Feb 18, 2026 2 min read

Defending WPIAL champion Peters Township isn’t ready to give up its title.

Taylor McCullough scored a game-high 14 points and Peters Township defeated Baldwin 43-36 in a Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinal game Wednesday night at Bethel Park.

Peters Township (15-9), which had to make a late-season surge to qualify for the postseason, advances to the semifinals Saturday and will play defending state champion and top seed South Fayette.

Baldwin (19-5) had defeated Peters Township twice during the regular season in section play.

The Indians led almost the entire way this time, holding advantages of 12-4 after one quarter, 21-16 at halftime and 28-25 at the end of the third quarter. Baldwin did tie the score at 21-21 in the third quarter but the Highlanders never held a lead.

McCullough came off the bench to score her 14 points. PT’s Bri Morreale and Maddyn Mehl each scored nine points.

Baldwin’s leading scorer was Lynsey Bernotas with eight points.

Boys results

Monessen 55, Aquinas Academy 53

Torrence Taylor scored 15 points, including a game-winning basket in the closing seconds, as fourth-seeded Monessen edged Aquinas Academy 55-53 in a Class A quarterfinals game played on the Greyhounds’ home court.

Monessen (12-9) advances to the semifinals on Saturday. It is the Greyhounds’ first trip to the semifinals since the 2018-19 season.

Rodney Johnson, who scored 15 points, made a three-pointer at the buzzer that ended the first half. The basket cut Aquinas Academy’s lead to 31-30 and seemed to spark Monessen, which moved out to a 43-39 lead after three quarters.

Sam Duer scored a game-high 20 points for Aquinas Academy (9-13), which has its season end.

Quaker Valley 72, Belle Vernon 41

Quaker Valley is the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A playoffs and the Quakers looked the part in its first-round game against Belle Vernon.

After forging a 14-point halftime lead, Quaker Valley (19-3) embarked on a 17-0 run to start the second half and went on to a 72-41 victory over the eighth-seeded Leopards.

Zach Washington scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half to lead the Quakers’ attack. Nicholas Cohen scored 17 points, Sam Chapman had 14 and Kolton Johnson 11.

Elijah Majors, with 12 points, was the lone Belle Vernon player to score in double figures.

Belle Vernon (14-10) falls into the consolation bracket in an attempt to gain one of the WPIAL’s five spots in the PIAA tournament.