Peters Township holds on, wins Pine-Richland tourney
Nick Valentic scored 26 points and Peters Township held off a frantic rally by Pine-Richland for a 69-67 victory Saturday night in the championship game of the Rams’ season-opening tournament.
Peters Township raced to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and led by 12 entering the fourth quarter before Pine-Richland pulled to within one point in the closing seconds. The Rams had two chances to win the game but couldn’t score in the final seven seconds.
With PT leading 69-67, Pine-Richland’s Phil Jurkovec, who scored a team-high 21 points, missed two free throws. Pine-Richland rebounded but missed a three-pointer. The Rams again grabbed the rebound but couldn’t get off another shot before the final buzzer sounded.
Michael Cortese scored 15 points and Kelson marisa contributed 14 for the Indians, who beat Summit Academy in the first round with a 14-0 run to end the game.
Pine-Richland hurt its cause by making only one three-pointer and just 12 of 26 free throws.
Monessen 96, Chartiers Valley 94: Guard Lavelle Rush made a three-pointer that forced overtime, then made a game-winning five-foot jumper from the baseline at the buzzer in the second overtime, giving Monessen a 96-94 victory over Chartiers Valley in the consolation game of the Upper St. Clair tournament.
Monessen was able to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit and a 41-point performance by Chartiers Valley’s Ross Wilkerson.
Monessen had only six players score but four of them had at least 20 points. Rush led the way with 24, Justice Rice had 22, Jordan Altomore contributed 21 and Dwight Moore finished with 20.
Wilkerson scored 24 of his points in the first half, when the Colts forged a 51-39 lead.
Charleroi 50, Valley 36: John Arnold had a double-double to pace Charleroi to a 50-36 victory over Valley in the championship game of the Mt. Pleasant tournament.
Arnold scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds for the Cougars (2-0). Sam Miceli chipped in with 14.
McGuffey 50, Chartiers-Houston 42: MVP Colin Chapman had 21 points and 13 rebounds as McGuffey broke open a game that was tied entering the fourth quarter to defeat Chartiers-Houston, 50-42, in the McGuffey Tournament championship game.
Shaun Sanders added 10 points, while Chase Bentz added 12 rebounds for the Highlanders (2-0).
Cam Hanley scored 16 points to lead Chartiers-Houston (1-1), which led 23-20 at the half.
OLSH 65, Fort Cherry 44: Matt Quinn had 18 points and Our Lady of Sacred Heart went on a 22-6 run to open the second half to pull away from Fort Cherry in a 65-44 win at the Keystone Oaks Tournament.
Nathan Harrell and Dan Davis added 10 points each for OLSH (1-1).
Rob McAnany had 14 points and Devin Brown added 12 fo Fort Cherry (0-2), which led 16-14 after one quarter.
California 61, Geibel Catholic 34: Jaycee Conaway had a career-high 19 points as California cruised to a 61-34 victory in the championship game of the Geibel Catholic Tournament over the host Gators.
Dylan Hammitt and Kass Taylor added 13 points each for the Trojans (2-0), who led 36-20 at the half.
Geibel falls to 1-1.
Waynesburg 66, Avella 55: Darton McIntrye scored a career-high 32 points to lead Waynesburg past Avella, 66-55, in the consolation game of the McGuffey Tournament.
Mitch Warmen added 19 points and 17 rebounds for the Raiders (1-1), who led 22-7 after one quarter.
Coddy Dobbins had 17 points and Stephen Miller added 14 for Avella (0-2).
Sewickley Academy 82, Burgettstown 43: Justin Pryor was one of four player in double figures with 22 points as Sewickley Academy routed Burgettstown 82-43 in the Avonworth Tournament.
Dave Groetsch scored 17 points, for Sewickley Academy (2-0).
Bailey Soplinski scored 14 and Max Shaw 10 for Burgettstown (0-2).
Ringgold 40, Mt. Pleasant 40: Octavius Vasser and Dakota Browning combined for 25 points as Ringgold stopped Mt. Pleasant, 44-40, in the Mt. Pleasant Tournament.
Vasser had 13 points and Browning 11 for the Rams (2-0).
Jason Beranke led Mt. Pleasant (0-2) with 14 points.
Friday night’s games:
California 41, Beth-Center 37: Kass Taylor scored a game-high 16 points to help California defeat Beth-Center 41-37 at the Geibel Catholic Tournament.
The Trojans (1-0) trailed 30-20 at halftime, but allowed only two points in the third quarter and held on for the win.
Kass Taylor scored a game-high 16 points to help California defeat Beth-Center 41-37 at the Geibel Catholic Tournament.
Chartiers-Houston 66, Waynesburg 64: Cameron Hanley tossed in a game-high 27 points to propel Chartiers-Houston to a 66-64 win over Waynesburg in the McGuffey Tournament.
Darton McIntire paced Waynesburg with 23 points. Mitch Warmen and Rob Miller each scored 12 points.
Upper St. Clair 77, Monessen 69, OT: Upper St. Clair advanced to the finals of its tournament by outlasting Monessen 77-69 in overtime.
The Panthers won despite a 31-point performance by Monessen guard Lavelle Rush. Justice Rice also had a big game for the Greyhounds with 22 points and Jaden Altomore scored 11.