Jan 19, 2018 6 min read

Trailing 37-18 at halftime, Jefferson-Morgan rallied behind Jalen Torres to complete the comeback after scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter and defeated California 65-63 at Jefferson-Morgan High School Friday night.

The comeback earned the Rockets their first Section 2-AA victory.

Jefferson-Morgan (1-5, 7-8) outscored the Trojans 19-10 in the third quarter and 29-16 in the fourth quarter.

Torres hit five three-pointers en route to his game-high 30 points. D.L. Garrett and Devin Stoneking each had 13 points for J-M.

California (3-4, 8-6) had four players reach double figures, led by Derrick Hammitt’s 16 points.

South Fayette 60, Belle Vernon 45: After a forgettable second quarter, South Fayette rallied with 38 second-half points to upend previous Section 3-4A leader Belle Vernon, 60-45.

The Lions, who fell behind 25-22 at halftime after being outscored 14-6 in the second quarter, immediately took the lead back in the third quarter behind the scoring of Drew Franklin’s team-high 15 points.

Noah Plack-Tallerico and Tim Locher also reached double-digits for South Fayette (5-2, 8-5) with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Belle Vernon (5-2, 9-4) was riding a five-game winning streak entering the game, with four of those victories were by more than 10 points.

Griffin LaCarte and Joe Sabolek each had 10 points for the Leopards.

Canon-McMillan 61, Upper St. Clair 48: Elliot Waller scored 12 of his 20 points in the third quarter to lead a Canon-McMillan comeback as the Big Macs defeated Upper St. Clair 61-48 in a Section 2-6A game.

Waller not only led all scorers but individually matched the scoring of the entire Upper St. Clair team in the eight minutes following halftime.

After C-M took the lead in the third, Jason Fowlkes scored 10 fourth-quarter points, 18 for the game, to extended the Big Macs’ winning streak to eight games. Canon-McMillan (6-1, 12-1) has won six of those eight by double-digit points.

Brett Moore led Upper St. Clair (3-4, 8-8) with 18 points.

Waynesburg 68, Elizabeth Forward 45: Darton McIntire led all scorers with 31 points as Waynesburg defeated Elizabeth Forward 68-45 in a Section 3-4A game.

It’s the first time this season Waynesburg (0-5, 4-9) has won two games in a row.

McIntire made 13 field goals, only two fewer than the Elizabeth Forward team.

Richard Bortz also finished in double figures for the Raiders with 12 points.

Will Greijack led Elizabeth Forward (2-6, 6-9) with 15 points. The Warriors also were looking for their first two-game winning streak of the season.

South Side Beaver 55, Charleroi 40: Taking a six-point lead to the fourth quarter, South Side Beaver scored 24 points to pull away and defeat Charleroi 55-40 in a Section 4-AAA game.

Only trailing 18-16 at halftime, Charleroi (0-5, 4-10) used Caleb Carson to stay in the game with his team-high 18 points.

It’s the Cougars’ third straight loss.

South Side Beaver (5-2, 6-8) was led by Jake McDougal’s 19 points. Logan English and Trevor Roach scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.

West Greene 67, Mapletown 24: Nathan Brudnock, Austin Crouse and Joey Reed each scored in double figures as West Greene defeated Mapletown 67-24 in a Section 2-A game.

Brudnock led all scorers with 24 points as the Pioneers jumped out to a 31-16 lead after the opening two quarters.

Crouse finished with 13 points, and Reed had 11 for West Greene (3-1, 5-8).

Mapletown (0-4, 0-12) was paced by Ryan Carter and Ritchy Cacurak, who each scored 10 points.

Bethel Park 54, Peters Township 43: It was the start Peters Township wanted but not the finish.

The Indians took a five-point lead after the first quarter but failed to score in double digits in any of the remaining quarters as they fell to Bethel Park 54-43 in a Section 2-6A game.

It was the sixth consecutive loss for Peters Township (0-7, 4-10).

Coline Cote scored 14 points for the Indians, and Vinny Cortese finished with 10.

Bethel Park (5-2, 9-5) was led by brothers Ryan and Justin Meis, who combined for 31 points. Ryan Meis made three three-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points. Justin Meis had 14 points.

Frazier 62, Bentworth 58: Justin Novak scored 21 points and Frazier dominated the fourth quarter to come away with a 62-58 win over Bentworth in a Section 2-AA game in Perryopolis.

Luke Santo added 18 points for Frazier (3-3, 5-7), which outscored the Bearcats (3-3, 6-5) in the fourth quarter, 20-10. Bradley Poling pulled down 11 rebounds.

Steven Harner had a game-high 26 points and Sam Schoedel scored 13 points Bentworth.

Washington 62, Brownsville 39: Dan Ethridge poured in 23 points and Washington’s defense was strong in a 62-39 victory over host Brownsville in a Section 4-AAA game.

Zahmere Robinson chipped in with 15 points and Isaiah Walton had 13 points for Wash High (6-0, 10-3), which held Brownsville (1-5, 5-9) to single digits in the second and fourth quarter. The defense also held Shandon Marshall to 10 points.

Keystone Oaks 68, McGuffey 57: Vonte Mitchell tossed in 25 points and Keystone Oaks sent McGuffey to its fourth loss in five games, 68-57, in Section 3 of Class 4A in Claysville.

Josh Snell added 18 points and Frank Stumpo 12 for Keystone Oaks (4-4, 7-8), which led 30-25 at halftime.

McGuffey (3-4, 10-5) got all but two points from three players: CJ Cole’s 22 points, Trent Belleville’s 22 points and David Chapman’s 11.

Burgettstown 70, Southmoreland 45: Burgettstown went on a 29-5 run in the third and fourth quarter and held host Southmoreland to one point in the final 8 minutes for a 70-45 victory in Section 4-AAA.

Garrett Dhans led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points for Burgettstwon (6-1, 11-3). Dante Gianfrancesco tossed 11 points, Ryan Lounder 10 and Scott Ferris 11.

Riley Comforti led Southmoreland (3-4, 4-10) with 11 points.

Girl’s Results

Beth-Center 66, Albert Gallatin 48: Olivia Greco made four three-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points as Beth-Center defeated Albert Gallatin 66-48 in a non-section game.

Greco also finished with eight assists as the Bulldogs built a 35-28 lead at halftime.

Kinlee Whited also scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Beth-Center (4-3, 8-5). Sarah Hess had eight points and eight rebounds.

Albert Gallatin (2-5, 6-8) was led by the three-point shooting of Brin Bezjak, who made four threes and scored 21 points.

South Fayette 74, Lincoln Park 26: Maura Castelluci and Sam Kosmacki combined for 34 points to power South Fayette past Lincoln Park, 74-26, in a Section 1 game in Class 5A.

Castelluci led the way with 19 points and Kosmacki added 15 for the Lions (4-1, 8-4), who are in second place in the section.

Lincoln Park (1-4, 6-8) was keyed by Riley Arrigo’s 10 points.

In other games

Thomas Jefferson defeated Ringgold 67-32 in a Section 1-5A boys game and Serra Catholic girls downed Mapletown 60-13 in a non-section game.