Kingston Wheatley (above) and West Catholic won the state title in 2023. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
By Josh Verlin
The Sweetest Place on Earth is just one win away.
The PIAA state semifinals take place this upcoming weekend — Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 — at high school gyms across the state, with 48 teams still alive in 12 different brackets across six classifications on the boys and girls’ sides. That includes 16 teams from the Philadelphia area still alive, with eight local squads playing on Friday and eight on Saturday.
Here’s a look at each of Saturday’s semifinals involving local teams:
Boys 3A
West Catholic (12-1) vs. Holy Cross (2-2)
Parkland HS, 2:30 PM
Both of these teams have made deep postseason runs in recent memory. For West Catholic, that was a state championship two years back, the Burrs capturing the 2023 3A crown with an 83-55 win over Deer Lake. Holy Cross was in the 2A title game just last March, losing to Aliquippa, with the entire starting lineup back in the mix. West Catholic doesn’t have that Hershey experience on the roster, with only a couple pieces still remaining from that title run, but a Catholic League battle-tested team is always a threat this time of year.
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