Looking for some bang for your athletic buck?

Try the WPIAL basketball playoffs.

These games have been nothing short of incredible when one combines the late-game drama with the quality of play.

Butler’s 56-54 victory over Chartiers Valley was a true product of team play. The Golden Tornado faced the No. 2 seed in Quad-A and had point guard Nate Snodgrass — their best player and leader — on the bench for all but a minute of the second quarter with two fouls.

Butler lost one point off its deficit — a six-point hole sliding to seven — with Snodgrass out of the lineup. And the kid scores 33 points while fighting double-coverage most of the other three quarters.

Just how good is that guy?

Butler and Chartiers Valley turned the ball over only twice each in the fourth quarter of what was a very tight game. A packed gym and vocal student sections on both sides made for tremendous playoff atmosphere.

Cody West, Snodgrass and Luke Hartung buried 3-pointers inside of the final two minutes for Butler’s final nine points of the night.

You can’t write a movie script like that and sell it.

Similar scenes were evident through other Quad-A playoff sites.

Top-seeded Shaler had to rally from 11 points down at halftime to get past McKeesport, 50-47. North Allegheny stopped Bethel Park, 62-56, in as game that went back and forth and Plum managed a 61-57 win over Kiski Area.

And don’t forget last weekend, when Seneca Valley shocked third-seeded Mt. Lebanon with a 45-42 victory that went to the final buzzer with the outcome in doubt.

Summit Academy dropped a 90-86 decision to Northgate in double overtime in Class AA. Who wouldn’t have wanted to witness a game like that?

These games are athletic competition in its pure form. These kids aren’t getting paid a dime. They play for the pride of wearing their school colors and for the thrill of the moment.

And they’re providing plenty of thrills.

Plop down six bucks and you can watch a triple-header of this stuff on a Saturday afternoon or a doubleheader on a weeknight.

It’s down-home sports entertainment, to be sure. Neighborhood vs. neighborhood to see who will eventually be named king of the hill.

Another sidelight to all of this is the fact that all five teams from Section 3-AAAA — Shaler, North Allegheny, Seneca Valley, Butler and Central Catholic — reached the quarterfinal round.

Butler and Central Catholic needed to win their final section games just to qualify for the tournament.

North Hills knocked off North Allegheny and Pine-Richland defeated Butler during the regular season. The Indians and Rams finished at the bottom of the section standings.

They must be feeling pretty good about their section brethren right about now.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle