Dec 14, 2018 6 min read

Jaeden Zuzak made six free throws in overtime that proved to be the difference as visiting California handed Carmichaels its first loss of the season, 63-60, in a Class 2A Section 2 boys basketball game Friday night.

Zuzak picked an offense that was without leading scorer Malik Ramsey, who finished with a game-high 19 points, after he fouled out one minute into overtime.

Carmichaels’ Christopher Barrish sent the game into overtime when he made a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds left in regulation, tying the score at 53-53.

Matt Barrish led the Mikes, who fall to 0-1 in the section and 3-1 overall, with 18 points. Dylan Wilson scored 12 points.

Nate O’Savage had 18 points for California (1-0, 4-1).

Washington 60, Charleroi 46: After having its early lead narrowed in the second quarter, Washington controlled the second half to down visiting Charleroi, 60-46, in a Class 3A Section 4 game.

The Prexies watched an eight-point lead evaporate to only one point, 27-26, entering halftime.

Washington (1-0, 2-1) then outscored the Cougars by six points in the third and seven in the fourth to pull away for a comfortable victory.

Dan Ethridge led the offensive effort from the Prexies with a game-high 21 points.

Legend Davis and Zach Usher reached double figures for Charleroi (0-1, 2-2) with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Avella 57, Geibel 53: After both offenses started slow, Avella found a rhythm in the second quarter and went on to defeat Geibel, 57-53, in a Class A Section 2 game.

Tied 6-6 after the first quarter, Avella took a seven-point lead it wouldn’t surrender for the remainder of the game, despite a third-quarter comeback from Geibel (0-1, 2-2).

Enzo Fetsko led the Gators with 19 points.

Winners of two straight, Avella (1-0, 2-2) was paced by Donovan Avolio’s 16 points. Owen English finished with 14 points and seven assists. Tyler Cerciello also had 10 points.

McGuffey 58, Brownsville 28: McGuffey ended a two-game slide by dominating the final 2 1/2 quarters and rolling to a 58-28 victory at Brownsville in the Class 3A Section 4 opener.

Brownsville (0-1, 1-3) led 15-11 early in the second quarter before McGuffey took over. Sparked by guard C.J. Cole, who had his fourth-double-double of the season, the Highlanders ended the game on a 47-13 run.

McGuffey led 23-15 at halftime and outscored the Falcons 17-5 in the third quarter.

Cole scorched Brownsville for 31 points and also grabbed 13 rebounds. Brian Edlis had eight rebounds.

Hunter Assad led Brownsville with 12 points.

Waynesburg 49, Mt. Pleasant 31: Waynesburg held Mt. Pleasant to three field goals in the first half and won a defensive-oriented game over the visiting Vikings, 49-31, in a nonsection contest.

Waynesburg (3-1) took control in the first half, building leads of 15-7 after one quarter and 26-10 at halftime. The Raiders received enough offense from Lucas Garber, who had a game-high 17 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists, and Chris King, whose 10 points included three three-pointers. King also had a team-high 13 rebounds.

Mt. Pleasant (0-4) received 13 points from Nathan Kubasky and 10 from Jacob Johnson but the Vikings couldn’t overcome its poor first-half shooting.

Chartiers Valley 70, Trinity 47: Chartiers Valley no longer has longtime head coach Tim McConnell – he’s now coaching the Colts’ girls team – but CV still has plenty of offensive firepower.

Jared Goldstrom and Braden Reynolds each scored 17 points to lead Chartiers Valley to a 70-47 victory over host Trinity in the Class 5A Section 2 opener.

Joe Pipilo followed with 15 points for the Colts (1-0, 2-1).

Michael Koroly was a bright spot for Trinity (0-1, 0-4) as he scored a game-high 18 points. Jordaine Adams also scored in double figures with 12 points.

Bishop Canevin 68, West Greene 48: Bishop Canevin put four players in double figures and used some stellar long-range shooting to defeat host West Greene 68-48 in the Section 2A opener.

Canevin (1-0, 3-1) scored 26 first-quarter points and finished the game with 11 three-point field goals. Aiden Logan led the way with 18 points, Dahrvie Montgomery followed with 14, Dom Elliott had 12 and freshman Kevaughn Price 11.

Nathan Brudnock matched Logan for game scoring honors with 18 points. West Greene trailed 42-24 at halftime but was outscored by only two points in the second half.

Frazier 58, Beth-Center 36: Frazier’s defense forced Beth-Center into 27 turnovers and a cold shooting night as the Commodores defeated the visiting Bulldogs in the Class 3A Section 4 opener, 58-36.

J.J. Green led the Bulldogs (0-1, 1-3) with nine points. Elijah Santoro (18), Justin Novak (17) and Luke Santo (10) combined for 45 points for Frazier.

Jefferson-Morgan 63, Mapletown 25: Exploding for 30 points in the second quarter, Jefferson-Morgan cruised to an easy victory over Mapletown to open Class A Section 2 play, 63-25.

The 30-point quarter gave the Rockets a 39-10 halftime lead.

Tahj Jacobs equaled the biggest quarter for J-M (1-0, 1-5) with 30 points to lead all scorers, including seven three-pointers. Jacob Broadwater scored 13 points.

Mapletown (0-1, 0-4) was led by Ethan Carter, who had 12 points.

Keystone Oaks 73, Fort Cherry 60: Despite cutting its double-digit deficit entering halftime, the third quarter was the undoing Fort Cherry as the Rangers fell to Keystone Oaks, 73-60, in a Class 3A Section 2 game.

Serra Catholic, 85, Bentworth 27: Jimmy Moon led all scorers with 26 points as Serra Catholic dominated play from the start to defeat Bentworth, 85-27, in a Class 2A Section 2 game.

Moon, who was back for the second game after tweaking a knee during pregame warmups in the season opener for the Eagles, helped give Serra Catholic (1-0, 2-2) a 58-19 lead at halftime. Khalil Smith and Joseph Gluscic also reached double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Cameron Bell scored eight points for Bentworth (0-1, 0-3).

In other games: Canon-McMillan was a 71-45 winner at Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair rallied for a 86-81 overtime victory against Peters Township, both in Class 6A Section 2. South Fayette was a 57-50 victor at Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A Section 2. No game details were made available to the Observer-Reporter.

Girls result

Carmichaels 38, Jefferson-Morgan 21: Emma Hyatt and Gina Raineri each scored 10 points as Carmichaels defeated Jefferson-Morgan, 38-21, in a non-section game.

The Mikes, who earned their first win of the season (1-5), jumped out to a quick start against J-M, leading 21-9 at halftime.

Autumn Gustovich scored more than half of the points for the Rockets, finishing with a game-high 12. Brynn Boyd had 11 rebounds for J-M (1-4).