Jan 26, 2016 6 min read

The Washington High School boys basketball team is headed back to the playoffs, and the Prexies seem to be peaking at the right time.

Wash High (9-1, 12-5) clinched a playoff berth Tuesday night by rolling over visiting Brentwood, 70-36, and extending their winning streak to nine games.

Matt Popeck scored a team-high 19 points to lead Wash High and played a fine overall game by leading the defense with nine steals. The Prexies put four players in double figures as Nate Swart followed with 15 points, Anthony Popeck had 14 and Markel Pulliam scored 10.

The middle quarters were the key to the game for Wash High. After leading by only 10-9 after one quarter, the Prexies outscored Brentwood 22-13 in the second quarter and 17-8 in the third.

Dorian Bowie scored a game-high 22 points for Brentwood (4-6, 6-10), which is battling for a playoff berth. The Spartans had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Avella 62, Jefferson-Morgan 39: Austin Lis scored a game-high 20 points, leading Avella to a 62-39 victory over host Jefferson-Morgan that clinched a playoff berth out of Section 3-A for the Eagles.

Avella (5-4, 7-11) put four players in double figures and outscored Jefferson-Morgan (2-7, 3-15) in every quarter.

Shawn Willard scored 17 points, Coddy Dobbin had 13 points, Kevin Painter finished with 12.

D.L. Garrett again paced in scoring J-M with a game-high 24 points.

Peters Township 74, Moon 59: Nick Valentic scored 23 points and Peters Township earned a key victory in Section 4-AAAA as the Indians won at Moon, 74-59.

The win snapped a three-game slid for PT (6-5, 11-6) and moved the Indians back into a three-way tie for third place in the section with Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon.

Ben Doyle also had a big game for PT with 18 points. Clayton Yeates had 11 points.

The Indians had to overcome a game-high 27 points by Moon’s Bill Lewis. The Tigers (2-8, 6-11) were 18-for-18 at the free-throw line.

Waynesburg 78, Beth-Center 69: Darton McIntire had another big game, scoring 36 points to lead Waynesburg to a 78-69 victory over visiting Beth-Center in Section 4-AA.

The win pushed Waynesburg (5-4, 8-7) above the .500 mark both in the section and overall. The Raiders are solidly in third place in the section. Beth-Center (3-5, 6-7) is battling for the fourth and final playoff berth from the section.

McIntire scored 26 of his points in the first half, when Waynesburg forged a 43-34 lead. Mitch Warman also was a force on offense for the Raiders as he scored 20 points.

Brady McDonnel led B-C with 19 points. Nick Pryor followed with 16 points, Luke Hess had 15 and Brennan Stanley contributed 10.

Monessen 120, Geibel Catholic 29: Monessen keeps on rolling through Section 3-A opponents with no trouble.

The Greyhounds scored an incredible 97 first-half points, including 55 in the second quarter, en route to a 120-29 victory over visiting Geibel Catholic. Monessen (9-0, 14-3) led 42-10 after one quarter and 97-14 at halftime.

Monessen (9-0, 14-3) had six players score in double figures led by Dwight Moore, who scored 29 points. Jaden Altomore and Jaron Youngblood each had 17 points, Lavalle Rush scored 15, and Anterius Davis and Justice Rice each contributed 10.

Kyle Toth scored 13 points for Geibel (2-7, 3-11).

Bishop Canevin 76, Fort Cherry 36: Mitchell King didn’t waste any time scoring, tossing in all of his 23 points in the first half as host Bishop Canevin remained in sole possession of first place in Section 3-AA with a 76-36 victory over Fort Cherry.

The Crusaders (10-0, 13-4) scored 51 first-half points and led by 31 at halftime. Bishop Canevin hosts Washington in a pivotal section game Monday.

Rob McAnany scored 12 points to lead Fort Cherry (1-9, 3-14) in scoring. Devon Brown followed with 10 points.

California 50, West Greene 43: California remained one game behind Section 3-A leader Monessen by holding off visiting West Greene, 50-43.

California (8-1, 11-4) forged an early eight-point lead but third-place West Greene (5-3, 9-7) battled back and took a 36-25 lead in the fourth quarter. Cal, however, closed the game on a 15-7 run to get the victory.

Kass Taylor and Johnny DeFranko led the Cal attack with 18 points each.

Nathan Brudnock scored 14 points to pace West Greene. Zach McHenry followed with 11 and Kolton Rush had 10.

Charleroi 47, Carmichaels 39: Sam Miceli scored 23 points, going 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, as Charleroi outlasted Carmichaels, 47-39 in a Section 4-AA game.

The Cougars (8-1, 13-3) led 25-24 at the half and extended that lead to 38-30 entering the fourth quarter.

Alex Hoy led Carmichaels (2-7, 8-9) with 12 points.

Brownsville 81, Bentworth 53: Noah Brown scored 20 points and Brownsville remained unbeaten in Section 4-AA with an 81-53 win over Bentworth.

Trayvon Brown added 18 points and James Holcomb had 14 for Brownsville (9-0, 14-4).

Stephen Harner had 14 points and Nick Silver 13 for Bentworth (1-9, 4-13).

Chartiers-Houston 51, Burgettstown 47: A.J. Myers had 29 points as Chartiers-Houston pulled out a hard-fought Section 3-AA win at Burgettstown, 51-47.

Cam Hanley added 12 points for the Bucs (3-7, 9-8), who led 29-14 at the half.

Max Shaw scored 24 points to lead Burgettstown (2-8, 5-13).

Baldwin 60, Canon-McMillan 58: Anthony Starzynski hit a pair of free throws with just under one minute remaining and a three-point attempt by Canon-McMillan at the buzzer failed to go down as Baldwin held off an upset big by the Big Macs to win a Section 4-AAAA game.

Starzynski had 22 points and Anthony Reid added 13 for Baldwin (7-4, 13-5).

Carson Miller scored 14 points, R.J. Bell 13 and Britton Beachy 11 for the Big Macs (2-9, 7-11).

Keystone Oaks 47, McGuffey 46: Josh Snell hit a pair of free throws with just under 10 seconds remaining to lift Keystone Oaks past McGuffey, 47-46, in Section 5-AAA.

Snell finished with 21 points and Jake Wilson added 13 for Keystone Oaks (2-8, 5-13).

Colin Chapman led the Highlanders (0-9, 5-13) with 16 points, while Trent Belleville added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Uniontown 65, Ringgold 60: Lorenzo Oden had 16 points and Uniontown overcame a 35-33 halftime deficit to edge Ringgold, 65-60, in Section 4-AAA.

Armani Williams added 15 points and Phillip Mosley 14 for Uniontown (4-6, 6-9).

Dakota Browning scored 19 points to lead Ringgold (3-6, 7-8), which also got 14 points from George Martin.

Belle Vernon 46, Thomas Jefferson 44: Belle Vernon limited Thomas Jefferson to three points in the fourth quarter to pull out a 46-44 Section 4-AAA win.

Noah Bukowski and Deek Thomas scored 10 points each for the Leopards (3-7, 6-10).

Justin Farrel led Thomas Jefferson (7-5, 9-9) with 15 points.