TikTok³ÉÈË°æ

Feb 10, 2025 By Rob Burchianti 4 min read

Uniontown and Belle Vernon were the highest seeded local teams as expected when the WPIAL released its boys basketball playoff pairings Monday afternoon.

The Red Raiders drew the No. 3 seed in Class 5A and will host No. 14 Hampton in a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

The Leopards, with coach Joe Salvino set to retire at the end of the season, was made the top seed in Class 4A and will open the playoffs at home on Feb. 19 against the winner of Friday’s game between No. 8 Elizabeth Forward or No. 9 Highlands at EF.

Other area teams who found out their postseason paths were Section 4-3A champion Southmoreland, Waynesburg Central, Jefferson-Morgan, West Greene, Beth-Center and Geibel Catholic.

Uniontown swept through Section 1-5A play with a 14-0 record in claiming its 52nd section championship and went 19-3 overall. The Talbots were 10-11 overall and went 6-6 in finishing third in Section 2-5A.

“That’s what we thought,” Red Raiders coach Rob Kezmarsky said of the pairings. “We know Hampton has a very good program. We feel the layoff is going to help us. It’ll be nice to get a couple days to get healthy and get the soreness out. Then start up and go again.

“We’re excited for the opportunity and excited to have a playoff game on our home court.”

The winner of the Hampton-Uniontown game will play on Feb. 21 against the survivor of the No. 11 Penn Hills at No. 6 Peters Township game.

The top four seeds in Class 5A are Montour, Baldwin, Uniontown and Chartiers Valley.

Belle Vernon won the Section 3-4A title with a 11-1 record and went 18-4 overall. The Warriors (10-2, 17-4) finished second behind the Leopards, while Highlands wound up fourth (5-7, 6-13) in Section 1-4A.

The top four seeds in Class 4A are Belle Vernon, North Catholic, Beaver and Avonworth.

Southmoreland went a perfect 10-0 in section play and is 17-4 overall but still only drew a No. 6 seed from the WPIAL committee in Class 3A. The Scotties, who were scheduled to end their regular season with a game at Derry Monday night, will host No.11 Carlynton (9-12 overall, 4-6, third in Section 2-3A) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 18.

Waynesburg Central finished the season with a 9-13 overall record but went 9-5 after a 0-7 start and wound up tied for second behind Southmoreland. The Raiders play at No. 3 Mohawk (17-5, 10-2, second in Section 1-3A) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 18.

The top four seeds in Class 3A are Aliquippa, South Allegheny, Mohawk and Bishop Canevin.

Jefferson-Morgan (10-4, 15-7) and West Greene (10-4, 12-8) tied for second with Fort Cherry behind Section 3-2A champion Chartiers-Houston but both the Rockets and Pioneers were assigned preliminary round games while the Rangers (10-4, 12-8) were seeded ninth.

Jefferson-Morgan was seeded 12th and will host No. 21 Springdale (13-8, 7-7, tied for fourth place in Section 1-2A) in a 7 p.m. game Thursday. West Greene was seeded 14th and will host No. 19 Brentwood (8-12, 5-7, tied for fourth in Section 2-2A) in a 7 p.m. game the same day.

Beth-Center (9-13, 6-8, fifth in Section 3-2A) was seeded 20th and also plays a preliminary round game Thursday at No. 13 Winchester Thurston (15-6, 8-4, third in Section 2-2A). That game has a 6 p.m. tipoff.

The top four seeds in Class 2A are Greensburg Central Catholic, Sewickley Academy, Jeannette and Neshannock.

Geibel Catholic was seeded fifth in the eight-team Class A field and will play No. 4 Aquinas Academy (17-5, 8-2, second in Section 1-A) on Feb. 19 at a site to be determined. The Gators finished 13-9 overall and claimed a share of third place in Section 2-A with a 5-5 mark thanks to a double-overtime win over visiting Monessen Friday.

The top four seeds in Class A are Neighborhood Academy, Serra Catholic, Nazareth Prep and Aquinas.

The top four seeds in Class 6A are Upper St. Clair, New Castle, Imani Christian and Fox Chapel.

The number of PIAA qualifiers out of each bracket was also revealed as follows: Class 6A (4), Class 5A (8), Class 4A (5), Class 3A (7), Class 2A (8) and Class A (4).