Feb 2, 2016 7 min read

Mike Cortese had 23 points and Ben Doyle chipped in 22 as Peters Township jumped out to a 35-16 lead and rolled to a 61-42 Section 4-AAAA win over Upper St. Clair Tuesday night, moving the Indians closer to a WPIAL playoff berth.

Peters Township (7-6, 13-7) needs a win Friday at home against Canon-McMillan or a loss by Mt. Lebanon against Upper St. Clair at home to clinch its first playoff appearance since 2014.

Andrew Wheeler scored 18 points to pace Upper St. Clair (5-8, 10-10).

Charleroi 83, Bentworth 40: Charleroi made 12 three-pointers and used a 53-point first half to defeat Bentworth, 83-40, in a Section 4-AA game on the road.

John Arnold led the Cougars with a game-high 25 points, while Eric Tedrow and Sam Miceli both made four three-pointers. Miceli had 18 points and Tedrow 16 for the Cougars (9-2, 15-4).

Nick Silver had 15 points for the Bearcats (1-10, 4-14).

Washington 72, Carlynton 43: Washington bounced back from a tough overtime loss Monday night to Section 3-AA leader Bishop Canevin by using a long-range barrage to sink visiting Carlynton 72-43.

Matt Popeck led the Prexies’ long-distance assault by scoring a game-high 25 points. His 10 field goals included six three-pointers. The Prexies made nine three-pointers in the game as they improved to 11-2 in the section and 14-6 overall.

Carlynton (5-8, 9-11) fell into a tie with Chartiers-Houston for fourth place and the final playoff spot from the section. The Cougars stayed within striking distance for one quarter, trailing 21-15. Wash High, however, outscored Carlynton 18-5 in the second quarter for a 39-20 edge at halftime.

Tarik Isak led Carlynton with 12 points and Courtney Mickens had 11. Markel Pulliam scored 13 points for Washington.

Avella 59, Geibel Catholic 47: Avella had four players score in double figures to defeat Geibel Catholic, 59-47, in a Section 3-A game at home.

Cody Dobbin had 16 points, while Austin Lis and Shawn Willard both had 14 for the Eagles (6-5, 9-12).

Kyle Toth had 15 points for the Gators (3-9, 4-13).

Monessen 101, Mapletown 25: Lavalle Rush scored 23 points and had 13 steals as Monessen jumped out to a 52-0 lead midway through the second quarter en route to a 101-25 Section 3-A win over Mapletown.

Dwight Moore added 14 points, while Jaden Altomore had 13, Jaron Youngblood and Justice Rice 11 each and Jacob Francowic 10.

Cody Dice scored 11 points for Mapletown (0-10, 0-18).

Frazier 60, Carmichaels 55: Brad Poling led a balanced scoring attack as Frazier held off Carmichaels, 60-55, in Section 4-AA.

Caleb Cox had 14 points, Josh Cox 13 and Damon Lewis 12 for Frazier (5-6, 10-9), which clinched a playoff spot with the win.

Liam Shea had 19 points and Blake Conard 12 for Carmichaels (2-9, 9-11).

South Fayette 60, McGuffey 49: Ryhan Culbertson scored 15 points and South Fayette finished the game on a 23-11 run to come from behind to beat McGuffey in Section 5-AAA.

Matt Thomas added 14 points and Cam Garland had 13 for the Lions (8-3, 11-8), who moved into sole possession of second place in the section with the win.

Andrew Allender had 13 points for McGuffey (0-11, 5-15), which led 38-37 entering the fourth quarter.

Waynesburg 58, California 48: Darton McIntire and Mitch Warman combined for 45 points to help Waynesburg defeat California, 58-48, in a non-section game at home.

McIntire had a game-high 28 points, while Warman chipped in 17 points with 19 rebounds for the Raiders (10-7), who scored 39 second-half points.

Kass Taylor led the Trojans (13-6) with 27 points.

West Greene 72, Jefferson-Morgan 39: Kolton Rush had 19 points as West Greene jumped out to a 36-18 halftime lead en route to a 72-39 Section 3-A win over Jefferson-Morgan.

Zach McHenry added 12 points, Craig Weaver 11 and Eric Stoll 10 for the Pioneers (6-4, 10-8).

Dennis Garrett had 12 points and Gage Clark and Austin DeFrank added 10 each for Jefferson-Morgan (3-7, 4-15).

West Mifflin 75, Ringgold 62:Karlyn Garner and Ken Rouse-Strothers combined for 48 points and made seven of West Mifflin’s 11 three-point field goals as the Titans avenged an earlier loss to Ringgold by defeating the host Rams 75-62 in Section 4-AAA.

Garner scored a game-high 25 points and Rouse-Strothers followed with 23 points, which included five three-pointers.

Garner and Rouse-Strothers offset a fine performance by Ringgold’s George Martin, who scored a team-high 23 points. Dakota Browning followed with 14 points and Anthony Pampena had 10 for Ringgold (3-9, 7-11), which has lost six in a row.

Ringgold 16-13 after one quarter but West Mifflin (8-5, 11-7) garnered a 35-33 lead at halftime. The Titans pulled away by holding Ringgold to 12 third-quarter points.

Seton-La Salle 79, Fort Cherry 43: Seton-La Salle put four players in double figures, led by Cletus Helton with 19 points, and the Rebels cruised to a 79-43 victory over host Fort Cherry in Section 3-AA.

Billy O’Malley had 13 points, George Mike scored 11 and Matt Banbury had 10 for Seton-La Salle (9-3, 12-9), which is in third place in the section. The Rebels held Fort Cherry (1-12, 3-17) to 16 first-half points and then outscored the Rangers 21-10 in the third quarter for a 53-26 lead.

Rob McAnany scored a team-high 18 points for Fort Cherry and Devon Brown followed with 13.

Bethel Park 68, Canon-McMillan 58: Levi Metheny scored 20 points and Bethel Park cruised to a 68-58 victory over host Canon-McMillan in Section 4-AAAA.

The win puts Bethel Park (8-5, 14-6) in sole possession of third place in the section with only one league contest remaining. The Black Hawks took control against Canon-Mac (2-11, 7-13) in the first quarter, outscoring the Big Macs 20-7. Bethel Park never surrendered the lead and the Black Hawks made seven three-pointers and put three players in double figures.

Josh Duda scored 16 points and Chance Wright had 10 for BP.

C-M was led by Britton Beachy’s 15 points. R.J. Bell followed with 12.

Bishop Canevin 66, Burgettstown 38: Bishop Canevin the outright Section 3-AA championship with a 66-38 home victory over Burgettstown.

The Crusaders (13-0, 16-4) took control from the start with a 27-point first quarter and led 44-23 at halftime.

Mitchell King, with 18 points, was Bishop Canevin’s leading scorer. John Weldon was the only other Crusader in double figures. He scored 12 points.

Jarred John paced Burgettstown (3-10, 6-15) with nine points.

Laurel Highlands 68, Belle Vernon 59: Jake Swartz and Bryce Laskey combined for 42 points to help Laurel Highlands defeat Belle Vernon, 68-59, in a Section 4-AAA game on the road.

The Mustangs (7-6, 12-9) moved one game closer to clinching a playoff berth and the Leopards (4-9, 7-13) were officially limited from the postseason. Laskey had 22 points and Swartz 20 for Laurel Highlands, which scored 25 points in the second quarter.

Tommy Rodriguez and Griffin LaCarte both had 12 points for Belle Vernon.

In other games: Montour defeated Trinity 65-26 in Section 5-AAA. The loss dropped the Hillers into a tie for fourth place with a 7-4 record (9-8 overall). No details were made available to the Observer-Reporter.