Every now and then, the top two teams in a given classification are pretty clear before the season even begins.
The results don’t always play out that way during the season, but when they do, and when those two teams set out on a collision course as the top two seeds for the WPIAL tournament, and both teams hold up their end of the bargain to set up a winner-take-all showdown in the WPIAL title game — the game usually turns out to be one to remember.
With that in mind, Friday’s WPIAL Class 5A championship showdown between No. 1 South Fayette and No. 2 Peters Township just feels a little bit bigger than the rest of them.
“We’re certainly looking forward to it,” said Indians coach Steve Limberiou. “I don’t think anyone will pick us to win, but we like it that way. It’s certainly a really good matchup. South Fayette is really good and well coached. This is what the fans have been waiting for, and I know we’re really excited and looking forward to it.”
With a win at 7 p.m. Friday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, the Lions would become just the third team this century to win four consecutive WPIAL crowns. To do so in Class 5A — widely considered the strongest classification in the district for the past several years — would make the accomplishment even more impressive.
That being said, South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett isn’t counting his chickens before they hatch.
“It’s still a long ways away,” Bennett said. “I haven’t even thought about [the streak]. Each group has been different and special. I’ve just kind of looked at each one as a single championship that we were fortunate to win.”
All year long, the Lions (24-1) have dismantled every in-state opponent that has crossed their path, with their only defeat coming against national powerhouse St. Mary’s, N.Y., at the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Invitational on Dec. 28. Now riding a 16-game winning streak into Friday’s championship game, South Fayette ranks No. 2 in Class 5A in both scoring offense (62.1 points per game) and scoring defense (35 ppg), and the Lions have won each of their first three playoff games by more than 25 points.
Needless to say, this South Fayette team is one of the WPIAL’s most dominant teams in recent memory — and it all comes down to their balance, versatility and unselfish nature.
“I’m just proud of the way the kids have played all year,” Bennett said. “I’ve been so fortunate to have such talented kids the past several years. They just worked so hard and are so unselfish. I just couldn’t be happier that we’re back here now.”
Juniors Haylie Lamonde, Juju Leroux and Ryan Oldaker are three of the most well-rounded players in the area, and together the talented trio of wings are each averaging double figures while stuffing the stat sheet night in and night out. Leroux, a 5-11 guard-forward, and Oldaker, a 5-10 guard, are tied for the team lead with an average of 12.8 ppg, followed by 11.8 ppg for Lamonde, a 5-8 guard. Leroux also averages 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, while Oldaker averages 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.
Elsewhere, sophomore point guard Lailah Wright has taken the reins as the team’s trusted point guard while averaging 9.8 ppg to go with a team-high 4.3 assists and 3.6 steals per game.
“[Wright] worked so hard this offseason,” Bennett said. “She’s such a tough kid. She takes away their best player. She pressures the ball so well and does great things on the defensive end. If you look at her offensively, she makes some passes that you wonder how she even saw that look. I’m just so proud of her.”
While most still view the Lions as the team to beat, many have singled out Peters Township as their most dangerous challenger from the moment the Indians dropped down to Class 5A.
After coming one win away from a trip to the WPIAL Class 6A championship game last year, Peters Township put together a remarkable regular season while defeating all in-state foes until a 48-45 loss at Mt. Lebanon in the regular-season finale. That loss came with an asterisk attached, though, as star senior and Miami recruit Natalie Wetzel went down with an ankle injury against the Blue Devils that caused her to miss the Indians’ first-round playoff win against Fox Chapel.
Fortunately for Peters Township fans, the heralded 6-3 forward has received a clean bill of health and has returned to her starting role in the frontcourt — and not a moment too soon.
“I think the girls feel confident when she’s on the court,” Limberiou said. “The offensive numbers and counting stats speak for themselves. Defensively, she’s extremely talented. … All the best players, they do things for themselves, but at the same time, I think they make their teammates better.”
With the PUP first-team all-star back in the starting lineup, the Indians took down section rival Thomas Jefferson for the third time this season in a 46-43 nail-biter in the WPIAL semifinals. That set up a clash for South Hills supremacy between the consensus top two teams in Class 5A, with Peters Township attempting to interrupt South Fayette’s quest for a historic four-peat.
Along with Wetzel, 6-3 senior forward Daniela Radulovich gives the Indians a pair of towering post players for the Lions to contend with. Peters Township also has a reliable scorer in the backcourt in junior guard Bri Morreale, and freshmen guards Taylor McCullough and Jordyn Welsh are rapidly emerging as two of the most promising young players in the WPIAL.
“We have been playing really good teams dating back to the summer,” Limberiou said. “We played some of the best from Maryland and some really good teams from Ohio. I don’t think it’s the first time we’ve seen a team that’s really good.”
Other than their narrow loss at Mt. Lebanon in the regular-season finale, the Indians’ only regular-season defeats came against Strongsville, Ohio, on Dec. 20, and Olentangy, Ohio, on Jan. 18. Peters Township also holds a pair of victories against teams competing for WPIAL championships this week — Upper St. Clair and Greensburg Central Catholic.
They haven’t displayed quite the same level of dominance throughout the season as the Lions, but if anyone has the team to take down South Fayette, it’s the Indians.
“This one is definitely one of the tougher ones,” Bennett said. “Peters is super talented. They have talent all over the floor. They present a lot of mismatches for us with their size, so we’ll have to be ready to play. It’s exciting to get a chance to play them.
“Across the board, they are extremely tough. This is definitely one of our tougher challenges going down there on Friday.”
Class 1A
It might not carry quite the same amount of historical significance as the Class 5A title game, but they don’t make Class 1A championship games much bigger than this one.
In one corner, you have the two-time defending WPIAL champion Union Scotties (24-0), one of two undefeated teams remaining in the WPIAL along with Shady Side Academy. In the other corner, you have the Clairton Bears (19-4), making their first WPIAL championship appearance in 20 years with one of the area’s all-time greatest scorers leading the way.
So when No. 1 Union and No. 3 Clairton square off for the grand prize at Petersen Events Center at 3 p.m. Friday, one way or another, history will be made.
“It’s been an awesome ride,” said Bears coach Carlton Wade. “It’s going to be a challenge for us. And we’re the underdogs. I love the underdog role. We’re going to be prepared and ready to play, and have fun while we’re doing it.”
For the Scotties, senior guard Kylie Fruehstorfer (20.1 ppg) is the unquestioned leader and go-to scorer — and she proved it once again in a thrilling 47-45 overtime victory against Aquinas Academy in the WPIAL semifinals. With Union trailing by two in the game’s final seconds, Fruehstorfer drew a foul and converted a pair of game-tying free throws with 0.5 seconds left to send the game to overtime. She then drilled a game-winning 3-pointer in OT to send the Scotties to their third consecutive WPIAL title game, where they defeated St. Joseph last year in OT, 50-43.
“These overtime games are getting a little taxing on me, for sure,” said Union coach Rob Nogay, the 2022-23 PUP Coach of the Year. “I’m not getting any younger.”
Alongside Fruehstorfer, the Scotties have a strong senior class that includes guards Addie Nogay and Mia Preuhs, both multi-sport standouts who have also won a pair of WPIAL titles in softball. Junior guard Mierra Gunn and junior forward Olivia Benedect have also provided a handful of big-time performances during Union’s undefeated run to the championship game.
“These seniors are some of the most decorated kids, if not the most decorated girls’ class to come out of Union,” Nogay said. “They’re competitors. They’re great kids. They’re all straight-A students. They don’t get in trouble. I couldn’t ask for anything more from them.”
Of course, it’s no secret who will be priority No. 1 for the Scotties’ stingy defense to try to slow down on Friday — three-time WPIAL scoring champ Iyanna Wade.
A 5-4 senior guard and PUP first-team all-star, Wade became the first player in WPIAL history to average 40 ppg in back-to-back seasons when she led the WPIAL with an average of 41.6 ppg during the regular season. One of only four players in WPIAL history to surpass 3,000 career points, Wade also has a chance to become the first player to score 1,000-plus points in consecutive seasons.
Now up to 924 points on the season, Wade now ranks No. 3 on the WPIAL’s all-time list with 3,073 points for her career. The only two players ahead of her are Monessen grads Gina Naccarato (3,364 career points) and Charel Allen (3,110). And with at least one PIAA playoff game guaranteed for Clairton beyond Friday’s WPIAL championship game, Wade is a near-lock to finish her career as the second-leading scorer in WPIAL history.
“Obviously she’s a great player,” Nogay said. “She’s somebody we have to be aware of. We’ll look at some film and come up with a game plan and see what we want to do.”
In the Bears’ WPIAL quarterfinal win against St. Joseph, Wade finished with 30 points. She then scored just 22 points in a 52-32 WPIAL semifinal win against No. 2 Geibel Catholic on Monday, her lowest single-game output of the season.
Wade could still erupt for a 50-piece at any given time, but for now, her sole focus lies on helping Clairton do whatever it takes to win its third WPIAL title. And since she certainly can’t do it alone, it will be up to teammates like Jamiya Childs and Karma Fuqua to help ease the burden on her shoulders.
“Coming into the season, we thought that if [the role players] would contribute, we would go far and we would win,” Carlton Wade said. “They did it all season, but the last few games, they have really done a good job and hit some big shots.”
With two star players like Wade and Fruehstorfer on the court, there’s a good chance one or the other will leave a lasting imprint on this championship clash. Then again, don’t be surprised if the outcome is decided by the players in supporting roles on each side, with the potential for an unsung hero to emerge when least expected.
“We’re just excited to be here. We’re excited to go to the Pete,” Carlton Wade said. “Once we got dropped down to [Class] 1A, I thought we had an opportunity to get here. Having Iyanna, I knew we had an opportunity. It’s going to be exciting.
“We’ve just got to make sure we go down with the right head and be ready to play.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
