By Keystone Clutch Sports
Neshannock spent last winter proving it was the best Class 2A girls basketball team in the WPIAL. This winter, the Lancers have to prove themselves all over again, one class up and in a section where every bus ride is short and every rival knows them well.
The WPIAL’s 2026-28 alignment moves Neshannock from Class 2A to Class 3A. The Lancers land in Section 1 with Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Ellwood City Lincoln, Mohawk, New Brighton and Riverside. That’s seven programs from Lawrence and Beaver counties in one section race, and it starts taking shape when practice opens Friday, Nov. 20.
What Neshannock brings up a class
The Lancers come in as defending WPIAL Class 2A champions. As the No. 1 seed, they beat Brentwood 76-16, Laurel 67-29 and Rochester 73-24, then held off Winchester Thurston 60-51 in the Class 2A final on Feb. 28 at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center. TribLive reported it was the program’s fourth WPIAL title in eight years and the seventh of coach Luann Grybowski’s career.
The run kept going in the state tournament. Neshannock beat Burgettstown 80-26, Penns Manor 60-53, Kennedy Catholic 61-56 and Bishop McCort 61-57 to reach the PIAA Class 2A final. Its season ended there on March 19 with a 55-39 loss to repeat champion Berlin Brothersvalley at the Giant Center in Hershey. It was the Lancers’ third trip to a PIAA final; they won it all in 2022 and finished runner-up in 2021.
The numbers behind that season were loud. Entering the WPIAL final, TribLive had Neshannock averaging 69.3 points a game, the most in Class 2A, while allowing 32.2. Grybowski also passed 800 career wins during the postseason. Across stops at Shenango, Aliquippa, New Castle and Neshannock, she has won seven WPIAL titles and a PIAA championship.
Not the Lancers’ first trip to Class 3A
This isn’t new territory. TribLive reported that after Neshannock’s back-to-back WPIAL Class 2A titles in 2021 and 2022, the Lancers spent two seasons in Class 3A and went out in the quarterfinals and then the semifinals. They returned to Class 2A for 2024-25, reached the WPIAL final that season, and won the WPIAL title in 2025-26.
Aliquippa comes along for the ride
The most interesting name in the new section might be Aliquippa. The Quips also move up from Class 2A to Class 3A, per the WPIAL’s alignment, and they’re the team that beat Neshannock 54-51 in the 2025 WPIAL Class 2A final. The two programs split the last two WPIAL Class 2A titles, and now they’ll meet in section play.
A reloading roster
Neshannock has to replace three senior starters from its title team. Payton Newman, a senior who had 24 points and 11 rebounds in the WPIAL final and is headed to Saint Vincent, has finished her high school career. So have seniors Jaidon Nogay and Nina Medure, according to TribLive. The WPIAL’s 2026-27 roster page doesn’t have a Neshannock roster posted yet. We’ll wait for official rosters before saying who’s back.
Our take
Last season’s scoring margins say Neshannock’s system travels. Still, moving up a class while replacing three senior starters, including leading scorer Payton Newman, is a real test, and Section 1 doesn’t offer many nights off for a team still sorting out its rotation. The Aliquippa games are already circle-the-date nights. A section made up entirely of Beaver and Lawrence county schools should also mean more familiarity than most section races. Whoever comes out of it will have earned the seed.
Key dates for 2026-27
- Nov. 20 (Friday): First official practice
- Dec. 4 (Friday): First regular-season games
- Dec. 10-11: WPIAL section play opens
- Feb. 6, 2027: Last WPIAL section play date
- Feb. 11-24, 2027: WPIAL playoffs
- Feb. 25-27, 2027: WPIAL championships
- March 18-20, 2027: PIAA championships at the Giant Center in Hershey
Sources
- WPIAL girls basketball sectional alignment, 2026-27 and 2027-28 (PDF)
- WPIAL 2026-27 boys and girls basketball calendar (PDF)
- PIAA Schedule of Sports’ Events, 2026-27 (PDF)
- TribLive: WPIAL announces basketball section alignment for next two seasons
- TribLive: Neshannock holds off Winchester Thurston to win 4th WPIAL championship
- TribLive: 2026 WPIAL Class 2A girls championship breakdown
- TribLive: 2026 PIAA Class 2A girls championship breakdown
- TribLive: Neshannock falls short to Berlin Brothersvalley in PIAA Class 2A final
- TribLive: Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week, Feb. 22, 2026
- WTAE: 2026 WPIAL basketball championship results
- WTAE: 2026 PIAA basketball championship results
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