Dec 21, 2018 9 min read

In a physical game determined at the free-throw line, Waynesburg edged Class 4A Section 3 foe Belle Vernon, 77-72, Friday night in a boys basketball game.

The two teams combined to shoot 68 free throws. The Raiders went 26 of 42 from the foul line while Belle Vernon made half (13 of 26) of its free throws.

Waynesburg’s Lucas Garber led all scorers with 39 points and collected 10 rebounds. Richard Bortz and Jimmy Straight also reached double figures for Waynesburg (1-0, 4-2) with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Belle Vernon (0-1, 1-6) was paced by Larry Callaway’s 18 points. Cam Nusser made a trio of three-pointers and finished with 14 points. Hunter Ruokonen scored 12.

Trinity 63, West Mifflin 54: Michael Koroly scored a game-high 24 points as Trinity used a big second quarter to win back-to-back Class 5A Section 2 games by downing West Mifflin, 63-54.

The Hillers, who improved to 2-1 in the section and 2-4 overall, outscored West Mifflin 18-8 in the second quarter to take a 30-19 lead into halftime.

Jordan Landon and Deodis Powell attempted to lead a second-half comeback for West Mifflin (0-3, 3-4) but fell short. Landon finished with 21 points. Powell scored 12.

McGuffey 62, Southmoreland 53: C.J. Cole had his sixth double-double of the season to lead McGuffey over Southmoreland, 62-53, in a Class 3A Section 4 game.

One game removed from tying the school record with 47 points in a win over Frazier, Cole scored 23 points and grabbed 20 rebounds.

Nate Witkowksy also scored 19 points for McGuffey (2-0, 4-2), winners of three consecutive games. The Highlanders found secondary scoring from Dylan Summers, who finished with eight points and nine rebounds, and Colin Walters, who had seven points and five assists.

Riley Comforti led Southmoreland (1-1, 3-4) with 18 points.

Charleroi 60, Frazier 57: Legend Davis scored 20 points and Charleroi made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off host Frazier, 60-57, in a Class 3A Section 4 game.

Charleroi (2-1, 4-3) held a one-point halftime lead and outscored the Commodores 16-12 in the third quarter. That was enough cushion for the Cougars, who received 18 points from Joe Caruso and 10 from Marty Foster.

Most of Frazier’s scoring was done by three players: Luke Santo with a game-high 22 points, Justin Novak with 16 and Elijah Santoro with 13. The Commodores (1-2, 2-5) have lost three in a row.

Washington 55, Brownsville 40: Brownsville trailed by only three points at halftime, but its offense went cold in the second half as visiting Washington went on to a 55-40 victory in Class 3A Section 4.

The Prexies (3-0, 5-1) jumped out to a 15-10 lead after the first quarter, but the Falcons (0-3, 1-5) stormed back in the second and outscored the visitors, 14-12, to trail 27-24 heading into the third quarter.

Washington pushed its advantage to 39-33 after holding a 12-9 edge in the third. The Prexies outscored the home team, 16-7, in the fourth.

Brownsville’s Nick Seto had a team-high 14 points.

Washington’s Dan Ethridge led all scorers with 17 points. Teammates Zahmere Robinson and Brandon Patterson each had 10 points.

Carmichaels 57, Brentwood 42: Carmichaels balanced scoring and some sticky defense to beat visiting Brentwood 57-42 in a Class 2A Section 2 gfame.

The Mikes, who improved to 1-2 in the section and 5-2 overall, held Brentwood to single-digit scoring in two quarters and withstood a 21-point performance by the Spartans’ C.J. Ziegler.

Carmichaels, which led 28-23 at halftime and then held Brentwood (1-2, 2-4) to only seven points int he third quarter, didn’t need to rely one player for its scoring as Matt Barrish, Garret Ponick and Al Cree each contributed 12 points.

OLSH 74, Burgettstown 40: Jake DiMichele led all scorers with 15 points as undefeated Our Lady of Sacred Heart controlled play from the start to defeat Burgettstown, 74-40, in a Class 2A Section 3 game.

The Chargers cruised to a 22-4 lead after the first quarter and led 37-13 at halftime.

Dante Spadafora scored 13 points and Daren DiMichele finished with 10 for OLSH (3-0, 6-0).

Burgettstown (0-2, 3-3) couldn’t find much offense outside of three players. Dylan Poirer led the Blue Devils with 14 points, while Dante Gianfrancesco and Scott Ferris scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. The rest of the team combined for three points.

Jeannette 77, Bentworth 34: A.J. Sharp made eight three-pointers and nearly outscored Bentworth himself as Jeannette defeated the Bearcats in a Class 2A Section 2 game, 77-34.

Sharp scored 30 points as the Jayhawks raced out to a 44-18 lead after two quarters. They put the game out of reach in the third by outscoring Bentworth 24-6.

Jeannette improves to 2-0 in the section and 4-2 overall.

Jacob Burke scored 17 points to lead Bentworth (0-3, 0-6).

West Greene 74, Avella 31: With a convincing first half, West Greene ended a three-game losing streak by defeating visiting Avella, 74-31, in a Class A Section 2 game.

The Pioneers started fast with 20 points in the first quarter and 21 in the second to have a 41-12 halftime lead.

Paced by Nathan Brudnock, who finished with 34 points, West Greene (1-2, 2-5) scored more points than in any other game this season. Ten players scored for the Pioneers. Brudnock pulled down 12 rebounds, while teammate Ben Jackson nearly finished with a double-double. Jackson scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Owen English led Avella (1-1, 2-5) with eight points.

Freedom 61, Fort Cherry 52: In a game where both teams were looking for their first win of the season, Freedom completed a second-half comeback to defeat Fort Cherry, 61-52, in a Class 3A Section 2 game.

Trailing by three points at the half, 33-30, Freedom (1-2, 1-6) outscored the Rangers 15-8 in the third quarter and 16-11 in the fourth for the victory.

Thomas Hamilton led Fort Cherry (0-2, 0-5) with 12 points.

Peters Township 61, Salem, Mass., 47: Colin Cote and Dax Ploskina combined to make nine three-pointers as Peters Township cruised to a 61-47 victory over Salem, Mass., at the KSA Disney Classic in Orlando, Fla.

Cote, who made five threes, finished with game-high 23 points. All of Ploskina’s 12 points came behind the three-point arc.

Bobby Jellison scored 11 points for Salem.

Peters Township (4-2) advances to play Jackson Christian, Tenn., in the championship game of its bracket at 9:30 a.m. today.

Serra 75, Chartiers-Houston 48: Serra Catholic had too much Jimmy Moon for Chartiers-Houston.

Moon, a 6-8 senior, scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as Serra pulled away for a 75-48 victory over the host Bucs in Class 2A Section 2.

Chartiers-Houston (1-1, 3-4) led 14-13 after one quarter, but Serra had a surge over the final three minutes of the first half to take a 33-24 advantage at halftime. The Eagles then pulled away over the final 16 minutes.

Bernard Lawson scored 16 points and Khalil Smith had 10 for Serra (3-0, 4-2).

Seth Dunn paced C-H with 15 points. The Bucs had three players score in double figures as Christian Berry had 12 points and Anthony Tomassetti 10.

Geibel Catholic 89, Mapletown 64: Ezno Fetsko and Cole Kendall combined for 48 points and Geibel Catholic used a big first half to defeat host Mapletown 89-64 in Class A Section 2.

Fetsko scored a game-high 27 points and Kendall followed with 21 as Geibel (2-1, 4-2) forged a 47-26 halftime lead. Ryan Anderson had 17 points and Kaeleb Lehman 13 for the Gators, who defeated Mapletown (0-3, 0-6) for the second time this season.

The Maples also had four players score in double figures, led by Lance Stevenson with 15 points. Ryan Tuttle and Ethan Carter each scored 12 points and Matthew Atwood had 10.

In other games: The Canon-McMillan boys basketball team fell to Seneca, Ky., 51-43, in a winners’ bracket game of the KSA Disney Classic in Orlando, Fla. The loss drops the Big Macs to a consolation game today.

Girls results

Avella 35, Fort Cherry 28: Point guard Bess Lengauer scored nine of her game-high 14 points in the second half as Avella pulled away for a 35-28 victory over visiting Fort Cherry in a nonsection game.

The win was the fourth in a row for Avella (5-1) but didn’t come easily as Fort Cherry (4-3) trailed by only 14-12 at halftime. Avella then held the Rangers to only three points in the third quarter as the eagles opened up a nine-point lead.

McKenzie Faure led Fort Cherry in scoring with seven points.

Belle Vernon 43, Mt. Pleasant 23: After starting the season with three losses, Belle Vernon has rebounded to win three in a row, the latest a 43-23 victory over host Mt. Pleasant in Class 4A Section 3.

Belle Vernon (3-0, 3-3) never let Mt. Pleasant get its offense going as the Leopards held the hosts to eight points in the first half and single digits in every quarter.

Rachel Wobrak had a game-high 15 points for Belle Vernon.

Mt. Pleasant (1-2, 2-5) was held to only 10 field goals.

Canon-McMillan 43, Tellico Plains (Tenn.) 37: Canon-McMillan moved into the finals at the KSA Disney Classic in Orlando, Fla., by defeating Tellico Plains (Tenn.) 43-37.

The Big Macs (5-3) had to come from behind after trailing 18-15 at halftime. Canon-McMillan outscored Tellico Plains 23-12 in the pivotal third quarter and went on to secure a spot in the finals against WPIAL rival Oakland Catholic.

Tamara Mathis and Abby Daniels led the way for Canon-McMillan, each scoring 11 points. Jenna Cromp followed with 10 points.