Throughout WPIAL basketball, there are some star players to watch throughout this year’s playoff season, especially in the higher classifications, who could really affect the outcome of the tournament.

In 6A, Butler’s star junior Ethan Morton is one of the best players in recent memory in the WPIAL. He already has offers from Power 5 schools like Michigan, Pitt, Purdue and Wisconsin. He helped lead Butler to the WPIAL final his freshman year, and he has the star capability to carry Butler far into the postseason.

Also in 6A, Pine-Richland’s senior Dan Petcash has been dominant for the first-seeded Rams all season. He is following in the footsteps of his brother, Andrew Petcash, who is now playing for Boston University, by leading the Rams to strong success all season. He is averaging around 22 points per game, and he has a lot of playoff experience, reaching the WPIAL final in every year of his high school career. His experience will prove to be huge over the next two weeks if he can lead the Rams to the WPIAL final once again this year.

6A also has one of the best backcourts in the WPIAL in seniors Bryce Butler and Reed Fenton of Latrobe. Latrobe is the 2 seed in 6A and hasn’t lost a game to a WPIAL team all season. Fenton and Butler have been extremely dominant all-season, and have the ability to lead Latrobe to a big playoff run.

In 5A, the biggest star in the WPIAL, Keandre Bowles from Woodland Hills, has been the highest-scoring player in the WPIAL this year, scoring over 600 points and averaging just under 30 points per game. He has been able to lead Woodland Hills to the 4 seed this year.

The 2A classification also has some of the biggest stars in the WPIAL, with Serra Catholic’s senior Jimmy Moon, Sewickley’s junior Isiah Warfield, and Our Lady of Sacred Heart’s sophomore Dante Spadafora.

Moon and Warfield are both among the WPIAL Top 10 scoring leaders, and have been able to lead their teams to byes in the first round of the playoffs. Moon led Serra Catholic to the 2 seed in 2A.

Warfield was able to lead Sewickley to the 3 seed, and has been a dominant player throughout his high school career. He has especially been good throughout postseason play in his career.

Spadafora has been hurt late in the season, but he was able to lead OLSH to the PIAA championship his freshman year. So if he can get healthy for the playoffs, he has the ability to lead his team to playoff success.

A star player can be the difference between a good season and a championship season, and these players all have the skill to help bring their team a WPIAL title.