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Trinity girls, Belle Vernon boys, get top seeds

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The largest basketball tournaments in WPIAL history – 121 boys and 109 girls teams – will begin Saturday with preliminary round games and two local teams as the top seed in their classification.

The WPIAL released brackets Tuesday night for its open basketball tournaments – the first since 1984 – though regular-season games will continue to be played through Friday night. The postseason fields shrunk when four teams, including the Canon-McMillan girls in Class 6A, were late opt-outs of the postseason.

The Trinity girls (16-1), winners of 12 in a row, are top-seeded in Class 5A. The Hillers already own a win over second-seeded Chartiers Valley and two victories over fourth-seeded Thomas Jefferson. The Hillers will not play until Thursday, March 4 at home against either Mars or Gateway.

In Class 4A boys, Belle Vernon (11-1) has won 11 consecutive games and was given the top seed. The Leopards will host the winner of a preliminary game between Freeport and Blackhawk. The Leopards also will not play until March 4.

The West Greene girls (13-2), winners of 13 straight, were seeded as expected, in the No. 2 spot in Class A. The Pioneers, who have not lost to a Class A opponent, have a first-round bye and will not play until March 8, at home, against either Riverview or Bishop Canevin.

The Washington boys (10-4) were given the No. 5 seed in Class 3A and will host either Laurel or East Allegheny on March 4.

All weekday games have 6 p.m. tipoff times except those that are part of a doubleheader. Some games, because of limited gymnasium capacities, have been moved to neutral sites. Among those shifted are a pair of Class 2A boys games Saturday in the preliminary round. Jefferson-Morgan will play Winchester Thurston (noon) and Fort Cherry faces Propel Braddock Hills (2 p.m.) at Peters Township. Sites for some first-round games are still to be determined.

In almost all cases, the higher-seeded team will be the host. One exception is in Class 2A boys as No. 15 Carmichaels plays at No. 18 Serra Catholic on Saturday (noon).

Home-court advantage will be used through the semifinal round. Championship games will be played on neutral courts. The finals are scheduled for March 12, 13 and 15.

Complete playoff pairings can be found in the Scoreboard section of Page B2.

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