WPIAL basketball playoffs 2026: 9 Butler County players to watch as tournament begins
Following a three-month-long regular season, the dust has settled ahead of the WPIAL basketball playoffs.
Before boys favorites such as North Catholic and Knoch strive for a district title, and underdogs like Mars’ girls and boys take the floor looking to upset higher seeds, let’s take a look at what players will have their say.
Cashdollar, a Planets senior who’s headed to Wake Forest as a preferred walk-on, reached 1,000 career points last week. She’s been the engine for Zach Stitt’s crew, and you’ll hardly see her come off the floor.
“She’s really shown this year that she can be — and really is — a tremendous scorer,” Stitt said. “I think the thing that really sticks out to me, though, is just her overall game. ... She also leads us in rebounds, she leads us in assists, she leads us in steals.”
Congdon, a 6-foot-6 post presence, took over down low in the Raiders’ home win over rival Butler recently. Seneca Valley coach Kevin Trost said afterward his team’s offense runs best through Congdon, who embraces the gritty work.
Now that the Raiders have survived the slugfest that was WPIAL Section 1-6A, he’ll bring the same sort of physicality to the postseason.
Crosby has been a central piece of the Knights’ success this season as a scorer and facilitator.
Summit Academy will need him to be at his best against a tough Neighborhood Academy squad.
When seasoned coach Joe Lafko took over for the Knights before this season, he let Finucan know he had the green light. The senior guard ran with that instruction. He’s 49 points away from breaking Knoch’s program record and already owns the distinction of most 3-pointers made for the Knights.
According to statistics on Finucan’s X account, he poured in a season-high 25 points in a road win over North Catholic.
McFadden, a point guard, is averaging 15 points and three assists per game for the Raiders, who earned a share of the WPIAL Section 1-6A crown.
McFadden has an offer from Youngstown State, the same school her mother, Christie, played at from 1998-2001.
Jason Fredericks has paced the Trojans with 23.6 points per game this season, while fellow senior Jude Rottmann has pitched in with 15.8.
Pickett, a 6-1 freshman, has proven to be a consistent scorer behind them, pouring in 15.6 points per game. He wasn’t on the North Catholic team that reached last season’s PIAA Class 4A semifinals, but he’ll aim to be part of the reason they make it back.
The Yellowjackets newcomer has averaged a double-double over the last five games. Reiser trails only senior Nia DiSanti in terms of top scoring average on the team.
Weir has been a consistent contributor for coach Molly Rottmann’s crew, working alongside junior Brady Wehner.
Weir has visited Davidson, High Point, Penn and Wake Forest. She has an offer from LaSalle.
Wroblewski entered this season as a known commodity. At this time last year, the sharpshooter was the Planets’ go-to guy in big spots.
If Mars is going to make another run, this time as a No. 19 seed, count on some big makes by Wroblewski being the reason why.
