No time to waste for 3-time champion South Fayette as WPIAL reveals basketball playoff brackets

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, February 10, 2025 | 3:36 PM

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South Fayette girls basketball coach Bryan Bennett was surprised by what he saw when the WPIAL released playoff brackets Monday.

His three-time defending champions were favored to win again as the No. 1 seed in Class 5A. Sure, that could’ve surprised somebody, but that wasn’t what surprised him. Bennett was stunned to see that South Fayette starts postseason play Friday, meaning the Lions had no time for a day off.

“I wasn’t expecting to play this early,” Bennett said. “Originally, we were supposed to be off today. The brackets came out and I had to send a quick message to say we’re practicing.”

Teams in some classifications don’t start play until next week.

Joining South Fayette as top-seeded girls teams were Norwin in Class 6A, Blackhawk in 4A, Shady Side Academy in 3A, Neshannock in 2A and Union in A. The No. 1 seeds for boys went to Upper St. Clair in 6A, Montour in 5A, Belle Vernon in 4A, Aliquippa in 3A, Greensburg Central Catholic in 2A and Neighborhood Academy in A.

The WPIAL playoffs conclude with championship games Feb. 27-March 1 at Petersen Events Center. South Fayette is trying to become the sixth girls team to win four consecutive WPIAL titles.

The most recent to accomplish the feat was North Catholic in 2017-20. Also winning four in a row were Aliquippa (1987-90) and Oakland Catholic (1999-2002), while Vincentian Academy won five straight (2012-16) and Penn Hills won seven (1986-92).

The only boys teams to win four were Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (2019-22) and Midland (1971-77), which won seven.

“They’re just a special group,” Bennett said of his players. “They play hard, and they play together. They’re unselfish. They’re just so focused.”

When the WPIAL basketball steering committee met Monday morning to seed the brackets, it was easily decided who deserved the No. 1 seeds, said WPIAL chief operating officer Vince Sortino. Still, Class 5A girls was a bracket where multiple teams could’ve made a case for the top spot.

Four teams had two or fewer losses.

No. 2 seed Peters Township (19-2) lost twice, both to out-of-state opponents. No. 3 Penn-Trafford (21-0) went undefeated. Even No. 4 Shaler (20-2) might’ve made a case for No. 1 in a different year.

It’s tough to overlook a three-time defending WPIAL champion like South Fayette (20-1), whose only loss came against a reigning New York state champion.

“There’s so much talent in 5A this year,” Bennett said. “Obviously, Peters and Penn-Trafford and Shaler have had outstanding regular seasons. I thought that being the three-time champ and not losing in Pa. this year, we had as good a shot as anybody (for the top seed). Being No. 1 helps, but I don’t know if there’s going to be a night off at all.”

This is the second time in four years that South Fayette earned the No. 1 seed. The team won the WPIAL title in 2022 as the second seed and was seeded sixth last year.

“There wasn’t a lot of debate between South Fayette and Peters,” Sortino said. “They were both really good, but when we threw hands up in the room, the committee went with South Fayette pretty overwhelmingly. And it was the same with the No. 2 seed for Peters (over Penn-Trafford).”

South Fayette starts the playoffs at home against No. 16 Greensburg Salem (13-9) at 7 p.m. Friday. After seeing the brackets, Bennett said he quickly cancelled scrimmages scheduled for later this week against Oakland Catholic and Greensburg Central Catholic.

The Lions defeated GCC once in the regular season and celebrated strong nonsection wins over Norwin, Seneca Valley and Mt. Lebanon, the first, third and sixth seeds in the 6A bracket. Plus, there was a three-game trip to Tampa, where they played teams from Florida, New York and California.

“If you would’ve told me back in November that we would be 21-1 after the regular season, I would’ve told you there’s no way that’s happening,” Bennett said, “because our schedule was so tough.”

Strength of schedule is key factor that the basketball committee uses often to decide the seeds.

“Sometimes you think about that when you’re making the schedule,” Bennett said. “We’re picking games that could go either way. You want to make sure your team is battle tested before the brackets come out.”

WPIAL championships

Boys

Class 6A

First round

Monday’s schedule

Woodland Hills (11-11) at Seneca Valley (11-11), 7 p.m.

North Hills (7-15) at Butler (15-6), 7 p.m.

Norwin (10-11) at Mt. Lebanon (14-7), 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Feb. 20 schedule

Woodland Hills/Seneca Valley winner at Upper. St. Clair (20-2), TBA

Central Catholic (13-8) at Fox Chapel (15-6), TBA

North Hills/Butler winner at New Castle (18-3), TBA

Norwin/Mt. Lebanon vs. Imani Christian (13-7), TBA

Class 5A

Preliminary round

Thursday’s schedule

Indiana (9-12) at Franklin Regional (11-11), 7 p.m.

First round

Feb. 18 schedule

Indiana/Franklin Regional at Montour (20-1), 7 p.m.

Latrobe (18-4) at Kiski Area (14-6), 7 p.m.

Thomas Jefferson (10-12) at Chartiers Valley (19-3), 7 p.m.

Gateway (12-8) at Moon (17-5), 7 p.m.

Penn-Trafford (13-9) at Baldwin (20-1), 7 p.m.

Mars (12-10) at South Fayette (15-7), 7 p.m.

Hampton (10-11) at Uniontown (19-3), 7 p.m.

Penn Hills (11-9) at Peters Township (15-6), 7 p.m.

Class 4A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Highlands (6-13) at Elizabeth Forward (17-4), 7 p.m.

West Mifflin (8-13) at Knoch (16-6), 7 p.m.

Quaker Valley (14-7) at Deer Lakes (16-5), 7 p.m.

Derry (11-9) at Central Valley (17-4), 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Feb. 19 schedule

Highlands/Elizabeth Forward winner at Belle Vernon (18-4), TBA

West Mifflin/Knoch winner at Avonworth (17-4), TBA

Quaker Valley/Deer Lakes winner at North Catholic (16-5), TBA

Derry/Central Valley winner at Beaver (18-4), TBA

Class 3A

First round

Feb. 18 schedule

New Brighton (6-12) at Aliquippa (17-4), 8 p.m.

Shady Side Academy (8-12) at McGuffey (15-6), 7 p.m.

Seton LaSalle (9-12) at Bishop Canevin (13-8), 7 p.m.

Ligonier Valley (13-8) at Keystone Oaks (15-6), 8 p.m.

Charleroi (10-11) at South Allegheny (19-3), 7 p.m.

Ellwood City (13-9) at South Park (15-6), 7 p.m.

Waynesburg (9-12) at Mohawk (17-5), 7 p.m.

Carlynton (9-12) at Southmoreland (17-4), 7 p.m.

Class 2A

Preliminary round

Thursday’s schedule

Springdale (13-8) at Jefferson-Morgan (14-7), 7 p.m.

Beth-Center (9-13) vs. Winchester Thurston (15-6) at Peters Township, 6 p.m.

Eden Christian (7-15) at Laurel (11-11), 7 p.m.

South Side (11-11) vs. Bentworth (10-10) at Peters Township, 7:30 p.m.

Brentwood (8-12) at West Greene (12-8), 7 p.m.

First round

Monday’s schedule

Eden Christian/Laurel winner at Greensburg Central Catholic (20-2), 7 p.m.

Fort Cherry (12-8) at Union (16-6), 7 p.m.

Beth-Center/Winchester Thurston winner at Neshannock (18-2), 7 p.m.

Springdale/Jefferson-Morgan winner at Northgate (13-8), 7 p.m.

South Side/Bentworth winner at Sewickley Academy (17-4), 7 p.m.

Shenango (11-10) at Chartiers-Houston (19-2), 7 p.m.

Brentwood/West Greene winner at Jeannette (19-2), 7 p.m.

Clairton (8-10) at OLSH (17-5), 7 p.m.

Class A

Quarterfinals

Feb. 19 schedule

Beaver County Christian (10-9) vs. Neighborhood Academy (21-1) at Shaler, TBA

Geibel Catholic (13-9) vs. Aquinas Academy (17-5), TBA

Summit Academy (10-8) at Serra Catholic (18-3), TBA

Monessen (13-8) vs. Nazareth Prep (17-4) at Sewickley Academy, TBA

Girls

Class 6A

Quarterfinals

Feb. 20 schedule

Butler (11-9) at Canon-McMillan (12-8), 6 p.m.

Feb. 21 schedule

North Allegheny (9-12) at Norwin (13-7), TBA

Pine-Richland (7-14) at Upper St. Clair (15-6), TBA

Mt. Lebanon (12-9) at Seneca Valley (15-6), TBA

Class 5A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Greensburg Salem (13-8) at South Fayette (21-1), 7 p.m.

Baldwin (13-8) at Chartiers Valley (15-7), 8 p.m.

Mars (12-9) at Shaler (20-2), 7 p.m.

Bethel Park (10-11) at Franklin Regional (15-6), 7 p.m.

Fox Chapel (13-8) at Peters Township (19-2), 7 p.m.

Moon (12-7) at Indiana (17-5), 7 p.m.

Plum (9-12) at Penn-Trafford (22-0), 7 p.m.

Latrobe (11-10) at Thomas Jefferson (17-4), 7 p.m.

Class 4A

Preliminary round

Thursday’s schedule

Highlands (6-14) at Yough (11-11), 7 p.m.

First round

Monday’s schedule

Highlands/Yough winner at Blackhawk (19-2), 7 p.m.

Knoch (11-10) at Laurel Highlands (16-5), 7 p.m.

Hopewell (8-13) at Elizabeth Forward (17-4), 7 p.m.

Freeport (6-15) at Beaver (16-4), 7 p.m.

Hampton (10-10) at Oakland Catholic (18-3), 7 p.m.

Belle Vernon (11-11) at Central Valley (14-7), 7 p.m.

Mt. Pleasant (5-15) at North Catholic (19-3), 7 p.m.

Burrell (13-9) at South Park (15-5), 7 p.m.

Class 3A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Shady Side Academy (21-0) bye

Deer Lakes (13-8) at Riverside (14-8), 7 p.m.

Ligonier Valley (7-14) at Keystone Oaks (18-1), 6 p.m.

Ellwood City (13-8) at Seton LaSalle (16-5), 6 p.m.

Brownsville (13-9) at Greensburg Central Catholic (17-4), 7 p.m.

McGuffey (13-8) at Quaker Valley (13-8), 7 p.m.

South Allegheny (5-17) at OLSH (19-2), 7 p.m.

Beaver Falls (12-7) at Avonworth (14-7), 7 p.m.

Class 2A

Preliminary round

Thursday’s schedule

Bentworth (7-14) at Apollo-Ridge (9-11), 7 p.m.

First round

Feb. 18 schedule

Bentworth/Apollo-Ridge at Neshannock (20-2), 7 p.m.

Beth-Center (13-8) at Laurel (9-13), 7 p.m.

Ellis School (8-8) at South Side (16-5), 7 p.m.

California (11-6) at Fort Cherry (17-3), 7 p.m.

Carmichaels (3-18) at Aliquippa (15-4), 6 p.m.

Rochester (9-11) at Riverview (13-4), 7 p.m.

Burgettstown (8-13) at Winchester Thurston (17-3), 6 p.m.

Brentwood (8-10) at Chartiers-Houston (18-4), 7 p.m.

Class A

First round

Monday’s schedule

Bishop Canevin (11-9) at Springdale (11-11), 7 p.m.

Eden Christian (5-15) at West Greene (15-7), 7 p.m.

Sewickley Academy (5-14) at St. Joseph (15-6), 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Feb. 20 schedule

Bishop Canevin/Springdale winner at Union (22-0), TBA

Aquinas Academy (14-7) at Serra Catholic (12-9), TBA

Eden Christian/West Greene winner at Geibel Catholic (21-1), TBA

Sewickley Academy/St. Joseph winner at Clairton (16-4), TBA

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Aliquippa, Belle Vernon, Blackhawk, Greensburg C.C., Montour, Neighborhood Academy, Neshannock, Norwin, Shady Side Academy, South Fayette, Union, Upper St. Clair