Feb 17, 2026 4 min read

Seeding means nothing to the Ringgold boys basketball team.

The 15th-seeded Rams, who have played their best basketball late in the season, went on the road Tuesday night and pulled off the biggest upset in the WPIAL playoffs so far, knocking off second-seeded Lincoln Park, 79-77, Tuesday night in a Class 5A first-round game.

The Rams (14-9) led almost the entire way. Ringgold was up 17-16 after one quarter, 38-31 at halftime, 60-56 after three quarters and won with a 19-point fourth quarter.

The Rams advance to the quarterfinals Friday night when they will play Hampton. Ringgold also clinched a berth in the PIAA tournament.

Demetri Lowe poured in a game-high 26 points and Dennis Hawkins had 25 to lead Ringgold. Takeo Tolliver and David Wachinski each scored 10.

Josh Pratt’s 25 points were tops for Lincoln Park.

Penn Hills 48, South Fayette 27: Sixth-seeded Penn Hills held 11th-seed South Fayette to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters and defeated the visiting Lions 48-27 in a Class 5A first-round playoff game.

The win advances Penn Hills (17-6) to the quarterfinals on Friday. The Indians clinch a berth in the PIAA tournament. South Fayette ends the season with a 10-13 record.

Penn Hills led 9-7 after one quarter and pulled away over the next two periods by outsourcing South Fayette 27-9 to take a 36-16 lead. The Lions were held to two points in the third quarter.

Calix Clark led Penn Hills in scoring with a game-high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds. Amon Hawthorne added 13 points.

South Fayette had Owen Keener, Dylan Monz and Tyson Wright each score seven points. Wright left the game in the third quarter with an injury.

Mohawk 74, Waynesburg 49: Top-seeded Mohawk used two strong quarters – the second and fourth – to beat visiting Waynesburg 74-49 in a Class 3A first-round playoff game.

The Warriors (21-1) led by only two points, 18-16 at the end of the first quarter but outscored Waynesburg (7-16) by a 17-9 margin in the second period to open a 35-25 halftime edge. Mohawk led 52-40 at the end of three quarters and sealed the win with a 22-9 edge over the final stanza.

Mohawk’s Joey Nail hit for 25 points and Bobby Fadden added 21. Drew Wrona chipped in with 14.

Cole Headlee paced Waynesburg with 19 points. Jackson Dean scored 13 and Dane Woods had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Girls results

Burgettstown 39, Jeannette 35: Paige Klodowski scored 15 points, leading three Burgettstown players in double figures as the Blue Devils held off visiting Jeannette 39-35 in a Class 2A first-round game.

Burgettstown advances to the quarterfinals on Friday and will play second-seeded Winchester Thurston.

The Blue Devils led 22-13 at halftime and extended the margin to 32-16 at the end of three quarters. Jeannette held a 19-7 scoring edge in the fourth quarter.

Savanna Rush tossed in 11 points for Burgettstown and Emilyn Harrson tossed in 10.

Jeannette’s Navarah Smith scored a game-high 16 points.

Laurel 41, California 21: Ninth-seeded Laurel and eighth-seeded California were late starters, but that had more to do with clock and horn malfunctions at the Trojans’ gym than anything happening on the court.

Laurel, however, was the first team to get its offense going and the Spartans went on to a 41-21 victory in a Class 2A first-round game.

Laurel (13-10), which did not make a field goal until the final minute of the opening quarter, led 18-11 at halftime and then held California (11-11) to 10 points in the second half.

Jael Henderson scored a game-high 14 points for Laurel.

Lila Mitchell led California with six points.

In other games: In Class 2A girls games, second-seeded Winchester Thurston defeated Bentworth 67-13, and Aliquippa was a 43-34 winner over visiting Beth-Center. No game details were available by press time.