Highlights from today's WPIAL boys basketball quarterfinals and City League championship.

City League championship

Westinghouse won its first City League title since 1998 when it defeated Perry, 61-52. (Westinghouse pictured celebrating).

Shaquan Johnson scored 20 points for Westinghouse and Aaron Lyons added 15. The game was tied, 27-27, at halftime.

Shakeem Cox scored 19 points for Perry, but he was 7 of 32 from the field. Perry shot 28 percent (19 of 68) from the field. 

WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals

New Castle is still perfect and there will be a new champion in WPIAL Class AAAA this year.

New Castle crushed Gateway, 87-55, in a quarterfinal game today at Ambridge. New Castle is now 24-0. Gateway, meanwhile, was the two-time defending champion and had been in the title game three consecutive years.

Afterward, Gateway coach Mitch Adams used the word "great" to describe New Castle.

Gateway stayed with New Castle for a while, trailing by only 27-26 early in the second qiuarter. But over the next 12 minutes of the second and third quarters, New Castle outscored Gateway, 37-12.

Shawn Anderson led New Castle with 26 points, Malik Hooker had 14, Anthony Richards 12 and Brandon Domenick 12. Richards and Domenick both had four 3-pointers. New Castle shot 53 percent (32 of 60) from the field and had 11 3-pointers. Jordan Landfair scored 16 for Gateway.

***** Seneca Valley held No. 4 Upper St. Clair scoreless until the 4:44 mark of the second quarter and went on to defeat the Panthers, 44-34, in a WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinal at North Allegheny.

Seneca Valley led Upper St. Clair, 6-0, after the first quarter. Upper St. Clair missed its first 14 shots and committed seven turnovers prior to scoring its first basket.

Upper St. Clair fought back and got within 32-30 with 2:35 left in the fourth quarter, but Seneca Valley outscored the Panthers, 12-4, the rest of the game. R.J. McCauley led Seneca Valley with 13 points, while Grabowski paced Upper St. Clair with 16.

***** Ryan Luther scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half to help Hampton beat McKeesport, 71-63. 

***** North Allegheny led by only one point after three quarters, but outscored Fox Chapel by 17 in the fourth to pull out a 79-61 win. North Allegheny's R.J. Colabrese scored 12 of his 18 points in the final quarter. Matt D’Amico led Fox Chapel with 23 points.

Class AA quarterfinals

***** Junior guard Elijah Cottrill scored 22 points to help Beaver Falls to a 66-36 win against Brentwood. Beaver Falls forced 28 turnovers. Jason Pilarski scored 21 for Brentwood.

***** In one of three upsets in Class AA, Burrell knocked off No. 2 seed Greensburg Central Catholic, 67-63, in overtime, to put the Bucs in the semifinals for the first time since 1979, when Joey "Sonar" Myers was starring for the Bucs. Burrell's Pete Spagnolo scored six of his team-high 16 points in overtime. The Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds in Class AA all lost.

***** No. 4 seed Jeannette was upended by Apollo-Ridge, 53-49. Apollo-Ridge came back from an 18-point first-quarter deficit to gain a semifinal berth for the first time since 1988. Tre Tipton and Connor Billingsley led Apollo-Ridge with 13 points apiece.

No. 3 seed Seton-LaSalle was upended by Quaker Valley, 62-61. Nelson Westwood scored 20 points for Quaker Valley.

Live blog from Saturday's WPIAL Class AAAA playoff game between New Castle and Gateway, with reports from other games.

FINAL: Seneca Valley 44, Upper St. Clair 34 

North Allegheny leading, 62-55, with four minutes left. This Mr. Haussie, St. Sebastian grade school legend.

FINAL: New Castle 87, Gateway 55

No shame for Gateway. This happens to just about everyone New Castle plays. Means there will be a new champion thisyear. 

Seneca Valley leading, 32-28, with three minutes left.

4:20 p.m. And the ball just rolled into a hole under the stands - and it's gone. They need a new one

45-42 Fox Chapel leading NA with three minutes left in third.

End third Seneca Valley leading USC, 27-18

Burrell leading Greensburg C.C. with one minute left in overtime. 61-60.

22-11 Seneca Valley leads Upper St. Clair five minutes left in third.

4:06 p.m. - 64-38 New Castle with 1:23 left in third.

Fox Chapel leads North Allegheny, 34-33, at the half.

3:59 p.m. - And here comes the avalanche of turnovers. New Castle forcing them. Red 'Canes now leading, 57-37, with 3:39 left in the third quarter.

3:50 p.m. - Gateway had only seven shots in second quarter. New Castle got 18. New Castle went on its run with Shawn Anderson on bench with three fouls.

North Allegheny leading Fox Chapel, 15-14, after first quarter. NA now leading, 23-19. 

Greensburg Central Catholic leading Burrell, 42-33, after three.

HALFTIME: Seneca Valley 17, Upper St. Clair 10. From Big Brad Everett. USC should feel good. Still in game despite shooting 3 of 21.

HALFTIME: New Castle 46, Gateway 33 Shawn Anderson 13 points for NC and Drew Allen 9 off the bench. These guys just come at you in waves. Seven 3-pointers for New Castle. Jordan Landfair 12 for Gateway. Delvon Randall nine.

3:38 p.m. As I thought, No one in WPIAL can play same pace as New Castle for an entire game. Red Hurricanes now lead by 15.

3:36 p.m. New Castle going on one of its patented runs. Now leads, 45-31 with 49 seconds left in half. Three 3-pointers in past two minutes. 'Canes on 19-4 run.

3:30 p.m. Have to say it again. NC's Anthony Richards as tough as a bad steak.

3:29 p.m. Development here. Shawn Anderson just piicked up his third foul midway though second quarter. He has 13 points already.

It's not 13-0 Seneca Valley. Upper St. Cliar has missed its first 13 shots.

Check this one out: Seneca Valley leads Upper St. Clair, 6-0, after first quarter. Seriously.

END FIRST QUARTER: New Castle 21, Gateway 18 Gateway doing well. Just don't know if Gators can continue this pace and stay close. NC coach Ralph Blundo just complaining to team gave up six points in transition. 

3:13 p.m. Jordan Landfair killing New Castle on inside shots early. already 10 points and Gateway leads, 14-8

3:11 p.m. - Fast pace. 8-8 with 4:30 left in first quarter. 

3:06 p.m. Game time here in a minute.

CLASS AA FINAL:  Second upset in Class AA. Apollo-Ridge beats Jeannette, 53-49.

Final score: Hampton 71, McKeesport 63 - One Section 3 team in the semifinals. Will there be three more? Ryan Luther was tremendous for Hampton from what I've heard. Had 24 points in first half and finished with 31. Collin Luther, twin brother, had 14. Hampton led at halftime, 50-28.

One coach from another high school said,"I can't believe he doesn't have more scholarship offers already."

Duquesne and Dayton have offered.

CLASS AA FINAL: Quaker Valley 62, Seton-LaSalle 61 - Mike Mastroianni one of the best coaches around. Working some playoff magic again, upsetting Seton-LaSalle. This isn't one of Mastroianni's best teams, but yet here is again in the semifinals.

CITY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP: The 'House is on firste. Westinghouse beats Perry, 61-52. First City title since 1998.

Live blog from Friday night's WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal playoff game between Beaver and Kittanning boys. We will also have reports from other games around the WPIAL. If you have a score or game report, tweet with #wpial. Or tweet to @mwhiteburgh.

 FINAL SCORE: Beaver 71, Kittanning 66

What a game for Austin Logan. Has to be a career high. 36 points. 19 in fourth quarter. 

Chartiers Valley has gone ahead of South Fayette, 63-58, one minute left. According to Swannie, CV went on a 14-0 run.

9:38 p.m. - 45 seconds left and Beaver leads, 65-58.

Upset????? South Fayette boys leading Char Valley, 58-56, midway through fourth. Char Valley No. 1 seed.

Gateway girls beat North Allegheny, 50-43

9:31 p.m. Austin Logan now with 31. Beaver leads, 62-52, with 2:03 left. 

Mars beat Uniontown, 77-59

9:25 p.m. Austin Logan making every big play for Beaver. Now has 27 points. Timeout with 3:50 left and Beaver has grabbed 58-50 lead.

9:21 p.m. Sterling Henry just picked up his fourth foul on an offensive foul. Beaver leads, 50-48. Henry now with 13 points.

9:20 p.m. Beaver's Aaron Barlow very quiet this half. 

9:18 p.m. Lead already has changed hands three times this quarter. Kittanning leads, 45-44. But Austin Logan hits 3 to give Beaver two-point lead.

END OF THIRD QUARTER: Beaver 42, Kittanning 40

This one is getting good. Corey Nesmith of Beaver hit with technical with 18 seconds left in quarter. It's loud in here. Intense. Kittanning just won't get away. Henry starting to get the ball a little more. 

9:11 p.m. Gotta give Kittanning credit. Wildcats keep hanging in. Just cut it to 40-35

9:10 p.m. Sterling Henry yet to take a shot this quarter. Beaver leads, 40-33

Lincoln Park leading Wilkinsburg, 38-22

Gateway girls leading North Allegheny, 26-14 

8:59 p.m. First-half shooting: Kittanning only 9 of 29. Beaver 11 of 24.

Clairton leading Uniont, 42-35, after three.
8:55 p.m. - And the wonderful Todd Thomas, Pitt football player, stops by press row. He's here to see his cousin, Beaver's Corey Nesmith. Todd says all healthy ready for spring practice. I remember the days of coaching him in AAU basketball with Pitt hooper Trey Zeigler. REMEMBER THE JOTS

HALFTIME: Beaver 32, Kittanning 22

Austin Logan had 12 points to lead Beaver. Aaron Barlow 10. Sterling Henry with seven for Kittanning.

8:48 p.m. Austin Logan has hurt Kittanning this quarter. Banged a couple 3's in corner against 1-3-1 and scored off drive. 12 points in first half.

Mars handling Uniontown, 42-25, at half. From Canadian Curt.

8:37 p.m. Kittanning's Sterling Henry starts to come alive. Already seven points in second quarter. Basket by Kevin Barnes and Kittanning cuts lead to 21-17 with 5:50 left in half.

Montour leads Thomas Jefferson 24-13 at the half.

8:33 p.m. Sterling Henry only one shot in first quarter for Kittanning.

END OF FIRST QUARTER: Beaver 17, Kittanning 8

8:28 p.m. Beaver on a run. Bobcats take 17-8 lead. Kittanning might have trouble defending Corey Nesmith and Aaron Barlow all night. Kittanning playing zones, but Nesmith has done some damage in transition.

8:24 p.m. Kittanning leading scorer, Sterling Henry, having trouble even getting ball. Being face-guarded and chased everywhere by Anthony DiNuzzo. Only one shot so far by Henry.

8:22 p.m. Beaver quickness and athletic ability might be little too much for Kittanning. Beaver leads 9-4 in early going. Four minutes left in first quarter.

8:16 p.m. Big student section turnout for Kittanning. All in bright green shirts. Great to see.

8:14 p.m. - This really is great to see a team like Kittanning get this far. If Wildcats win, they will be in semifinals for first time since 1925. Beaver not exactly a rich tradition either. Trying to go semis for only third time in school history. Andy Podbielski has done a great job with this program, which used to be horrible.

8:10 p.m. - Five minutes from tipoff for Beaver-Kittanning.

 Seton-LaSalle girls advance to semis. Beat Greensburg C.C. 66-43.

GIRLS FINAL SCORE: Mt. Lebanon 45, Fox Chapel 42 

Erin Mathias with tip-in with five seconds left for final score, but Fox Chapel didn't call timeout. Mathias, 6-3 Duke recruit, very impressive. 19 points, 13 rebounds seven blocked shots.

Alex Ventrone scores 14 to lead Mt. Lebanon. Christine Ehland 13 and Margie McCaffrey 11.

Free-throw shooting a big key. Mt. Lebanon 21 of 26 and 12 of 14 in fourth. Fox Chapel 11 of 17.

Jeannette girls beat Deer Lakes, 64-56. Ciara Gregory scores 35.

North Catholic boys beat Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 54-46.

7:46 p.m. Erin Mathias not getting many touches in second half. Mt. Lebanon defense in full court and out front too good. Mathias only three shots second half. Now has 12 points, 10 rebounds, seven blocks.

END OF THIRD QUARTER: Mt. Lebanon 29, Fox Chapel 25 Mt. Lebanon girls outscores Fox Chapel, 19-13, in third quarter. Got inside of Fox Chapel's defense. Fox Chapel will have trouble coming back.

Ciara Gregory has 29 after three quarters and has helped Jeannette take 48-42 lead on Deer Lakes.

7:27 p.m. - Erin Mathias victim of some very questionable foul calls on blocks. Seen it so many times over the years. I swear big girls get foul calls sometimes just because they're big.

7:25 p.m. 2:23 left in third quarter and Fox Chapel leading Mt. Lebanon, 24-21.

More girls scores: Chartiers Valley and Upper St. Clair tied, 24-24. .... Penn-Trafford and Bethel Park girls tied, 25-25.

From Big Brad Everett: Jeannette leads Deer Lakes, 35-33, at half. Ciara Gregory doing her thing again. Has 21 first-half points with five 3's.

Bishop Canevin girls lead Mohawk, 29-27, from coach Jacoby. Celina DiPietro had five 3-pointers in first quarter.
7:04 p.m. - Could we have an upset in the making in girls? Mt. Lebanon trails Fox Chapel at halftime, 12-10.

This is my first chance to really see Fox Chapel's 6-foot-3 junior center Erin Mathias. She committed to Duke as a freshman. I really like her and her best attribute? Well, besides her size, it's her hands. You don't see many big girls like her with such good hands. Catches passes that aren't thrown right to her. Can grab rebounds that aren't right to her. If you have size, and you have hands - boy or girl - then you've got something.

This game isn't terribly exciting. Lot of turnovers and lot of bad shooting. But Mathias has eight of Fox Chapel's 12 points. And get this. She stepped outside and hit a 3-pointer. So she's versatile. Only 1 of 5 from free-throw line, though. Brings ball down too far on her free throws.

Mt. Lebanon's defensive pressure could start causing problems in second half. But against a press where Mt. Lebanon face guards a lot, it is nice to have someone like Mathias to throw the ball inbounds. You have a problem, just throw it up high to her.

The WPIAL basketball quarterfinals are tonight and tomorrow. I will have live blog from tonight's Kittanning-Beaver game and will be at New Castle-Gateway tomorrow. I'll also be at the City League championship tomorrow morning.

Here is analysis of the Class AAAA quarterfinals and also predictions on all of the games:

CLASS AAAA QUARTERFINALS

Seneca Valley vs. Upper St. Clair - Can you say playing to your strengths?  None of the remaining teams do it better than Seneca Valley and USC. Upper St. Clair will play a guard-oriented style with a ton of gap/kick and 3-point shooting. Seneca Valley comes at you with size, surprising athleticism, and patience. These two teams couldn’t be more different in terms of playing style and personnel. The deciding factor in this one will be USC’s outside shooting vs. Seneca Valley’s variety of zone defenses. Seneca Valley's outside shooting, suspect at times, also could be a key. In the first round, Central Catholic struggled with the Seneca Valley zone, but Central only had three days to prepare. Expect the matinee idol, Danny Holzer, to have the Panthers prepared for the Raiders mixture of zone defenses. I expect this to be a tight one, but watch for the NYC legend Victor Giannotta to run a ton of isolations for Easton Bazzoli (pictured) and R.J. McCauley, then put it in the freezer late with the triangle delay. Winner: Seneca Valley. 

McKeesport vs. Hampton - I’ve liked McKeesport since November. Problem is Hampton is extremely talented, and they defend in the half-court better than most realize. They can beat you 85-80 or 50-45. That’s a tough matchup for most teams, but especially a McKeesport team that might not be great on defense. Key here is McKeesport’s athleticism. Can the Tigers extend and pressure Hampton’s guards without trapping them? If not, Ryan Luther will have a field day. I picked McKeesport on Varsity Xtra video. But I'd like to change. Winner: McKeesport.

Fox Chapel vs. North Allegheny - This is an intriguing matchup. There is no team in the WPIAL that is more difficult to prepare for than North Allegheny because of the volume of 3-pointers and pressure defense. Fortunately for NA, the Foxes played Wednesday night, so coach Zach Skrinjar only has two days to get the Foxes ready.  Tough turnaround, especially when you never have faced NA. If it was another Section 3 foe, the short preparation wouldn’t be a problem. Everyone knows the keys to beating NA are handling the pressure and defending the 3. The two keys in this one will be the Foxes ability to run offense in the half court and whether or not they can post Matt D’Amico/Brian Papich out of their 5 around motion offense. This could be a dandy. I love the job Skrinjar has done with FC, but NA will win in front of a packed house by, maybe, 7. Winner: North Allegheny.

New Castle vs. Gateway - I've heard the comment that New Castle beat Latrobe by "only" 21. I think the week off affected the Red Hurricanes. Coach Ralph Blundo (pictured) and his team aren’t about to make excuses, but the nine-day break couldn’t have helped matters. The big question is if teams are starting to catch up to New Castle? If you look at three of the 'Canes past four wins, they are by 16, 5, and 20 points. Impressive for the rest of us, but below the high standards set at Ne-Ca High. I believe a few things about New Castle. I think they’ll be challenged in the WPIAL playoffs at some point, but will the challenge come Saturday? Well, New Castle should win by double figures again. The play of Gateway point guard D.J. Boyce will be a key - offensively and defensively, but Gateway’s attempt at a three-peat and four consecutive final appearances comes to an end. The only consolation prize is the Gators will qualify for the state playoffs when New Castlehoists the title trophy at Palumbo a week from Saturday. New Castle will wake up from its brief winter hibernation. Winner: New Castle.

OTHER BOYS GAMES

WPIAL Class AAA - Chartiers Valley over South Fayette; Beaver over Kittanning; Mars over Uniontown; Montour over Thomas Jefferson.

WPIAL Class AA - Beaver Falls over Brentwood; Jeannette over Apollo-Ridge; Greensburg Central Catholic over Burrell; Seton-LaSalle over Quaker Valley.

WPIAL Class A - Lincoln Park over Wilkinsburg; Union over Clairton; North Catholic over OLSH; Vincentian over Monessen.

City League - Perry over Westinghouse.

GIRLS GAMES

WPIAL Class AAAA - Mt. Lebanon over Fox Chapel; Chartiers Valley over Upper St. Clair; Gateway over North Allegheny; Bethel Park over Penn-Trafford.

WPIAL Class AAA - Blackhawk over Belle Vernon; Elizabeth Forward over Central Valley; Hopewell over Ambridge; South Park over Hampton.

WPIAL Class AA - Seton-LaSalle over Greensburg Central Catholic; Bishop Canevin over Mohawk; Deer Lakes over Jeannette; McGuffey over Burrell.

WPIAL Class A - Vincentian over Winchester Thurston; Quigley over St. Joseph; Serra over Rochester; North Catholic over Cornell.

City League - Westinghouse over Allderdice.