What to watch for in WPIAL sports on March 27, 2025: State championship weekend tips off in Hershey

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 11:18 PM

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The Road to Hershey, a little bit of a longer journey this season, is now complete as 24 boys and girls basketball teams converge on the Giant Center in Chocolate Town for the first of three days of PIAA basketball championship games.

Six WPIAL teams are headed east with two teams from the district scheduled to play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

On Thursday, WPIAL Class A boys champion Neighborhood Academy (28-1) will try to cap off a near-perfect season when it faces District 12 winner Sankofa-Freedom Academy Charter School (19-11) in the second game at 2 p.m.

The Bulldogs have won 18 games in a row since their only loss of the season to Beaver on Jan. 4, 71-70.

Senior Courtney Wallace Jr. led Neighborhood Academy in scoring during the regular season and was high scorer in the Bulldogs’ first six playoff games with a combined 124 points in those six wins.

In the state semifinals, though, it was sophomore guard Kedron Gilmore who was the top scorer in the Neighborhood with 14 points.

The D-12 winning Warriors have defeated York Country Day, Bethlehem Christian, Chester Charter and Lancaster Country Day by a combined 86 points in the state playoffs.

Sankofa-Freedom is led in scoring by junior guard Nafis Dubose, who average 16 points per game.

In the third game of the day Thursday, Shady Side Academy (28-1) battles Loyalsock Township (29-2) at 6 p.m. in the girls Class 3A state championship game.

Junior guard Karis Thomas averaged 18.2 points per game in the regular season and she has cranked it up in the postseason, averaging 23.4 points per game in the Bulldogs’ seven playoff victories.

The Road to Hershey has not been an easy one for SSA.

Following a blowout of Cranberry in the opening round by 28 points, they edged previously undefeated Northwestern by two points and Camp Hill Trinity by three points before a 14-point triumph over OLSH in the semifinals.

The Lancers have won seven straight games, including their four state playoff victories over Biglerville, West Catholic, Dunmore and Imhotep Charter by an average of 24 points per game.

Here are the other two PIAA title games Thursday:

• Girls 2A final has District 6 champion Bishop McCort (26-4) taking on District 5 winner Berlin-Brothersvalley (26-2) at noon.

• Boys 4A championship game pits District 3 champ Berks Catholic (24-4) against District 12 winner Devon Prep (23-4) at 8 p.m.

Volleyball section openers

In the past, WPIAL boys volleyball had three sections in each of the two classifications.

This new two-year cycle has seen a growth in the sport with enough new teams to expand to four sections in both 3A and 2A.

Five of the eight will begin section play Thursday,

Another big change in realignment saw 2024 WPIAL 3A champion Shaler move down to 2A.

The Titans open up their Section 2-2A schedule at home when they welcome new program Aquinas Academy.

In the same section, North Catholic is home to Beaver County Christian.

Here are the other section openers Thursday:

• Section 3-3A: Seneca Valley hosts Butler and Moon travels to Pine-Richland

• Section 4-3A: Fox Chapel is at Plum

• Section 1-2A: Steel Valley is home to Derry and Deer Lakes hosts Summit Academy

Softball section lid lifter

A couple of Class 5A softball teams off to a good start are set to open up section play Thursday.

Undefeated Fox Chapel is home to once-beaten Plum in their Section 1-5A opener at 3:45 p.m.

The Foxes are a perfect 4-0 with wins over Norwin, Butler, Kiski Area and Allderdice by a combined score of 43-6.

The Mustangs won their first three games this season by defeating Chartiers Valley, Knoch and Moon by a combined score of 30-10. However, Plum lost on Monday for the first time this season, falling at Franklin Regional, 8-7.