Dec 29, 2022 5 min read

First-half blowouts had been the house specialty for Fort Cherry this season, but in the semifinals of the Avella tournament Thursday night the Rangers saved their best for after halftime.

Owen Norman tossed in a game-high 34 points and Fort Cherry turned a one-point halftime lead into a 69-41 win over McGuffey.

Fort Cherry (7-2), which has won five straight, led 26-25 at halftime before pulling away over the final 16 minutes. The Rangers forged a 47-34 lead after three quarters.

Matt Sieg contributed 15 points to the Rangers’ cause and Shane Cornali had 10.

Grayson Wallace led McGuffey (6-5) with 12 points and Aydan Cunningham scored 11.

Chartiers-Houston 70, Burgettstown 46: Avery Molek scored 19 points, which included six three-point field goals, and Chartiers-Houston advanced to the championship game of the Avella tournament by defeating Burgettstown 70-46 in the semifinals.

The Bucs will play Fort Cherry for the title at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Chartiers-Houston (8-1) was in control throughout, jumping out to a 22-6 lead in the first quarter and extending it to 40-18 at halftime.

Manny Ntumngia tossed in 15 points for the Bucs.

Zack Schrockman scored a game-high 20 points for Burgettstown (3-4), which had its three-game winning streak end. Caleb Russell followed with 14 points.

Peters Township 68, Norwin 63: Jack Dunbar scored eight of his team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as Peters Township charged from behind to defeat Norwin 68-63 in the PT/USC tournament that was played Thursday at Upper St. Clair.

Peters Township (7-2) trailed by five points after one quarter before taking a 39-36 halftime lead. Norwin (6-2) won the third quarter and took a 55-51 lead into the pivotal final stanza, which PT won by a 17-8 margin.

Dunbar had 15 of his 22 points in the second half. The Indians’ Brendan McCullough had 17 points, including 11 in the second quarter. Dylan Donovan contributed 14 points.

Dunbar, McCullough and Donovan each made three three-point baskets. The Indians made 12 three-pointers.

Norwin’s Adam Bilinsky scored a game-high 28 points, 16 coming in the first half. He scored all of the Knights’ points in the fourth quarter.

Justin Pons had 10 points for Norwin, which made nine three-point shots.

Washington 68, Propel Braddock Hills 57: Davoun Fuse led four Washington players in double figures with 17 points and the Prexies’ balanced scoring led to a 68-57 victory over Propel Braddock Hills in Monessen’s Delvin Miller Invitational.

The key to the game was the first quarter, when Wash High (6-2) bolted to an 18-6 lead. Propel Braddock Hills (4-6) closed to within 33-26 at halftime and Wash High led 47-39 at the end of three quarters.

Brayce Patterson scored 13 points for the Prexies, who have won four in a row. Ruben Gordon followed in the scoring column with 12 and Braiden Wise checked in with 10.

Propel’s Benjamin Mayhew scored a game-high 28 points.

Monessen 63, South Park 61: Lorenzo Gardner scored a game-high 27 points as Monessen held off a furious rally to edge South Park 63-61 in the Greyhounds’ Delvin Miller Invitational.

Monessen (7-1) forged leads of 14-7 after one quarter and 28-18 at halftime before South Park (3-4) mounted a comeback, cutting the Greyhounds’ advantage to eight after three quarters. The Eagles had the game’s last possession after a missed Monessen free throw but could not get off a final shot.

Jaisen Blackman tallied 14 points for Monessen and Davontae Clayton had 10.

South Park had four players score in double figures, led by Luke Scarff’s 21 points.

Trinity 75, Albert Gallatin 66: Tim Hodges dominated play under the basket and scored a career-high 29 points, sparking Trinity to a 75-66 win over Albert Gallatin in the consolation game of the Hillers’ tournament.

Hodges helped the Hillers (5-4) climb above the .500 mark for the season and overcome some long-range shooting by AG (3-5).

The game was close until the closing moments. Trinity led 22-21 after one quarter, 36-32 at halftime and 56-54 after three. The Hillers won by outscoring the Colonials 19-12 over the final eight minutes.

Dante DeRubbo scored 15 points for Trinity and Drew Collins contributed 13.

Aiden Black paced AG with 21 points, Blake White had 20 and Kameron Pratt 17. White and Pratt combined to make nine three-pointers.

Avella 55, South Side Beaver 51: Westley Burchianti scored a game-high 23 points and led a second-half comeback as Avella charged from behind to defeat South Side Beaver 55-51 in consolation bracket of the Eagles’ tournament.

SSB (2-6) led 26-10 after one quarter. Avella (2-7) started its comeback in the second quarter and closed to within 36-30 at halftime and 45-43 at the end of three periods. The eagles won by holding the Rams to only six points in the fourth quarter.

Brady Almashy scored 20 points for SSB.

East Allegheny 78, California 58: Caden Powell scored 21 points for California but they weren’t enough as the Trojans lost to East Allegheny 78-58 in the Charleroi tournament.

Vinny Manzella chipped in with 14 points and Aidan Lowden had 12 for California, which trailed 34-18 at halftime.

In other games:

Hickory defeated Canon-McMillan 51-44 in the championship contest of the Trinity tournament. No game details were reported.