Jan 7, 2019 7 min read

Julia Chakos led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points and Trinity dominated the middle two quarters en route to a 56-47 victory over visiting Moon in a foul-filled Class 5A Section 1 girls basketball game Monday night.

Trinity (4-1, 5-5) snapped a three-game losing streak and did so with some good work during the second and third quarter. After trailing 8-6 after the first quarter, the Hillers outscored Moon (2-3, 6-5) by a 36-23 margin over the next 16 minutes.

There were 43 fouls called in the game.

“It was a hard game to coach. It was a hard game to watch,” Trinity coach Bob Miles said, “because the flow was interrupted so many times.”

In addition to Chakos’ 13 points, Ashley Durig scored in double figures for Trinity, netting 12.

Reilly Sunday had a game-high 20 points for Moon and Aubree Evans had 10.

McKeesport 72, Belle Vernon 53: Belle Vernon had four players score in double figures but visiting McKeesport had a 26-point third quarter and pulled away for a 72-53 victory over the Leopards in Class 4A Section 3.

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak by Belle Vernon (4-1, 7-4) and knocked the Leopards one game behind first-place Elizabeth Forward in the section. McKeesport (3-2, 5-5) has won two in a row.

McKeesport led 31-30 at halftime, then outscored Belle Vernon 26-12 in the pivotal third quarter.

Nevaeh Stepanik led the Tigers with a game-high 18 points. Jhayla Bray followed with 16 points and Brianna Evans had 15.

Belle Vernon, which made seven three-pointers, was led in scoring by Lindsay Steeber’s 17 points. Rachel Wobrak had 14 points, Taylor Rodriguez 12 and Grace Henderson 10.

Washington 76, Waynesburg 44: After suffering its first loss of the season Saturday, Washington bounced back in a big way as four players scored in double figures to defeat Waynesburg, 76-44, in a Class 3A Section 2 game.

The Prexies lowest-scoring quarter was 15 points in the first, which still have them a 15-10 lead after eight minutes. They led 32-23 at the half but pulled away by outscoring Waynesburg 25-5 in the third quarter.

Carley Allen scored a game-high 20 points for Washington (5-0, 10-1). Jahlea Oakley scored 13 points, Kyla Woods had 12 and Tamia Russell finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

C.P. Miller led Waynesburg (1-4, 4-6) with 13 points. Julianna Fowler scored 11 points.

Mapletown 58, Geibel Catholic 13: Taylor Dusenberry had 18 points and 11 steals and teammate Kayla Smith almost had a triple-double as surging Mapletown thumped visiting Geibel Catholic 58-13 in Section 2-A.

Mapletown, which has won four of its last five games, improved to 2-2 in the section and 4-5 overall. The Maples dominated winless Geibel (0-5, 0-11) in the first half, building a commanding 28-4 lead. Mapletown held Geibel scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Smith came up one blocked shot shy of a triple-double as she finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks.

Avella 37, Jefferson-Morgan 27: Colleen Kinney scored a game-high 12 points and Brianna Jenkins led a fourth-quarter surge as Avella pulled away late and defeated a depleted Jefferson-Morgan team, 37-27, in Section 2-A.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak by Jefferson-Morgan (1-3, 4-8), which was down to only five players. Though shorthanded, the Rockets trailed by only 18-16 at halftime and 26-25 after three quarters.

Avella (3-1, 8-3) finally wore down J-M in the fourth quarter and outscored the Rockets 11-2 over the final eight minutes. Jenkins scored five points in the final quarter.

Autumn Gustovich was J-M’s leading scorer with eight points.

Frazier 63, Bentworth 22: Brooke Poling, Ashley Moger and Sierra Twigg were all in double figures to lead Frazier to a 63-22 Section 3-AA victory over visiting Bentworth.

Poling scored a game-high 19 points, Moger had 17, which included five 3-pointers, and Twigg had 10.

Ali Petrisek led the Bearcats (0-4, 1-9) in scoring with eight.

Seton La-Salle 58, Charleroi 37:Emma Walsh scored a game-high 21 points as Seton-La Salle avoided an early scare to cruise past Class 3A Section 2 foe Charleroi, 58-37.

In search of their first section victory, the Cougars led 18-14 after the first quarter. However, Seton La-Salle (4-0, 5-5) outscored them 44-19 the final three quarters to stay undefeated in the section.

Sarah Meroina also reached double-digits for the Rebels with 12 points.

Charleroi (0-5, 3-9) was paced by Belle Skobel and Cierra Gazi, who had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Beth-Center 47, McGuffey 40: Olivia Greco made four three-pointers as Beth-Center won its fourth consecutive game by defeating McGuffey, 47-40, in Class 3A Section 2.

Greco finished with a game-high 13 points as Beth-Center (3-1, 7-3) pulled away in the second and third quarters. The Bulldogs outscored McGuffey by five points in both the second and third.

Keira Nicolella and Rachel Shingle both scored in double-digits for McGuffey (1-4, 4-8). Nicolella had 11 points and Shingle finished with 10.

Bishop Canevin 72, Chartiers-Houston 24: Four different players scored in double figures as Bishop Canevin rolled to a 72-24 victory over Chartiers-Houston in a Class 2A Section 3 game.

Shamyjha Price led all scorers with 28 points. Emma Theodorsson scored 16, Dijha Allen had 11 and Gillan Gustine finished with 10 for Bishop Canevin (5-0, 9-2), which led 36-6 at halftime.

Dominique Mortimer led Chartiers-Houston (1-3, 3-8) with 12 points.

Mt. Lebanon 55, Canon-McMillan 37: Using a stifling defense, Mt. Lebanon prevented Canon-McMillan from reaching double-digit points in three of the four quarters to down the Big Macs 55-37 in a Class 6A Section 2 game.

Mt. Lebanon (4-1, 5-6) had a 19-7 lead after the first quarter and led 32-16 at the half.

Morgan Palmer paced the Blue Devils with 18 points. Patrice Smith scored 15 and Ashley Connor chipped in with 10 points.

The only player for Canon-McMillan (2-3, 5-6) to score in double figures was Tamara Mathis, who finished with 15 points.

California 42, Monessen 34: Makayla Boda scored 14 points to lead a second-half comeback as California fought off Monessen, 42-34, in a Class A Section 2 game.

Trailing 22-19 at halftime, the Trojans outscored Monessen 23-12 in the final two quarters for their third straight victory.

Sydney Smichnick scored 10 points and Ca’mari Walden added nine in the come-from-behind win for California (4-1, 6-4).

Qitarah Hardison tied with a game-high 14 points for Monessen (1-3, 1-9).

Burgettstown 45, Carmichaels 20: Trailing by seven points following the first quarter, Burgettstown dominated on offense and defense the rest of the way to defeat Class 2A Section 3 foe Carmichaels, 45-20.

The Blue Devils trailed 12-5 after the first eight minutes but then outscored Carmichaels (0-4, 3-9) 40-8 in the final three quarters, including holding the Mikes scoreless in the second quarter.

Celeste Direcchia scored 15 points for Burgettstown (2-2, 5-6).

Gina Ranieri had 10 points for the Mikes.

Thomas Jefferson 59, South Fayette 51: The third-quarter proved to be the undoing of South Fayette in a 59-51 loss to Thomas Jefferson in a Class 5A Section 1 game.

Thomas Jefferson (4-0, 8-3) remained undefeated in the section when it extended its three-point halftime lead to eight after outscoring the Lions 11-6 in the third quarter.

Alyssa DeAngelo scored 15 points for the Jaguars. Jenna Clark had 13 and Dalaney Ranallo finished with 12 points.

Clare Relihan, the lone scorer in double-digits for South Fayette (3-2, 8-4), scored a game-high 19 points.

Boys result

Brownsville 67, Bentworth 59: Nick Seto and Phil Pace combined to scored 51 points as Brownsville held off a fourth-quarter rally from Bentworth to defeat the Bearcats, 67-59, in a non-section game.

Seto scored 26 points and Pace finished with 25 as Brownsville (3-7) took a 34-24 lead into halftime.

Bentworth (0-10) scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit back to single digits but not enough to complete a comeback.

Shawn Dziak made seven three-pointers en route to his game-high 29 points. Jacob Burke scored 18 points for the Bearcats.