WPIAL/City League girls basketball preview

It’s still only November, and the high school football state playoffs are nearing their conclusion. But with high school basketball season set to tip off on the day after Thanksgiving, the Pittsburgh Union Progress sports staff has you covered with a comprehensive breakdown of the upcoming season.

Here are some top girls storylines, teams and players to keep an eye on when the season tips off for WPIAL and City League teams Friday.

Big stories

Wade’s last ride: Clairton point guard Iyanna Wade has already rewritten the WPIAL record books several times over, including a 65-point outburst against Steel Valley last season that stands as the top single-game tally in WPIAL history. Wade finished her junior season with an average of 40 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 6 steals per game, joining Cali Konek as the second girl in WPIAL history to score more than 1,000 points in a single season. She now has 2,149 points for her career, and with the Bears dropping back down from Class 2A to Class 1A this season, it’s not hard to envision Wade joining Konek as the second WPIAL player to average 45 ppg for a season. Taking it one step further, if Clairton can play deep enough into the postseason, she may have a chance to chase down all-time leading scorer Gina Naccarato, who holds the career WPIAL record with 3,364 points.

Big shoes to fill: Few coaches have accomplished more in their career than Spencer Stefko did in just nine years at North Allegheny, where he won five WPIAL Class 6A titles, one state title and finished with a record of 222-29. After coming up short in last year’s WPIAL title game against Norwin, the Tigers will enter a rebuilding year under new coach Gabby Baldasare, who stepped down from her post at Pine-Richland after just two years at the helm. Junior forward Cate Pingpank is the team’s only returning starter, while Vange Balouris saw some time off the bench as a sophomore. Even with plenty of question marks going into the season, the standard will remain the standard at North Allegheny, which has reached the WPIAL championship game in eight of the past nine seasons.

Four-peats within reach: It’s always special when a team wins three championships in a row, but winning four in a row is a rare accomplishment only a select few programs have attained. Two teams will have an opportunity to do so this year, and one of them has already done it before. North Catholic has won back-to-back WPIAL titles in Class 4A after claiming the Class 3A crown in 2022 — and Trojanettes coach Molly Rottmann already knows what it takes to complete a four-peat, having guided North Catholic to four consecutive Class 4A championships from 2017-20. South Fayette might not be able to match the Trojanettes’ rich tradition, but the Lions have won three consecutive Class 5A titles — and with a solid nucleus returning, they should enter the season as a popular pick to make it four in a row.

The favorites

Class 6A: Norwin. Both Upper St. Clair and Norwin can make a claim as the preseason front-runner in the WPIAL’s largest classification, but Brian Brozeski’s Knights get the nod for now as the defending champions. Senior Kendall Berger is Norwin’s top returning scorer after averaging 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a junior, but it’s all of the little things that don’t show up in the stat sheet that make Berger one of the area’s top all-around players. Both Berger and fellow senior Averi Brozeski are Clarion recruits, and junior guard Ava Christopher should take on an expanded role after scoring a team-high 16 points in the WPIAL championship game last season.

Class 5A: South Fayette. Like in Class 6A, there are two teams with a strong argument for the top spot in Class 5A, as Peters Township brings back 6-3 forward and Miami recruit Natalie Wetzel following a 24-win season. The Indians are dropping down from Class 6A for the current two-year cycle, but the Class 5A crown still runs through South Fayette until proven otherwise. Despite graduating former PUP Player of the Year Maddie Webber, the Lions found a way to complete a WPIAL championship three-peat as a No. 6 seed for last year’s playoffs, and coach Bryan Bennett always finds a way to get the most out of his players. Juniors Haylie Lamonde and Juliette Leroux are the team’s top returning scorers.

Class 4A: Blackhawk. Class 4A might be the toughest classification of all to pick a preseason favorite, as North Catholic has won back-to-back Class 4A crowns and Oakland Catholic is coming off a 26-win season in Class 5A with Robert Morris recruit London Creach as its centerpiece. That being said, a state title is still the ultimate prize in high school hoops — and Blackhawk was the only local girls team to bring home a PIAA championship last year. The Cougars managed to do so in Greg Huston’s first year at the helm, erasing painful memories of a heartbreaking loss in the state finals in 2023. The absence of Alena Fusetti will leave a big void for Blackhawk to fill, but junior guard-forward Aubree Hupp is ready to take over as the main attraction for the Cougars.

Class 3A: Greensburg Central Catholic. The Centurions are moving up to Class 3A after capturing last year’s WPIAL Class 2A title, but don’t expect that to slow them down this season. Junior guard Erica Gribble is one of the top sharpshooters in the area, fresh off a stellar sophomore season in which she averaged 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while pouring in 28 points in Greensburg Central’s WPIAL championship win over Serra Catholic. Gribble holds 19 Division I scholarship offers and already has more than 1,000 points scored in her career. Junior guard Jayla Peterson and junior forward Abby Dlugos will also play a key role in the Centurions’ quest for back-to-back WPIAL titles.

Class 2A: Neshannock. After spending the previous two-year cycle in Class 3A, the Lancers are back in the classification they ruled over with back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2021-22. All of the key contributors from that 2022 WPIAL title team have since graduated, but Luann Grybowski is back for the 45th season of her decorated coaching career that includes 751 wins, six WPIAL championships and one state title. Junior forward Payton Newman will take center stage for Neshannock after averaging 12.5 ppg en route to earning all-section honors last season.

Class 1A: Serra Catholic. Always in the championship picture one way or another come playoff time, the Eagles may have their best chance yet to snap a 20-year WPIAL championship drought after dropping down from Class 2A to Class 1A. In his debut season as head coach, Mike Voit guided Serra to the WPIAL title game before falling to rival Greensburg Central Catholic, and Voit will have two of his most trusted players returning in junior guards Abby Genes and Niki Sfanos. Genes led the team with an average of 15.2 ppg on her way to all-section honors as a sophomore.

City League: Allderdice. The Dragons derailed Obama’s three-peat bid with a lopsided 62-39 victory in last year’s City League title game, and there’s plenty to like about Allderdice’s chances of going back-to-back this season. Junior point guard Bailey White averaged a team-high 20.3 ppg in her terrific sophomore season, highlighted by her 34-point performance with seven 3-pointers in the City League title game. Plus, with sophomore guard Peyton Lynch (15.2 ppg) coming off a breakout freshman campaign, these Dragons could be Ellen Guillard’s best team yet in her nine-year stint as head coach.

Finest Five

London Creach, Oakland Catholic. A Robert Morris recruit and returning PUP first-team all-star, Creach might be the WPIAL’s most well-rounded player heading into the 2024-25 season. As a junior, she averaged 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.9 steals per game while shooting 54.1% from the field and 75.4% from the free-throw line, fueling the Eagles to a perfect record of 24-0 before going down with a season-ending injury in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Erica Gribble, Greensburg Central Catholic. The only junior to make her way onto this year’s preseason Finest Five, Gribble is following in the footsteps of her acclaimed older sisters while carving out her own indelible legacy for the Centurions. The 5-10 guard averaged 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game as a sophomore, and she already holds 19 Division I scholarship offers. Gribble scored 14 of her game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter of a 62-41 win against Serra Catholic in the WPIAL Class 2A title game.

Rylee Kalocay, Upper St. Clair. After tearing her ACL and meniscus in a game against Peters Township on Jan. 2, Kalocay has come full circle in her recovery and is ready to make her return as the Panthers’ unquestioned senior leader. The Kent State recruit earned first-team PUP all-star honors as a sophomore after averaging 20 ppg while shooting 88% from the free-throw line. Kalocay then raised her scoring average to 24 ppg in 13 games before getting her junior season cut short.

Iyanna Wade, Clairton. The WPIAL’s back-to-back scoring champion will attempt to make a run at the all-time scoring crown after a historic junior season that saw Wade average a whopping 40 ppg — only the second player in WPIAL history to do so. She also became the second player to finish with more than 1,000 points in a single season, raising her career total to 2,149. As long as she stays healthy, Wade could become only the fourth WPIAL player to score 3,000 points for her career.

Natalie Wetzel, Peters Township. Although most of the area’s most heralded players reside in the backcourt, Wetzel’s towering presence in the paint gives Peters Township an advantage over virtually every opponent it faces. The 6-3 forward averaged 17.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while leading the Indians to a 24-win season as a junior, giving her 1,136 points for her career. Wetzel will try to power Peters Township to its second WPIAL title and first since 2019 before moving on to play college ball at Miami.

Must-see games

Upper St. Clair at Peters Township, Dec. 6. Early season tournaments always provide a handful of mouth-watering matchups to look forward to, and this one might be the best of the bunch. These fierce rivals are no longer playing twice a year in the same section, as Peters Township dropped from Class 6A to Class 5A for the current two-year cycle. But don’t expect that to lower the stakes when the Panthers and Indians square off in a showdown between two of the top seniors in the area — Upper St. Clair point guard Rylee Kalocay and Peters Township forward Natalie Wetzel.

Oakland Catholic at North Catholic, Dec. 12. Two of the area’s most prestigious programs now find themselves in the same section for the first time, as Oakland Catholic dropped down from Class 5A to Class 4A following a 26-win season a year ago. The Eagles will look to dethrone the mighty Trojanettes, winners of three consecutive WPIAL titles and seven in the past eight years — and their first of two regular-season clashes will also serve as the Class 4A Section 1 opener for both teams. Henry Schechter takes over for Eddie Benton as Oakland Catholic’s coach, while Molly Rottmann returns for North Catholic in search of her 13th WPIAL championship.

South Fayette at Norwin, Jan. 11. They simply don’t make non-section matchups much bigger than this one, as three-time defending WPIAL Class 5A champion will travel to Norwin to take on the reigning WPIAL Class 6A champion Knights in mid-January. Norwin got the better of their early season matchup last season, coming away with a 49-30 road win — so expect the Lions to be hungry for revenge in this year’s rematch. South Fayette returns a talented tandem of juniors in Haylie Lamonde and Juliette Leroux, while the Knights are led by standout senior Kendall Berger.