Feb 10, 2018 5 min read

Isaac Vescovi scored a game-high 28 points, Josh Wise had 18 and Pitt-Johnstown withstood a 55-point second half by visiting California to defeat the Vulcans 82-75 Saturday afternoon in a PSAC West Division game.

Pitt-Johnstown (7-13, 10-15) forged a 42-20 halftime lead, then had to fight off Cal as the Vulcans made nine of their 11 three-point field goals after halftime.

Vescovi made 11 of 16 shots and Wise, a Washington graduate and former Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year, did enough scoring in the second half to keep the Mountain Cats in the lead. Wise had five points in UPJ’s 17-0 run in the first half that opened a 24-9 lead.

Cal closed to within three points, at 61-58, in the second half but Vescovi scored 11 points over the final six minutes and the Vulcans were never able to gain the lead.

Cordell Smith led Cal’s second-half rally and finished with a team-best 21 points. Robel Teckle followed with 18 points and Paul Alexander had 13. Alexander was 8-for-8 at the free-throw line.

Bethany 89, Wash & Jeff 69: Chaice Truex came off the bench to score a game-high 27 points as Bethany defeated Washington & Jefferson 89-69 in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.

Bethany (13-3, 13-10) won its third in a row and remains in contention for the PAC’s regular-season title. The Bison are two games behind first-place Thomas More.

Truex made 11 of 17 shots, including three of four from three-point range. Bethany took control of the game with an 11-0 run in the first half that opened a double-digit lead. W&J (3-13, 4-19) closed to within 74-64 with three minutes remaining before Bethany closed the game by scoring 15 of the final 20 points.

Truex led four Bethany players in double figures.

Sean Stinelli and Amos Luptak each finished with 13 points for W&J. Brian Graytok had 10 points.

Thomas More 64, Waynesburg 50: PAC-leader Thomas More used a 16-2 run midway through the second half to overcome a halftime deficit and rally for a 64-50 victory over Waynesburg in Crestview Hills, Ky.

Waynesburg (5-11, 9-14) led 27-20 at halftime but went cold from the field in the second half, scoring only 23 points and seeing its two-game winning streak end. The Yellow Jackets shot only 30 percent for the game.

The Yellow Jackets’ Jon Knab, who entered the game three points shy of 1,000, scored eight points. He is he 34th player in Waynesburg history with 1,000 career points.

Thomas More (15-1, 19-4) won its 12th straight. The Saints trailed 36-32 with 13:44 remaining but outscored the Yellow Jackets 16-2 over the next 5 1/2 minutes.

Simon Clifford led Thomas More with 17 points and Damion King had 16.

Matt Popeck and Nick Gearhart each tallied 11 points for Waynesburg, which was outrebounded 47-25.

Women’s results

California 56, Pitt-Johnstown 54: Shatara Parsons scored 22 points, Abbey Sporio had 11 rebounds and California held off a late charge by upset-minded Pitt-Johnstown to pull out a 56-54 road win in a PSAC West Division contest.

Parsons almost had a double-double as she finished with nine rebounds while helping Cal improve to 15-3 in the conference and 20-4 overall. The Vulcans led 22-9 after one quarter and 34-21 at halftime before holding off UPJ’s charge over the final nine minutes.

A 9-0 run helped UPJ pull to within 51-50 with 1:03 remaining. One free throw by Parsons and two by Jihana Flood-Francis, who scored 14 points, pushed the Vulcans’ lead to four points with less than 30 seconds to play.

Bianca Jasper made two free throws in the final 16 seconds for Cal and Sporio came up a steal as time expired.

Gabrielle Smith led UPJ (6-13, 9-15) with 20 points.

Wash & Jeff 77, Bethany 63: Amirah Moore led five Washington & Jefferson players in doduble figures with 20 points, and also had eight assists, as the Presidents defeated Bethany 77-63 in a PAC game.

W&J (14-2, 20-3), which remains one game behind first-place Thomas More in the conference standings, won its fifth in a row. The Presidents were locked in a 38-38 tie at halftime but outscored Bethany 20-10 in the pivotal fourth quarter.

The Presidents led 65-61 with less than five minutes remaining, then finally shook the Bison with a 9-0 run that included four points from Allie Seto and three from Taley Dunaway.

W&J’s Lauren Gilbert scored 16 points, and Dunaway, Danielle Parker and Mya Gordon each had 10. Parker had a game-high 14 rebounds.

Kelsea Daugherty and Fallon Nicholson kept Bethany (7-9, 10-13) within striking distance for much of the day by scoring 20 and 18 points, respectively.

Thomas More 107, Waynesburg 62: Abby Owings scored 20 points and made four of Thomas More’s 12 three-point field goals as the PAC-leading Saints routed visiting Waynesburg, 107-62.

Thomas More (16-0, 22-1) broke open the game in the third quarter when it outscored the Yellow Jackets 33-12 for a 79-39 lead. The Saints have won 21 in a row.

Madison Temple had 16 points and Nikki Kiernan 15 for Thomas More, which 62 percent and forced 29 Waynesburg turnovers.

Anna Bartman was the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer with 11 points. Kerri Brungard had 10. Waynesburg fell to 9-7 in conference and 13-10 overall.

Waynesburg’s Addy Knetzer had eight points and six rebounds. She became the first player in school history with 1,000 career rebounds.