The meeting between Knoch and North Catholic's boys basketball team should be a compelling matchup of section rivals in the second round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs Tuesday night in Plum. But having the teams meet for the fourth time this early in the state tournament provides a compelling argument for seeding the state tournament.

​It's not practical with such a large tournament.

Since Pennsylvania takes 32 teams in each classification, there are many more schools out east than in Western Pennsylvania in the larger classifications. That means when the brackets come out, there is no way to fairly set things up so east meets west in the final. Knoch (23-4) and North Catholic (20-6) each took care of business against District 10 competition in the first round of states, knocking out Girard and Sharon, respectively.

The Knights are on a historic run for the program, collecting their first-ever WPIAL title and have a 23-4 record. Knoch beat North Catholic by 24 points in the WPIAL semifinals. However, the two teams split in the regular season.

The Trojans are an excellent team that have consistently stacked their schedule under coach Jim Rocco with strong competition. North Catholic will be motivated to play better than during the third meeting.

It would be nice to see this as a quarterfinal matchup. The semifinals will be difficult to reach this season. District 10 champ Erie Cathedral Prep is averaging more than 90 points per game and has plenty of talent.

Knoch and North Catholic will be another solid entry in the history between the two sides. It's just a shame the way Pennsylvania does its state playoff bracket forced it to happen again so quickly.

The Knoch boys basketball team was one example showing how tough the competition was in Section 1-4A in the WPIAL. Deer Lakes, North Catholic and the Knights all advanced to the second round of the PIAA Tournament.

Sometimes the assignments that don't seem to have much promise more than live up to the billing. Deer Lakes boys basketball team pushed North Catholic to the limit Friday night. The Trojans came from 13 points down to trip up the Lancers.

North Catholic is one of the favorites to be the top seed in Class 4A. The WPIAL will release the playoff brackets on Monday.

Springdale picked up an important win over Riverview Tuesday night. Read my story about the game in the Valley News Dispatch.

PENN HILLS - Milani Oliver shot down the idea that scoring 1,000 points was a lifelong goal. The Penn Hills senior was pushed in that direction once she demonstrated she had the ability to reach for the stars. 

"As a freshman, it actually wasn't the goal," Oliver said. "But when I was like a sophomore and junior, (coach) Robert (Cash) was telling me to step it up and I could get it if I work hard enough to do it. He was pushing me the whole time I got it."

Oliver hit that mark early during a 48-12 Section 1-5A contest with Gateway Tuesday night at home. Oliver, who finished with 11 points to push her career total to 1,007 points, was happy to part of the lineage of Penn Hills athletes to reach the mark. Hannah Pugliese, who now plays at Slippery Rock University, was the last Indians' player to reach 1,000 points in 2014.

Before that, Penn Hills assistant coach Desiree Oliver was the last player in the program to take her scoring total that high.

"It feels great," Milani said. "It actually feels great being apart of that."

Putting aside her personal accomplishment, Milani knew that the Indians to pick up an emphatic win against Gateway. Penn Hills has lost five consecutive games entering the matchup and the Gators have wallowed at the bottom of the section all season.

"I feel like this win right here, it sets up for some of the goals we set before the season started," Milani said. "I feel like this sets us up to be good. I think our biggest competition is going to be Fox Chapel and Plum. Winning this game gave us our confidence back."

Milani said this Penn Hills has a strong support system in place alongside her. She is hoping to try and lead the Indians back to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs during her senior season. She isn't sure what will be next for her after high school.

"For college, it's still undecided," Milani said. "I was getting a lot of emails and getting a lot of looks, but I don't know yet."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo

PLUM - Chris Giles' biggest supporters were sound asleep when he made his cameo appearance on Sunday Night Football But the Penn Hills boys basketball coach found plenty of people were able to see him coach during the broadcast of the Steelers and Ravens game last Sunday.

The Sunday Night Football crew had stopped by to shoot footage of the Central Catholic-Penn Hills game on Jan. 2 at Penn Hills High School. 

"It was great," Giles said. "I wish my kids would've seen it, but they were in bed. It was great, my mom was able to see it and so were some relatives and family members. The best part about it is that when I went to work and some of my students said 'Mr. Giles, I saw you on TV.' So that's exciting."

The Vikings won the non-conference game 42-31. Typically Sunday Night Football will go to a high school game every week, but since the PIAA football season was over, they made the trip to Penn Hills again.

The Indians, who beat Plum 67-39 Tuesday night on the road, have won six of their past seven games. Penn Hills is 6-5 overall and 4-1 in Section 1-5A play.

"Kudos to those guys for coming out and supporting," Giles said. "Central's a really good team and it was two really good historical programs in basketball and football competing."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

The Plum girls basketball team earned an important win at home on Monday. Read my story about it in the Tribune Review and Valley News Dispatch.

The Mustangs were able to gain an important win to try and emerge from the pack in Section 1-5A.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

​Collin Rodgers has continued his strong start for the Deer Lakes boys basketball team. By scoring 34 points against Highlands Tuesday night, Rodgers hit the 1,000-point plateau for his career. The Lancers beat Highlands 82-46 in Section 1-4A play thanks in parts to 34 points from Rodgers.

Deer Lakes (5-4, 2-2) has worked through some growing pains this season. The Lancers have won back-to-back games after dropping four of five. Deer Lakes will try to add more wins to its total at the Gateway Tournament this weekend.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

BUFFALO TWP - For more game details, read my story in the Valley News Dispatch.

O'HARA TWP - North Hills girls basketball coach Jason Pirring shouted the information his bench statisticians relayed to him Tuesday night at Fox Chapel High School. Fox Chapel was beating the Indians on the boards.

"Eight offensive rebounds," Pirring shouted toward his team.

The pesky Foxes made the Indians sweat during their non-conference contest. But North Hills did enough in the second half to pull away for a 46-43 win. Pirring had a blueprint for how to proceed following the season opener.

"Imagine what we're working on tomorrow, as well," Pirring said. "Offensive rebounds killed us tonight. We're not a big team either. They're not a big team, but they outhustled us."

North Hills (1-0) fought off a slow start on offense. The Indians shot 14 percent from the field in the first quarter and 20 percent (2-of-10) from the 3-point line in the first half. Fox Chapel led 17-16 at halftime and limited North Hills to five points in the first quarter.

"We couldn't rebound," Pirring said. "We're not making foul shots - we were shooting 50 percent from the line. You can't win games like that. We were making it harder on ourselves."

Fox Chapel coach Marty Matvey was happy with how his team got on the glass. During the summer league, the Foxes struggled to score more than 32 points a game. Fox Chapel's shooting wasn't pretty in the first half either, but the extra opportunities provide more scoring chances.

Lyla Jablon scored six of her team-high 15 points in the first quarter. Emily McKee scored on a layup and drew a foul to stretch the Foxes' lead to 10-4 late in the first quarter.

Fox Chapel shot 11 percent from 3-point line in the first half. The Foxes, who shot 25.8 percent (15 of 58) for the game, saw their offensive go in waves throughout the game.

"I would say tonight was a little bit better," Matvey said. "A lot of people are going to play a zone against us because of the shooting. We're really good in our man sets and we're going to get to the rim. We still have things to work out, but I thought people started to look more comfortable."

North Hills took the lead, 18-17, in the third quarter on a transition basket by Zoey Devlin, who finished with 15 points. Delaney Amato made a 3-pointer to stretch the Indians lead to 27-22 and provide some breathing room.

Fox Chapel (0-1) hung around in the game. The Foxes cut the lead to 43-38 in the final three minutes on a jumper by Jablon. Fox Chapel got a stop on defense and cut the lead to 43-31 with 2:05 remaining on a 3-pointer from McKee.

The Foxes got the ball back after forcing a turnover when North Hills turned the ball over on a closely-guarded five seconds call. Fox Chapel missed a shot that could have tied the game on the ensuing possession. Devlin missed a pair of free throws that could have closed out the game.

The ensuing rebound landed in between three players and was kicked out bounds. The ball was awarded to North Hills, who extended the lead to four on a pair of Amato free throws. Fox Chapel's Bailey Sacco scored on a layup to cut the deficit to two points.

Amato split a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to stretch the lead back to three. McKee, who finished with 11 points, had a 3-point attempt to tie the game blocked.

​Matvey said he was happy with his team's effort.

"I talked to them after the game about let's be good early and often so when it comes down to the last quarter, we're sitting comfortable," Matvey said. "These guys are a little further along than I expected."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.