Sewickley, OLSH set for rematch in Tuesday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

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Monday, January 14, 2019 | 10:21 PM


By comparison sake, this is a budding rivalry. But the intensity and number of meetings has made this one of the hottest matchups in the district.

Sewickley Academy and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will meet for the eighth time in two calendar years when the two powers collide Tuesday at OLSH.

The two teams were put in Section 3-2A two years ago and a rivalry was born.

Sewickley Academy swept the two regular-season meetings in the 2016-2017 season, then the Panthers knocked off the Chargers again 71-60 in the 2017 WPIAL title game.

Last year, the two teams split in the regular season and again in the postseason with Sewickley Academy repeating as district champs with a 63-59 comeback win before Our Lady of the Sacred Heart ended the Panthers season with a 70-68 thriller in the PIAA semifinals.

The Chargers advanced to the state title game only to lose to the team the Panthers beat the year before in the PIAA final, Philadelphia Constitution.

Sewickley Academy and OLSH are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the latest Trib HSSN WPIAL Class 2A rankings and Nos. 2 and 3 behind Constitution in the latest Trib HSSN state rankings.

Listen to the game at 7:30 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

South Hills showdown

The first half of section play concludes for most WPIAL boys basketball teams Tuesday, a night filled with plenty of rivalry showdowns.

The great Jim Render once said Upper St. Clair could face Mt. Lebanon in a Tiddlywinks competition and it would draw an intense crowd.

Add in the fact that sole possession of first place in Section 2-6A is up for grabs, and Upper St. Clair High School should be rockin’.

It has been a perfect season for Upper St. Clair as the Panthers bring a 13-0 overall record into the contest.

Lucky No. 13 came on Friday when the Panthers lost a 21-point lead only to survive and win at Bethel Park, 68-64.

The Blue Devils are 12-2 overall with losses to Pine-Richland (a team USC beat) and Harvest Prep, Ohio on their resume.

The game will be one of many broadcast on TribHSSN.TribLive.com.

Two for one

There is not only one battle for first place on Tuesday at Penn Hills, but two such matchups.

Woodland Hills visits Penn Hills in a girls/boys doubleheader with first place at stake in both games.

Both contests can be heard at Trib HSSN with the girls game tipping off at 6 p.m. followed at 7:30 p.m. by the boys game.

The Indians girls team is 6-0 in Section 3-5A and has a one-game lead over both the Wolverines (5-1) and Oakland Catholic (5-1).

Penn Hills is 10-3 overall while Woody High is 6-6.

Sole possession of first place in Section 1-5A is up for grabs in the boys game as both the Indians and Wolverines are a perfect 5-0 in section play.

Penn Hills is 10-2 overall while Woody High is 9-1.

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

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