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Playoff pairings: WPIAL sets basketball brackets

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GREEN TREE – Chris Minerd sat uncomfortably Tuesday night in the packed conference room at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel. WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley slowly went over the rules and regulations of the WPIAL basketball playoffs before announcing first-round matchups.

Minerd, the head coach of the California girls team, leaned over to assistant coach Ray Huffman and whispered, “We’re the four seed and Serra Catholic is the five.”

The temperature in the room escalated with each passing minute. Time was dragging as O’Malley went over the particulars, but when the brackets were finally released for the WPIAL playoffs, Minerd was relieved.

The Trojans (21-1), who repeated as Section 3-A champions after reaching the Class A semifinals a year ago, received the No. 3 seed in the upcoming playoffs and will face No. 14 Sewickley Academy (12-8) next Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

“I’m relieved because I think if we would have been four or lower, what could I tell my team?” Minerd said. “We went 21-1. What else can you do?”

California has not lost a game since its regular-season opener against Mars, the Section 1-AAA champion, and is allowing just 23.8 points per game. Sewickley Academy finished in fourth place in Section 1-A and are a stout defensive team that creates an intriguing matchup for the Trojans.

The goal for California is the same as last season: to reach the WPIAL title game. Again, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic will stand in the way. North Catholic received the No. 2 seed finishing in taking second place in its section.

“The path is laid out for us to at least make it to that final four against North Catholic again,” Minerd said. “The first thing I said to my girls last year is you are going to see that team again, certainly within the next few years. We aren’t going to squander this opportunity.”

Two of the Trojans’ section rivals also learned their playoff future. Jefferson-Morgan (19-2) received the seventh seed and will face No. 10 Cornell (14-7) Saturday at Baldwin with tip-off set for 1 p.m. No. 11 Fort Cherry (11-11), the third-place team in Section 3-A, plays No. 6 Riverview Feb. 18 at a site and time to be determined.

Trinity’s girls team suffered a non-section loss to North Catholic Monday night, but it did not hurst the Hillers (16-6) for the Class AAA playoffs. No. 8 Trinity will face No. 9 Belle Vernon (16-6), led by Bucknell recruit Kaitlyn Slagus, Feb. 18 at a site and time to be determined.

“I kind of thought we’d play Belle Vernon, but I’m surprised we are an eight,” Trinity head coach Bob Miles said. “I didn’t think we’d be that high. I think we match up fairly well with them. We can defend their big (Slagus). We didn’t do it very well against North Catholic, but that will change. You will see a different team.”

The Hillers’ Section 5-AAA rival South Fayette (16-6), which overcame a slow start to finish in second place, received the No. 10 seed and will play No. 7 Ambridge Feb. 18.

The biggest surprise from 5-AAA might be McGuffey (16-6), which rose to as high as second place before falling to fourth. The slow finish to the season cost the Highlanders and they will face Deer Lakes in the preliminary round Saturday (1 p.m.) at Chartiers Valley. The winner plays Feb. 18 against No. 3 seed Indiana.

“We’ll focus on Deer Lakes and what we need to do to win that game,” McGuffey head coach Amanda Burchett said. “We hit a rough patch, but we came out of that. We are firm believers that everything happens for a reason, so if it took us losing those two games to get refocused and to get our game to where we need it to be, then so be it.”

In Class AA girls, Charleroi will play West Shamokin Friday at Plum for the right to face top-seeded Seton-LaSalle. No. 10 Chartiers-Houston will play No. 7 Mohawk Tuesday in the first round at a site and time to be determined. Beth-Center will face Avonworth Friday in the preliminary round at Peters Township with the winner getting No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic. Washington, the Section 4-AA champion, is in the preliminary round against Shenango Friday at North Catholic.

Though Wash High boys basketball coach Ron Faust enjoys the pairings meeting, he has learned not to take anything for granted. Faust is cautiously optimistic about the Prexies’ improvement, but the Class AA playoffs will introduce a new challenge.

Wash High’s victories over Seton-LaSalle and South Fayette earned the Prexies (15-7) the fifth seed and a first-round matchup with Neshannock (15-6) Feb. 18 at a site and time to be determined.

“We’ve been playing playoff basketball since the end of December because we needed to do that to compete for a section title, which kind of didn’t work out, but at the same time we were playing championship basketball. Hopefully, we’ll get back to that,” Faust said.

Also Feb. 18, No. 11 Charleroi, which shared the Section 4-AA title with Brownsville, plays No. 6 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Waynesburg plays Laurel Saturday (2:30 p.m.) in the preliminary round at Peters Township . The winner gets No. 4 Greensburg Central Catholic.

Monessen coach Joe Salvino left the pairings meeting happy. The Greyhounds (16-6), who swept their Section 3-A schedule, grabbed the No. 2 seed and will face St. Joseph’s Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

Monessen’s section rival, California, plays Union Tuesday. Also in Class A, Jefferson-Morgan plays No. 6 Cornell Friday (6:30 p.m.) at Baldwin.

Salvino, who has led Monessen to the WPIAL playoffs in all 31 of his seasons as head coach, tailors his non-section schedule to face top competition, including New Castle and North Allegheny. The strategy paid off.

“That does help, and that’s another reason why you do some of the things you do,” Salvino said. “I know the WPIAL looks at strength of schedule, so that’s a plus. I’m thankful for that. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you know that you just have to play whoever they hand you and prepare your kids.”

Perhaps nobody was as upset about the brackets than South Fayette boys coach Rich Bonnaure. The Lions (17-4) swept their 5-AAA schedule and their four losses came against playoff teams. But the steering committee gave South Fayette the No. 7 seed. The Lions will face No. 11 Steel Valley in the first round Tuesday.

“They did a terrible job in Triple-A. It’s a terrible job,” Bonnaure said. “I believe it. If you have someone on the committee, then you get a free ride, I guess. You tell the kids what it is. They aren’t stupid. They are already texting me. There’s no sense playing hard teams. I guess next year we’ll just schedule bad teams. That’s what they are forcing you to do.”

“The kids know what goes on. It’s pure politics.”

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