Most tickets have been punched to the WPIAL Basketball Championships with a few more still to come. The last week brought some massive scoring games from some of Western Pennsylvania’s best players, as they advanced their teams in the postseason.
This season, KDKA Radio will again nominate players each week to join the KDKA Radio Super 7 Awards watch list. Every Monday, a new crop of players will be unveiled based on their efforts that previous week. At the end of the year, KDKA Radio will announce the winners of the award for each WPIAL boys and girls classification, as well as the Pittsburgh City League.
Here are the top performances from Week 11:
Lucas Stanley, Union
Union has made a bit of a Cinderella run over the last couple of weeks, staying their ticket to the WPIAL Class 2A Boys Basketball Championship.
Stanley powered the Scotties with 26 points in a 70-49 first round win over Fort Cherry, 14 points in a 44-42 upset over to-ranked Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals. The senior added 24 points Monday night in another upset win over No. 4 Neshannock, 60-56.
Stanley scored 24.8 points per game in the regular season. He and the Scotties will meet No. 3 Jeannette in Friday’s title game at the Petersen Events Center.
Karis Thomas, Shady Side Academy
Shady Side Academy will look for a perfect WPIAL season when it plays for a WPIAL title Thursday night.
Thomas has been the main reason the Bulldogs have reached that point.
The junior scored 19 points in a quarterfinal triumph over Riverside on Wednesday, 55-20. But her more impressive performance came three days later, when she poured in 46 points in a 69-33 win over Ellwood City. Thomas drained nine 3-pointers in the win.
The Bulldogs will face Greensburg Central Catholic on Thursday at the Petersen Events Center for the Class 3A Girls Championship.
Thomas made national news as a fourth grader when she received a Division I scholarship offer from Duquesne.
Owen Dumbroski, Serra Catholic
Dumbroski put together a pair of impressive scoring performances last week to lift the Eagles to the Class 1A Championship game.
He dropped in 25 points in an 80-61 quarterfinal victory over Summit Academy on Wednesday, and followed with 26 points in a 57-45 win over Nazareth Prep in Saturday’s semifinals.
Dumbroski scored 20.7 points per game this regular season, one of the top marks in the WPIAL.
The Eagles will meet section rival Neighborhood Academy Thursday at the Petersen Events Center.
Carla Brown, Aliquippa
While the Aliquippa boys team has dominated the hardwood over the last couple of seasons, the Quips’ girls team has made some noise of their own.
Aliquippa stretched its record to 18-5 this season, as Brown scored 33 points in a 79-6 first round blowout of Carmichaels. She added 20 points in a 56-25 victory over Rochester in the quarterfinals.
The Quips will meet Winchester-Thurston in Tuesday’s Class 2A semifinals.
High school basketball broadcasts continue on KDKA Radio this week with coverage of Montour vs Chartiers Valley in the Class 5A boys semifinals Tuesday at 8 p.m. KDKA Radio will also broadcast all 12 WPIAL Basketball Championships from Thursday-Saturday at the Petersen Events Center. You can hear the games on 100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA.