WPIAL Class 4A, A girls playoffs get started in Saturday’s 3 games to watch

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 16, 2018 | 6:00 PM

The opening weekend of the WPIAL girls basketball postseason concludes with the spotlight shining on four first-round games each from Class 4A and Class A.

All games can be heard on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Class 4A first round: South Park vs. Ambridge at West Allegheny, at 3 p.m.

Will the cycle continue for South Park? The program's last district crown was won five years ago in 2013, and it was five years prior that the Eagles won it all, in 2008. But this is not only the fifth- and 10th-year anniversary of Eagles gold, it is 20 years, as well, as the school won its first girls basketball title in 1998.

A championship run this year is a long shot as South Park is the No. 8 seed, but it's not out of the question after the Eagles won four of their last five to end the regular season at 13-9. A balanced attack with the basketball helped South Park rank sixth in the classification in scoring.

Ambridge won its last three games to finish over .500 at 12-10 overall and in fourth place in the tough Section 2-4A. The Bridgers come into this game with a bit of a chip on their shoulder, having been eliminated from the WPIAL playoffs two years in a row by South Park. Ambridge lost in the Class AAA semifinals in 2016, 66-48, then fell again to the Eagles in a 4A opening-round game a year ago 64-57.

Class 4A first round: Freeport vs. Elizabeth Forward at Fox Chapel, 3 p.m.

This marks the second straight year Freeport and Elizabeth Forward square off in 7-10 game in the first round of the WPIAL basketball playoffs. Last year at the same site, the Yellowjackets edged the Warriors in overtime 56-50 before Freeport fell to Class 4A runner-up Blackhawk in the quarterfinals.

This year, Freeport finished in second place behind top-seed Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic with an overall record of 13-8. The Yellowjackets won six games in a row after the holidays before going 3-3 to close out the regular season. Jenna Manke is a player to watch for the blue and gold.

Elizabeth Forward finished in fourth place in Section 3-4A behind Keystone Oaks, Belle Vernon and South Park. But the Warriors did go 14-7 overall and have the leading scorer in the classification in Bri Spirnak, who average 20 points.

Class A first round: St. Joseph vs. Geibel at Fox Chapel, noon

Two teams that finished tied for second place in their respective sections square off at Fox Chapel in the No. 6 vs. No. 11 game in the Class A brackets. A year ago, both St. Joseph and Geibel won their first-round games only to fall eventually to Cornell in the bottom of the bracket. The Gators lost in the quarterfinals while the Spartans fell in the semifinals.

St. Joseph had won five straight before falling to Butler in the regular-season finale. That strong finish helped the Spartans tie Aquinas Academy for second place behind defending champion Winchester Thurston in Section 3-A. St. Joseph is led by one of the top scorers in the classification in Chloe Kurpakus at 19.7 points per game.

Geibel won two in a row and three of five heading into the playoffs on the heels of four losses in a row as the Gators fell into a second-place tie with Avella behind West Greene in Section 2-2A. This postseason marks the 25th anniversary of the 1993 championship for Geibel, the first of four WPIAL Class AA titles in a row for the Gators.

Don Rebel is a TribLIVE High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Ambridge, Elizabeth Forward, Freeport, Geibel, South Park, St. Joseph