Feb 2, 2017 6 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – West Greene had four players in double figures as the Pioneers clinched their first outright section title in 17 years by defeating Geibel Catholic 72-37 in a Section 2-A high school girls basketball game Thursday night.

The Pioneers, who last won a section title in 2000, jumped out to an early 19-5 lead after the first eight minutes. After being outscored in the second quarter, yet still holding a 31-20 halftime advantage, West Greene (8-0, 16-3) continued its offensive attack in the third quarter by outscoring Geibel, 22-11, to take a commanding lead.

Madison and McKenna Lampe led the Pioneers with 25 and 18 points, respectively. Marissa Rode also scored 11 points and Kaitlyn Rizor had 10.

Geibel (5-4, 8-9) was led by Grace Nowicki’s 17-point performance.

Beth-Center 46, Serra Catholic 45: Beth-Center’s Frankie Pryor drove the lane for a game-tying layup with 54 seconds left and Kinlee Whited connected on a free throw after being fouled with 1.2 seconds to give the Bulldogs a dramatic 46-45 road win over Section 3-AA opponent Serra Catholic.

The Bulldogs, who got a defensive stop with 11 seconds remaining, took their only lead of the game on Whited’s free throw. The victory clinched a playoff spot for Beth-Center (8-4, 11-6), which was led by 21 points from Whited. Olivia Greco scored nine points for the Bulldogs.

Aaliyah Coleman paced Serra Catholic (5-7, 9-9) with 22 points.

Bethel Park 50, Canon-McMillan 39: After cutting the deficit to only two points going into the fourth quarter, Canon-McMillan failed to mount a comeback against visiting Bethel Park as it fell 50-39 in a Section 3-6A matchup.

Outscoring the Big Macs 16-7 in the final quarter, Bethel Park (5-4, 13-6) was led by a strong performance from Maria Cerro at the free-throw line where she collected nine of her 18 points. Kamryn Lach also scored in double-digits for the Hawks with 14 points.

Slipping to fourth place in the section, Canon-McMillan (4-5, 9-9) was led by a 16-point performance from Cheyenne Trest and 12 points from Izzy Allen.

Trinity 72, Uniontown 24: Trinity built up a sizeable lead after pitching a shutout in the second quarter to cruise to a victory over Section 3-5A opponent Uniontown, 72-24.

Trinity scored 16 unanswered points in the second quarter for a 30-7 at halftime.

Trinity (11-0, 18-2) had four players to score in double figures, including Sierra Kotchman, who finished with a game-high 20 points.

Alayna Cappelli scored 12 of her 13 points in the third quarter, while Riley DeRubbo and Abbey O’Connor each scored 12 points.

The lone offensive threat for Uniontown (3-7, 4-13) was Mya Murray who recorded six of her team’s 10 field goals for 16 points.

Chartiers-Houston 58, Shenango 11: Jala Walker and Alexa Williamson each scored 20 points to lead Chartiers-Houston to a convincing 58-11 win over Shenango in a Section 1-AA game.

The lead for the Bucs was never in question after they followed up an impressive opening eight minutes with a 24-3 advantage in the second quarter to give them a 38-5 halftime lead.

Walker also added seven assists.

Chartiers-Houston (12-0, 18-2) clinched at least a share of the section title after only yielding three field goals and failing to let Shenango (6-6, 8-11) eclipse three points in any of the four quarters.

McGuffey 43, Waynesburg 20: McGuffey used a big second quarter where it nearly scored half of its total points to defeat Waynesburg, 43-20, in a Section 2-AAA game.

The Highlanders (2-8, 3-15) went on a 20-3 run in the second quarter and got 11 points from Dani Fischer.

Waynesburg (0-9, 1-18) was paced by Julianna Fowler’s 10-point performance.

East Allegheny 58, Charleroi 48: Amani Johnson scored 21 points as East Allegheny remained unbeaten and clinched the Section 2-AAA championship with a 58-48 victory over second-place Charleroi.

Amaia Johnson scored seven of her 12 points in an 18-9 run to open the second half for East Allegheny (10-0, 18-0), which led just 23-21 at the half.

Maria Claybaugh scored 23 points and Kaitlyn Riley 10 for the Cougars (8-2, 15-4), who have already clinched a playoff spot.

Burgettstown 56, New Brighton 27: Malia Castellino scored seven of her 17 points in the second quarter as Burgettstown overcame a slow start to pick up a 56-27 Section 1-AA win over New Brighton to clinch a playoff spot.

Darian Transue and Emily Prasko added 10 points each for the Blue Devils (7-5, 14-6), who trailed 6-3 after one quarter before going on a 17-4 run.

Libby Thomas had 11 points and Sydney Cook added 10 for New Brighton (1-11, 2-17).

Fort Cherry 47, Washington 32: Shannon Relihan scored 22 points as Fort Cherry dealt Washington’s playoff hopes in Section 1-AA a serious blow with a 47-22 win over the Prexies.

Relihan also had 17 rebounds for the Rangers (5-7, 8-10), who kept their own playoff hopes alive with the win, moving into a fifth-place tie with Washington (5-7, 9-10), one game behind Shenango for fourth place.

Carly Allen led Washington with 11 points.

Mapletown 64, Monessen 28: Kayla Smith had 15 points and 16 rebounds as Mapletown stayed alive in the Section 2-A playoff race with a 64-28 win over Monessen.

Hannah Dingle added 17 points, while Abby Antill scored 15 points and Hannah Dusenberry had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Maples (3-5, 8-12). Kelcy Smith added 11 rebounds.

Marquella Green scored nine points to lead Monessen (0-9, 0-21).

Avella 42, Jefferson-Morgan 30: Brayden Tarolli scord 10 points as Avella held off Jefferson-Morgan, 42-30, to move into a three-way tie for second place in Section 2-A.

Kodie Georgetti added eight points for the Eagles (5-4, 9-10), who moved into a tie for second with the Rockets (5-4, 9-11) and Geibel (5-4, 8-9), which lost to West Greene Thursday night.

Erin Confortini led Jeff-Morgan with eight points.

Greensburg Central Catholic 70, Bentworth 18: Brittany Stawovy scored 17 points and Greensburg Central Catholic built a 63-8 lead through three quarters en route to a 70-18 Section 3-AA win over Bentworth.

Haley Moore added 16 points for GCC (12-0, 15-4), which clinched the section title with the victory.

Jenna Vito led Bentworth (0-12, 0-19) with eight points.