Dec 27, 2018 10 min read

All five starters for Burgettstown scored in double figures as the Blue Devils held off a fourth-quarter rally to defeat Avonworth, 67-65, Thursday night in the Avella tournament.

The Antelopes couldn’t fully erase their 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter despite outscoring Burgettstown (4-3) 17-8 in the final eight minutes.

Deon Thomas led the Avonworth (4-2) comeback with a game-high 19 points. Turner Grau also scored 18 points for the Antelopes.

The balanced scoring effort from the Blue Devils was led by Dylan Poirier and Cole Shergi with 14 and 13 points, respectively. The other three starters for Burgettstown, Bobby Kozares, Dante Gianfrancesco and Scott Ferris, each finished with 10 points.

Chartiers-Houston 55, Fort Cherry 51: Scoring 16 points in both the third and fourth quarters, Chartiers-Houston rallied from a slow start to defeat Fort Cherry, 55-51, in the Avella tournament.

The Bucs outscored Fort Cherry (0-6) 32-25 in the second half, enough to erase their slim three-point deficit at the half.

Evan Simpson scored a team-high 14 points for Chartiers-Houston (4-4). Christian Berry and Austin Arnold each finished with 11 points.

Brendan Anderson led the Rangers with 15 points. Noah Babirad scored 11.

Carmichaels 76, Mapletown 50: Carmichaels found its offense in the second quarter as the Mikes downed Mapletown, 76-50, during the opening day of the King Coal Lions’ Christmas Tournament.

With a one-point lead after the first quarter, Carmichaels (5-2) outscored the Maples 29-8 in the next eight minutes to blow the game open.

The Mikes were paced by Garrett Ponick, who led all scorers with 18 points. Matt Barrish scored 16 and Al Cree finished with 14 for Carmichaels.

Ryan Tuttle scored 17 points for Mapletown (0-7).

California 73, West Greene 42: Malik Ramsey led all scorers with 19 points as California defeated visiting West Greene 73-42 in a non-section game.

Jaeden Zuzak scored 12 points for California (6-2), which has won five of its last six games.

Nathan Brudnock led West Greene (2-6) with 18 points.

McGuffey 64, Propel Montour 49: McGuffey shook off a sluggish start and roared back for a 64-49 victory over Propel Montour in the first round of the Avella tournament.

The win was the fourth in a row for McGuffey (6-2), which trailed 14-8 after one quarter. The Highlanders took control of the game over the next two quarters, outscoring Propel Montour 36-17.

C.J. Cole led McGuffey with a game-high 28 points to go with 14 rebounds. Nate Witkowsky followed with 17 points.

Much of Propel’s scoring was done by Cory Simmons (19 points) and Khalil Kerr (18 points).

Waynesburg 67, South Allegheny 34: Lucas Garber scored 25 points and Waynesburg held South Allegheny to 10 second-half points as the Raiders moved into the final of the Bentworth tournament with a 67-34 victory.

Waynesburg (5-2) led 14-13 after one quarter, then opened up a 34-24 advantage at halftime as Garber scored seven of his points in the second quarter. South Allegheny (2-6) went cold in the second half and made only five field goals and did not attempt a free throw.

Richard Bortz scored 14 points for Waynesburg. Ethan Kirkwood led South Allegheny with 10 points but had only two in the second half.

Jefferson-Morgan 60, Bentworth 49: Jefferson-Morgan overcame a five-point deficit after the first quarter by getting big games from Devin Stoneking and Tahjere Jacobs to defeat Bentworth 60-49 and move into the finals of the Bearcats’ tournament.

Jefferson-Morgan (2-7) will play Greene County rival Waynesburg in the Friday final.

Stoneking and Jacobs combined for 41 points as the Rockets cut Bentworth’s lead to 25-24 at halftime and then outscored the hosts 36-24 in the second half. Stoneking led J-M with 21 points and Jacobs followed with 20, the latter making four three-pointers.

The Rockets overcame a game-high 24 points by Bentworth’s Shawn Dziak, who made five three-pointers. The Bearcats’ record fell to 0-7.

Beth-Center 66, Geibel Catholic 57: Geibel Catholic led throughout the first half but Beth-Center countered with 40 points in the second half to rally for a 66-57 victory in the Carmichaels Lions Club tournament.

The Gators (4-3) led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and 34-26 at halftime. But, the Bulldogs (3-4) outscored Geibel in the third quarter, 24-9, and then finished out the win with a 16-14 fourth quarter.

Easton McDaniel led Beth-Center with 21 points. JJ Green finished with 20 and Andrew Bower chipped in 14. The Bulldogs will play Carmichaels for the title tonight.

Cole Kendall scored a game-high 22 points for the Gators. Enzo Fetsko added 14.

Girls results

North Catholic 65, Trinity 54: Four players scored in double figures as North Catholic to defeated Trinity, 65-54, in the Penn Hills tournament.

It ends a 90-game streak by Trinity of not allowing opponents from Pennsylvania to eclipse 60 points in a single game. The last time the Hillers surrendered 60-plus points to a team within the state was a 68-59 loss to McGuffey on Feb. 26, 2015.

Tess Myers led North Catholic (6-0) with 14 points. Cassie Foster and Kylee Lewandowski each scored 13 points. Belle O’Hara was the final player in double figures for the Trojans with 11 points.

Trinity (4-3) cut the deficit multiple times in the second half but failed to capture the lead. Kaylin Venick scored a team-high 13 points. Julia Chakos finished with 10 points, while Marlaina Bozek and Courtney Dahlquist each had nine.

The loss ends the Hillers’ three-game winning streak.

Mapletown 37, California 28: Mapletown outscored California by 15 points in the second half to complete the comeback victory and avenge an early season loss by downing the Trojans, 37-28, in the Bentworth tournament.

The Maples, who won their second consecutive game to improve to 2-4 overall, lost to California, 49-40, in a section game Dec. 13.

Abby Antill and Kayla Smith both scored in double figures for Mapletown, which trailed 18-11 at halftime. Antill scored a game-high 15 points. Smith finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Sydney Smichnick scored 10 points for California (3-4).

Northgate 50, Avella 44: Holding a seven-point lead entering the final quarter, Avella was outscored 24-11 in the final eight minutes as the Eagles fell to Northgate, 50-44, in the Rochester tournament.

A 17-point second quarter made up for a sluggish start for Avella (5-2) as it took a 22-17 into halftime.

Cierra Mason scored a game-high 25 points in the comeback victory for Northgate (3-4), helping end a three-game losing streak. Shayla Stiegler also scored 16 points.

Jordan Rush led the Eagles, who saw its four-game winning streak end, with 17 points.

Laurel Highlands 64, Monessen 30: Taylor Smith used four three-pointers and outscored the entire Monessen team with 36 points as tournament host Laurel Highlands defeated the Greyhounds 64-30.

Laurel Highlands (3-4), which halted its three-game skid, quickly took and kept the lead with a big first half. The Mustangs held a 37-16 advantage at halftime.

Lori Miller also scored 14 points for Laurel Highlands.

Monessen (1-7) was led by Sydney Caterino’s seven points.

Waynesburg 48, Geibel Catholic 16: Waynesburg didn’t allow a point in the first quarter as the Raiders built an early lead and cruised past Geibel Catholic 48-16 in an opening round game at the King Coal Lions’ Christmas Tournament.

Waynesburg (4-3) led 9-0 after the first quarter and 17-6 at halftime before finding an offensive rhythm with 31 second-half points.

Emma Mankey was the only player to score in double figures for either team, pacing Waynesburg with 12 points.

McGuffey 36, Fort Cherry 22: Abby Donnelly and Keira Nicolella led McGuffey offensively as the host Highlanders stifled Fort Cherry on defense for a 36-22 victory.

Donnelly led all scorers with 11 points, while Nicolella scored 10 for the Highlanders, who improve to 3-5 overall.

Abby Cooper and McKenzie Faure paced Fort Cherry (4-4) with six points each.

South Fayette 61, Ambridge 43: Clare Relihan made six three-pointers as South Fayette used a 26-point second quarter to defeat Ambridge, 61-43, in the Bethel Park tournament.

Leading all scorers with 26 points, Relihan helped the Lions take a 34-17 lead into halftime. Maura Castelluci provided secondary scoring for South Fayette (7-1) with 15 points.

Beth-Center 71, Propel Braddock Hills 6: Not allowing more than two points in any of the four quarters, Beth-Center routed Propel Braddock Hills, 71-6, in the California University Hoopfest tournament.

After the teams went to the break with the Bulldogs holding a 53-2 lead, the second half was played with a running clock.

All 10 players scored for Beth-Center (4-3), including a team-high 20 points from Elizabeth Trump. Olivia Greco had eight steals and seven assists to go along with her 17 points. Anna Sloan scored 12 points.

Belle Vernon 71, Frazier 67, OT: Lindsay Steeber scored 32 points, including eight in overtime, to lead Belle Vernon to a 71-67 victory over Frazier on Thursday in the Cal U Holiday Hoopfest at the Convocation Center.

Steeber, a senior, made 12 field goals, including one three-pointer, and was 7-of-7 at the foul line. Belle Vernon shot 13-of-18 at the line in its fifth straight win after starting the season 0-3.

Belle Vernon (5-3) led 60-57 lead with time winding down in regulation, but the Commodores’ Kendall Shaporka made a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to force overtime.

Brooke Poling scored a team-high 26 points for Frazier (4-4). Vienna Bertram had 11 points for Belle Vernon.

South Side Beaver 53, Charleroi 27: South Side Beaver jumped out to a 10-0 lead and cruised to a 53-27 victory over Charleroi in the Cal U Holiday Hoopfest.

South Side outscored Charleroi, 17-2, in the second quarter for a 33-4 halftime lead.

Bella Skobel led Charleroi (3-6) with nine points.

South Side’s Jess Barber led all scorers with 19 points on seven field goals, including four 3-pointers, and was 1-of-2 at the foul line. Teammates Carissa McNary and Sydney Payne each chipped in with eight points apiece.

Carmichaels 25, Jefferson-Morgan 16: Emma Hyatt and Gina Raneri combined for 17 points and Carmichaels moved into the finals of the Carmichaels Lions Club tournament with a 25-16 victory over Jefferson-Morgan.

Carmichaels (2-7) will play Waynesburg in the championship game.

The Mikes held Jefferson-Morgan (1-7) to one point in the first half and used an 11-point third quarter to pull away. Hyatt led Carmichaels with eight points and Raneri had seven.

J-M’s Brynn Boyd scored a game-high 11 points.

Hopewell 54, Chartiers-Houston 17: Siara Conley scored 26 points and Hopewell shut down Chartiers-Houston in the second half to defeat the Bucs 54-17 in the Riverside tournament.

Chartiers-Houston (2-5) will play Cornell on Friday at 6:45 p.m.

Conley’s big game was enough for Hopewell (4-3), which also received 12 points from Alexis Thompson. The Vikings outscored C-H 12-0 in the fourth quarter and held the Bucs to seven second-half points.

Dominique Mortimer led C-H in scoring with eight points.

Penn-Trafford 72, Ringgold 33: Ringgold fell behind in the first quarter and was unable to recover in a 72-33 loss to the host team of the Penn-Trafford tournament.

Bella Long led the way for Penn-Trafford with 19 points. Maura Suman added 10.

The Rams’ record slides to 1-6.

Carlynton 47, Burgettstown 35: Emily Prasko had a double-double for Burgettstown put it wasn’t enough to derail a strong Carlynton team as the Blue Devils lost 47-35 in the McGuffey tournament.

Carlynton (6-1) led by only 22-20 at halftime but held Burgettstown (4-3) to only 15 second-half points.

Jada Lee led the Cougars with 20 points and Jaelyn Melko had 11.

Prasko scored a team-high 15 points and also led on the boards with 13 rebounds.