32.

There will be little time to lick their wounds as Imani Christian faces another stiff challenge 48 hours later when it hosts Mt. Lebanon on Thursday at the CCAC-North campus on the North Side of Pittsburgh.

The loss dropped the Saints to 4-1 in Section 2-6A, tied with Central Catholic for second place behind front-running USC.

Imani Christian (6-4) enters its “home” game one game ahead of fourth-place Mt. Lebanon (7-4), which is at 3-2 in the section.

Since losing in overtime to Norwin last week, the Blue Devils have picked up section wins over Canon-McMillan on Saturday and Connellsville on Tuesday.