Class 5A contenders Penn Hills, Oakland Catholic to square off in 3 things to watch Thursday in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 | 8:39 PM

Their pasts have been golden, and the present is pretty good, as well.

Tradition though won’t mean a thing when the ball goes up in a girls basketball clash of top teams in Class 5A Thursday evening.

Both Oakland Catholic and Penn Hills are 5-0 atop Section 3-5A.

The Eagles, runners-up a year ago to North Catholic in Class 4A, are 10-1 overall.

The Indians, a playoff team a year ago in Class 6A, come into this east end showdown with a 9-3 overall mark.

The two schools have the two longest consecutive girls basketball championship runs in the WPIAL’s highest classification.

Between 1986 and 1992, Penn Hills won seven straight WPIAL championships.

Oakland Catholic captured gold four years in a row between 1999 and 2002 and then won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.

Watch the first meeting between these storied programs from Oakland Catholic at 7:30 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

Top 4 in Section 2-3A square off

Only one game separates the top four teams in Section 2-3A in WPIAL girls basketball.

Those four teams will play in a pair of key games Thursday.

Washington is alone in first place with a 5-0 section record, but the Little Prexies have dropped their last two nonsection games after a 9-0 start.

On Thursday, Wash High hosts Seton LaSalle at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast at TribHSSN.TribLive.com.

The Rebels are in a three-way tie for second place with a 4-1 section mark.

The two teams they are tied with also collide Thursday when Beth-Center visits South Park.

Big 4A frays

It is crowded near the top in Section 3-4A where three teams are deadlocked for first place.

Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward and Southmoreland are all even at 4-1. On Thursday, the Scotties host the Leopards.

Also in 4A, everybody is looking up at front running North Catholic in Section 1.

Right on the Trojans’ heels are Knoch and Freeport, one game back with 4-1 section records.

The Knights host the Yellowjackets on Thursday.

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