Dec 18, 2018 5 min read

The Trinity boys basketball team earned its first victory of the season Tuesday night and it came in thrilling fashion.

Trinity outscored host Montour 18-7 in the fourth and defeated the Spartans 61-58 when Noah Johnson made a three-point field goal from the left corner as time expired to cap the comeback.

Montour (1-1, 2-2) led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter before Trinity (1-1, 1-4) battled back, using some long-range shooting.

Michael Koroly scored a game-high 24 points and made six three-pointers for Trinity. Dylan King tossed in 12 points and Jake Hancher’s 11 points included a trio of three-point field goals.

Trinity was leading by 58-56 before Montour tied the score with a basket with eight seconds left. The Hillers then inbounded the ball and got it across the midcourt line before calling a timeout. Expecting Montour to be focusing on Koroly for the final shot, Trinity designed a play during the timeout for Johnson, a junior, who delivered the game-winner. Johnson finished with nine points.

Jaden Nelson led Montour with 18 points, James Eubanks had 11 and Tyler Banks 10.

McGuffey 70, Frazier 59: Guard C.J. Cole scored 46 points, including 12 in overtime, to lead McGuffey to a wild 70-59 victory over visiting Frazier in a foul-filled Class 3A Section 4 game.

Cole filled up the statistics sheet as he grabbed 16 rebounds and made 11 of 14 free throws as McGuffey (2-0, 4-2) remained unbeaten in the section.

The Highlanders were up by three points late in regulation, but Frazier’s Justin Novak, who scored 21 points, made a three-pointer that forced overtime with the score tied 53-53. McGuffey outscored the Commodores 17-6 in the extra session, making 13 of 16 free throws. Every Frazier started fouled out as did three from McGuffey.

Nick Dinka had several key buckets for McGuffey and finished with eight points.

Novak shared scoring honors for Frazier (1-1, 2-4) with Elijah Santoro, who also had 21 points. Luke Santo netted 10.

Laurel 71, Burgettstown 57: Luke Barker scored 24 points and Laurel evened its record with a 71-57 victory over visiting Burgettstown in a Class 2A Section 3 game.

Barker scored all of his points after the first quarter, and he had 20 in the second half, to help the Spartans (1-1, 2-2) protect a lead. He received plenty of offensive support from sophomores Marcus and Sam Haswell, who scored 17 and 16 points, respectively. Laurel went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and 14-for-17 in the second half.

Burgettstown (0-1, 2-2) was paced by Bobby Kozares and Scott Ferris, who each scored 12 points. Dylan Poirier had 10 points.

Southmoreland 53, Beth-Center 45: Beth-Center had three players in double figures but visiting Southmoreland had too much Cole Richter as the Scotties pulled out a 53-45 victory over the Bulldogs.

Richter, a senior guard, scored a game-high 23 points as Southmoreland (1-0, 3-3) won its Class 3A Section 4 opener. The Scotties led by only 20-17 at halftime but outscored B-C 17-11 in the third quarter.

J.J. Green and Andrew Bower each scored 13 points for the Bulldogs (0-2, 1-4) and Ethan McDaniel had 11.

Yough 69, Waynesburg 66: Jarrett Bach scored 28 points, including 25 after the first quarter, as Yough pulled out a 69-66 victory over Waynesburg in a nonsection game played on the Raiders’ home court.

Bach helped Yough (3-2) battle back after trailing 34-31 at halftime. Waynesburg (3-2) scored 25 second-quarter points to take the lead.

Lucas Garber led the Raiders in scoring with 15 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Caleb Shriver finished with 13 points and Richard Bortz had 12.

Chartiers-Houston 67, California 58: Evan Simpson and Anthony Tomassetti combined for 35 points to help Chartiers-Houston to a 67-58 victory over California in a Section 2-AA game.

Simpson poured in a team-high 18 points and Tomassetti added 17 for Chartiers-Houston (1-0, 3-3). Christian Berry chipped in with 10.

Jaeden Zuzak scored a game-high 20 points for California (1-1, 4-2) and Nathan O’Savage added 10.

Bishop Canevin 89, Mapletown 29: Five players scored in double figures to rout Mapletown, 89-29, in a Section 2-A game.

Dahvie Montgomery led the way with 18 points, Kevaughn Price added 14, Nevan Crossey 13, Brennen Hipkis 12 and Dom Elliott scored 10.

Ethan Carter led Mapletown with 8 points.

Brentwood 82, Bentworth 35: C.J. Ziegler scored 24 points to help Brentwood to an 82-35 win over Bentworth in a Section 2-AA game.

Mason Gurewicz led Bentwoth with 12 points.

In other games: Chartiers Valley was a 61-54 winner over visiting South Fayette in Class 5A Section 2. In Class 3A Section 4, Charleroi defeated Brownsville 69-54. In Class 2A Section 2, Serra Catholic topped Carmichaels 69-30. No game details were provided to the Observer-Reporter by press time.

Girls results

Burgettstown 38, Beth-Center 34: Burgettstown opened a 14-point lead then held on for a 38-34 victory over Beth-Center in a non-section game.

Emily Prasko led Burgettstown (3-2) with 12 points.

Julia Ogrodowski led B-C (3-2) with eight points.

Brashear 42, McGuffey 40: Jaclyn Woodall hit the game-winning basket with about 10 seconds to play to give Brashear a 42-40 victory over McGuffey in a non-section game.

McGuffey led 25-22 after three quarters but was outscored 13-10 in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Woodall finished with 21 points and Sarah Volker had 11 for Brashear (1-3).

Cassie darrell had 11 points to pace McGuffey (2-4).

Avella 49, Carmichaels 32: Avella raced to a 35-20 lead at halftime to secure a 49-32 victory over Carmichaels in a non-section game.

Colleen Kinney scored 12 points and Breanna Lloyd tossed in 11 to pace the Eagles (3-1).

Kylie Sinn led Carmichaels (1-6) with 11 points.

In other games: Elizabeth Forward was a 48-36 winner over host Ringgold in Class 4A Section 3.