Lady Trojans draw No. 3 seed in Class A
California will be riding the WPIAL’s longest winning streak among girls teams into the basketball playoffs and Tuesday night it found out what the reward was for a sparkling 21-1 regular season.
The Lady Trojans, who lost their season opener to Class AAA Mars (seeded second in Class AAA) before reeling off 21 straight victories, were made the No. 3 seed in Class A as revealed at the WPIAL pairings meeting on Tuesday night in Green Tree.
“I was hoping for a two or three,” California coach Chris Minerd said. “I thought we did enough to earn that.”
The Lady Trojans finished atop the Section 3-A standings with Jefferson-Morgan second and Geibel Catholic fourth. The Lady Rockets were seeded seventh and the Lady Gators were seeded 12th.
Two area teams in the Class AA bracket didn’t receive much respect from the pairings committee. Beth-Center and Frazier, which tied for second in Section 4-AA, must both play preliminary-round games.
In Class AAA, Belle Vernon, which finished second in Section 4-AA was seeded ninth.
California opens its postseason next Wednesday against 14th-seeded Sewickley Academy, the fourth-place team from Section 1-A, with the site and time to be determined.
“We actually thought we might draw them last year,” Minerd said. “They’ve been a good defensive team. I’m anticipating a defensive game and, hopefully, our offense can take advantage of some opportunities and score enough for us to win.
“I think our team is focused and ready to go. We had some ups and downs, we’ve had to overcome some adversity and injuries, but overall we’ve been pretty consistent.”
Jefferson-Morgan will take on 10th-seeded Cornell, the third-place team in Section 1-A, at Baldwin on Saturday at 1 p.m. Coach Chris Niemec’s Lady Rockets only lost twice all season, both times to California.
“I thought we would be a six or seven, depending on where they put California,” Niemec said. “I thought if California was a two, we’d be a six and if they were a three, we’d be seven, so it was about as expected.
“Cornell is a physical team. They kind of match our style, so I think it’ll be a classic grind-it-out type of game.”
Geibel Catholic, which defeated Charleroi, a Class AA playoff team, on Monday night, drew fifth-seeded Serra Catholic next Wednesday with the site and time to be determined. The Lady Eagles were champions of Section 4-A.
“I think last night’s win might have helped us,” said Lady Gators coach Shawn Holup. “I was thinking we’d be in the 12-14 range so I’m pretty happy with 12. We’re familiar with Serra because we used to be in their section.
“I’m proud of this group. Three years ago we didn’t win a game and had a lot of girls who hadn’t even played basketball before.”
Geibel has been playing well of late.
“We’re 7-2 in our last nine games and I was telling the girls you always want to be playing your best at the end of the season.”
Interestingly, the Lady Gators and the Lady Rockets will meet the same teams as their male counterparts, although the boys play on Friday. The J-M boys are at the same site as well — Baldwin — while the Geibel boys travel to Charleroi.
Beth-Center and Frazier will be the first two local girls teams in action as both tip off on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The Lady Commodores, who played for the section title last Thursday, will take on Apollo Ridge, which tied for fourth in Section 2-AA, at Yough. The winner earns the 13th seed and the right to play fourth-seeded Carlynton.
The Lady Bulldogs meet Avonworth, which tied for third in Section 5-AA, at Peters Township. The winner earns the 14th seed and the right to play third-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic.
“This is just a very tough classification,” B-C coach Stephen Beyer said. “I truly believe it’s even better than triple-A.
“We don’t know much about Avonworth, but I do know my girls are really excited, really gung-ho for this opportunity to win a playoff game.”
There was so little respect given to Section 4-AA by the WPIAL that even its champion, Washington, was given a pigtail game to earn the No. 12 seed.
The Lady Leopards were matched up against eighth-seeded Trinity, the third-place team in Section 5-AAA, next Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.