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Sunday January 12, 2025 | 9:21 p.m.
Christopher Horner | TribLive
Fox Chapel’s Natalia Schaffer pressures Franklin Regional’s Toryn Fulton during their match Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024, in Murrysville.
The first half of WPIAL girls basketball sectional play ends with several head-to-head matchups to determine first place.
In Class 5A, two of the four sections organize faceoffs to conclude the first half.
In Section 1, Shaler will look to continue her turnaround season at Franklin Regional.
The Titans missed the playoffs a year ago with an 8-14 record. They enter Monday’s game with a 4-0 record in the section and an 11-1 record overall and are winners of six straight.
The Panthers are 5-0 in the section and are 8-5 overall with three straight wins.
In Section 2-5A, Penn-Trafford travels to Indiana where both teams are 5-0 at the section lead and a combined 23-2 heading into their matchup on Monday.
The Warriors are a perfect 12-0 while the Little Indians are 11-2 and have won five straight games.
No more battles for first place
There will be three more district girls basketball games Monday that pit two teams tied for the section lead.
In Section 3-4A, South Park visits Elizabeth Forward with both teams tied for the lead with sectional records of 5-0.
The Eagles are 8-2 overall and have won three straight games.
The Warriors are 8-3 this season, but have won seven in a row after a three-game skid in early December.
In Section 2-2A, Fort Cherry hosts South Side.
The Rangers are 4-0 in the section and 11-2 overall with nine straight wins.
The Rams are 3-0 in sectional play and 8-4 for the season with two straight wins and victories in five of their last six games.
Finally, in Section 4-2A, the top two teams face off at Oakmont when Riverview hosts Winchester Thurston.
The Raiders are 3-0 in the section and 7-2 overall with a six-game winning streak.
The Bears are 4-0 sectional and 9-2 this season with wins in each of their last six games.
The midway madness continues
While the above matchups will determine who holds sole lead in their section, some matchups could create a tie for first place halfway through the regular season.
One of those games is in Section 1-6A when Seneca Valley (9-4) visits Pine-Richland (4-9).
The Raiders are 4-0 in the section, one game ahead of the Rams 3-1 and Butler 3-1 (8-5).
• In Section 3-3A, top-ranked Seton LaSalle (9-3) heads south to face McGuffey (9-4).
The Rebels are 5-0 in the section, one game ahead of the Highlanders at 4-1 and Keystone Oaks at 3-1 (9-1).
• Section 1-2A leader Aliquippa (10-2) will host Rochester (7-6).
The Quips sit in first place with a 4-0 record, one game ahead of the Rams and Neshannock (11-2) with a 3-1 sectional record.
• One game separates the top four teams in Section 4-2A, and on Monday they will all face off.
Top-ranked Chartiers-Houston (9-1) is 3-0 in the section and is on the road to visit Bentworth (6-6) at 2-1.
Beth-Center (8-5) is 3-1 in the section and travels to California (5-3), which is tied for second place at 2-1.
Tags: Aliquippa, Bentworth, Beth Center, California, Chartiers-Houston, Elizabeth forward, Fort Cherry, Franklin Regional, Indiana, McGuffey, Penn Trafford, Pine-Richland, River view, Rochester, Seneca Valley, Seton La Salle, Shaler, South Park, South side, Winchester Thurston