Dec 7, 2018 5 min read

Lucas Garber had a huge performance to start the season, scoring a game-high 29 points as Waynesburg held off a late charge by Burgettstown and defeated the Blue Devils 54-52 Friday night in the opening round of the McGuffey tournament.

Waynesburg built a 10-point lead after one quarter and took a 37-28 advantage into the fourth quarter, when Burgettstown finally got its offense going. The Blue Devils scored 24 fourth-quarter points and grabbed the lead at 46-45 with one minute remaining. However, four missed free throws down the stretch gave Waynesburg and opening and the opportunistic Raiders took advantage. Garber scored 10 of his points in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Bobby Kozares led three Burgettstown players in ddouble figures with 15 points. Dante Gianfrancesco followed with 12 and Cole Shergi had 11.

Waynesburg will play McGuffey in tonight’s championship game. Burgettstown will face Fort Cherry in the consolation contest. It will be the first of two meetings in four days for the Blue Devils and Rangers.

McGuffey 67, Fort Cherry 52: C.J. Cole scored 31 points – all in the first three quarters – and McGuffey cruised to a 67-52 victory over Fort Cherry in the highlanders’ tournament.

McGuffey will play Waynesburg at 8 p.m. tonight for the championship.

The Highlanders dominated the first half, forging a 22-11 lead after one quarter and extending it to 42-21 at halftime. Nate Witkowsky scored 13 points for McGuffey and Colin Walters had a strong all-around game with six assists and five steals.

Maddox Truschel and Zach Vincenti each scored 14 points to lead Fort Cherry.

Charleroi 75, Jefferson-Morgan 33: Martin Foster scored 19 points to propel Charleroi to a 75-33 victory over Jefferson-Morgan in the opening round of the California tournament.

Charleroi wasted no time in taking control of the game, forging a 27-9 lead after one quarter. The Cougars held the Rockets to fewer than 10 points in every quarter.

Foster led a balanced attack as Joey Caruso scored 13 points and Legend Davis followed with 12.

Franklin Regional 68, Belle Vernon 41: Joe Salvino’s debut as head coach of Belle Vernon was a forgettable one as the Leopards lost to Franklin regional 68-41 in the opening round of the Hempfield tournament.

Belle Vernon got off to a slow start offensively in their first game under Salvino, the longtime coach at Monessen. The Leopards fell behind 34-19 at halftime and were unable to make a run at Franklin Regional in the second half.

Nick Leopold led Franklin Regional with a game-high 16 points and Thomas Merante scored 12.

Larry Callaway paced Belle Vernon with 12 points and Mitch Pohlot had 10. The Leopards hurt their cause by making only 10 of 22 free throws compared to Franklin regional’s 10-for-13.

Carmichaels 65, Turkeyfoot 61: Matt Barrish hit two free throws with 21.6 seconds to play to seal a 65-61 victory by Carmichaels over Turkeyfoot in the Geibel Catholic Tipoff Tournament.

Barrish and Al Cree led the Mikes with 18 points apiece. Dylan Wilson scored 17 points, thanks to 4 three-point field goals. The Mikes led 31-22 at halftime but were outscored, 39-34, in the second half.

Blake Nicholson led Turkeyfoot with 17 points, Nick Shafer had 15 and Tanner Colflesh 13.

Yough 54, West Greene 50: Gamal Marballie hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with four seconds to play to assure Yough a 54-50 victory over West Greene in the Brownsville Tipoff Tournament.

Marballie finished with 15 points, Jarett Bach had 17 and C.J. Waldieri 13. Yough made 20 of 29 free throw attempts and West Greene 8 of 12.

Nate Brudnock led WG with 15 points and Austin Crouse added 13.

South Fayette 74, Frazier 64: Conner Mislan tossed in 30 points to pace South Fayette to a 74-64 victory over Frazier in the South Park Tipoff Tournament.

Joe Alcorn added 10 points for the Lions, who led 35-32 at halftime.

Justin Novak scored 33 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Frazier. Luke Santo added 21 points.

Brownsville 53, Chartiers-Houston 51: Eric Holcomb hit a shot in the final seconds to give Brownsville a 53-51 victory over Chartiers-Houston in the Brownsville Tipoff Tournament.

The Bucs missed a layup and two put-back attempts at the buzzer. C-H led 30-25 at halftime.

Phil Pace led Brownsville with 16 points and Nick Seto tossed in 15 points.

Anthony Tomassetti scored 12 points and Christian Berry and Evan Simpson each added 10 points for the Bucs, who play West Greene at 3 p.m. today.

Geibel 62, Mapletown 24: Cole Kendall scored 21 points to help Geibel down Mapletown, 62-24, in the Geibel Tipoff Tournament.

Enzo Fetsko added 16 for the Gators, who led 51-14 at halftime.

Mapletown was paced by Ethan Carter’s 14 points.

Norwin 49, Ringgold 48: Norwin held off a second half rally after a six-foot jumper by Ringgold missed the mark at the buzzer that left the Knights with a 49-48 victory over the Rams in the Tom Traynor Tournament in Mt. Pleasant.

Ty Bilinsky’s 18 points led Norwin,, which led 34-23 at halftime but was outscored 25-15 in the second half.

Chris Peccon scored 17 points and Jaden Taylor chipped in with 14 for the Rams.