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Monday January 6, 2025 | 7:43 p.m.
Christopher Horner | TribLive
Imani Christian’s RJ Sledge shoots a 3-pointer against Berlin Brothersvalley during the PIAA Class A championship game on March 21, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
A week into the new year, it’s safe to say that the biggest WPIAL basketball game of 2025 — or maybe even this season — is set to kick off on Tuesday.
The top two teams in Class 6A, both of whom won the WPIAL boys basketball championships a year ago, will battle for first place in Section 2-6A when Upper St. Clair hosts Imani Christian at 7 p.m.
The Saints and Panthers are tied for first with a 4-0 sectional record.
USC is 11-1 overall and has won six straight since falling to Montour.
The Panthers were a perfect 3-0 at the Gil Reynolds Classic in Burlington, North Carolina, before the break and outscored their opponents by an average of 62-38.
Imani is 6-3 overall but 5-0 against WPIAL competition and 1-3 against teams from across the East Coast.
The Saints beat Theodore Roosevelt of Washington, D.C., then lost to teams from Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio.
Both teams feature some of the area’s top talent in Imani Christian’s 5-10 senior guard RJ Sledge, who averages 26.5 points per game, and 6-foot-10 senior Tyler Robbins of Upper St. Clair, which scores 18 points per game. game.
The Panthers won district gold in Class 6A in 2024 while the Saints swept the WPIAL and PIAA Class A championships for the second straight year in 2024, prompting the school to move up to Class 6A over the of this current two-year cycle.
You can watch the game Tuesday on Trib HSSN.
5 for 1 in 5A and 4A
There are plenty of big early-season boys basketball games with a share of first place up for grabs in five sections in Class 5A and 4A.
• In 5A Section 1, Uniontown (4-0, 9-3) visits Gateway (3-1, 5-5) over Trib HSSN.
• In Section 2-5A, Penn Hills (4-0, 4-6) hosts Plum (2-1, 6-4).
• In Section 3-5A, South Fayette (4-0, 7-3), fresh off a big win over Baldwin, travels to Peters Township (2-1, 8-3).
• In Section 1-4A, three teams are tied for first with Deer Lakes (4-0, 10-2), Knoch (3-0, 8-3) and North Catholic (3-0, 8-4 ). The Lancers, two-time champion, welcome the Knights.
• In Section 2-4A, the tie for first place will be broken when Avonworth (2-0, 8-1) visits Central Valley (2-0, 9-1).
Multiple 5A winners
In the eight-year history of WPIAL Class 5A men’s basketball, three schools have won more than one title in that classification.
Laurel Highlands won 5A gold in 2020 and 2022, and the other two teams face off Tuesday in a Section 4-5A clash as Mars (6-3) visits Moon (9-2) at 7:30 p.m. a match you can watch on Tribu HSSN.
The Fightin’ Planets won back-to-back 5A crowns in 2018 and 2019 while the Tigers won 5A gold in 2017 and last season in 2024.
So far this season under new coach Kobe Phillippi, Mars is 2-0 and tied with Montour for first place. The Fightin’ Planets are on a five-fight winning streak.
Defending champion Moon comes in close behind with a 2-1 record in the section. The Tigers have been hot, winning five straight games.
Junior guard Austen Wroblewski had led the Fightin’ Planets. He is seven points short of reaching 200 this season and is averaging 21.4 points per game.
The Tigers have relied on the doubles of senior swingmen Carter Tumulty and Michael Santicola, who average 20 and 15.9 points per game, respectively.