Jan 2, 2024 5 min read

Trinity’s girls basketball team used 15 points from Ruby Morgan and some tough defense in the second half Tuesday night to win its Class 5A Section 4 opener at Montour, 48-44.

The Hillers (1-0, 8-1), who have won seven straight games, trailed 24-21 at halftime but used a good third quarter to move ahead, 39-35. Trinity then stayed in front by holding Montour (0-1, 4-5) to nine points in the fourth quarter.

Montour’s Jordyn Wolfe scored a game-high 21 points.

Peters Township 53, Upper St. Clair 46:

The Peters Township girls remained undefeated with a key Class 6A Section 2 road win at Upper St. Clair, 53-46.

PT improves to 10-0 overall and 3-0 in the section. USC is 1-1, 6-5 and has lost two in a row.

Natalie Wetzel led the Indians with 19 points that included a three-pointer from the backcourt at the halftime buzzer. Gemma Walker followed with 12 points.

USC’s Rylee Kalocay scored 19 points before leaving the game with an injury. Olivia Terlecki scored 14 points.

South Park 62, McGuffey 46

Brooke Paylo scored a game-high 21 points and South Park used a big first half to beat McGuffey 62-46 in the Class 3A Section 4 opener, handing the Highlanders their first loss of the season after nine wins.

South Park (1-0, 5-3), which snapped a three-game losing streak, led 20-14 after one quarter and then moved out to a 41-22 halftime edge.

Andrea Kuczma had 14 points for the Eagles and Ella Clifford scored 10.

Taylor Schumacher scored 15 points for McGuffey and Libby Mallah was close behind with 13.

Waynesburg 56, Charleroi 29

Kaley Rohanna poured in a game-high 24 points and Waynesburg pulled away in the second half for a 56-29 win over Charleroi in a Class 3A Section 4 game.

Waynesburg (1-0, 10-1) led by only 19-13 at halftime but the Raiders kicked their offense into high gear in the second half, scoring 18 points in the third quarter and 19 in the fourth.

Avery Davis scored 16 points for the Raiders.

Riley Jones was the only player to score in double figures for Charleroi (0-1, 4-4) with 12 points.

West Greene 48, Avella 41

West Greene used a balanced scoring attack and a big second quarter to win at Avella, 48-41, in Class A Section 2.

The Pioneers (1-0, 2-6) trailed 14-8 after one quarter but erupted for 21 second-quarter points and a 29-26 halftime lead. West Greene stayed in front by outscoring Avella (0-1, 2-8) by two points in each of the final two quarters.

Kendra Tharp and Brooke Miller paced West Greene’s balanced attack by scoring nine points apiece.

Avella’s Haleigh Rush tossed in a game-high 16 points. Ava Frank contributed 12.

Burgettstown 57, Northgate 15:

Freshman guard Paige Klodowski scored a game-high 26 points and Burgettstown cruised to a 57-15 victory over visiting Northgate in Class 2A Section 2.

Klodowski’s career-high points total included four three-point field goals. Kaitlyn nease also hi9t double figures with 14 points.

The Blue Devils (1-0, 5-7) led 32-9 at halftime.

Northgate’s Nia Salih scored six points.

Chartiers-Houston 47, Bentworth 15

Chartiers-Houston got off to a fast start and rolled to a 47-15 win over Bentworth in Class 2A Section 4.

The Bucs (3-0, 6-3) raced out to a 19-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and were never threatened. C-H led 34-9 at halftime.

Ava Capozzoli led the Bucs in scoring with 16 points and Ameli8a Brose had 10.

Amber Sallee topped Bentworth (0-3, 3-8) with 10 points.

Beth-Center 52, Carmichaels 34

Beth-Center broke open a close game in the third quarter and pulled away for a 52-34 victory over visiting Carmichaels in Class 2A Section 4.

The win moves Beth-Center above .500 in the section at 2-1 and the Bulldogs are 5-5 overall.

Beth-Center led 26-23 at halftime before outscoring Carmichaels (0-2, 1-8) by a 23-2 margin in the pivotal third quarter.

Lauren Brown scored eight of her game-high 14 points in the third quarter for the Bulldogs. Brown had a double-double, finishing with 12 rebounds. Violet Trump also had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Kyleigh McDaniel finished with 10 points and Emma Shashura scored all eight of her points in the third quarter.

Alayna Simon led Carmichaels with 12 points.

Boys results

Trinity 64, Connellsville 47

Trinity went on the road and won its Class 5A Section 1 opener at Connellsville, 64-47.

Jacob Dunkel led the Hillers (1-0, 6-4) by tossing in a game-high 19 points. Jonah Williamson followed with 14 points and Kaden Hathaway had 13. Trinity has won four in a row.

Connellsville (0-1, 1-9) received 17 points from Anthony Palsecki.

Canon-McMillan 57, Norwin 50

Eamon O’Donoghue scored a game-high 25 points as Canon-McMillan broke open a close game in the third quarter and went on to a 57-50 road win over Norwin in the Class 6A Section 2 opener.

C-M (1-0, 6-5) led 25-21 at halftime and then outscored Norwin 19-8 in what was the pivotal third quarter.

In addition to O’Donoghue’s big game, the Big Macs received 10 points from Ryan Galicic.

Norwin is 0-1, 5-5.

Fort Cherry 69, Frazier 41

Fort Cherry scored 51 points in the first half and went on to a 69-41 victory over host Frazier in a Class 2A Section 4 game.

Fort Cherry improved to 2-0 in the section and 6-3 overall. The Rangers wasted no time in taking control of the game, building a 25-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 51-23 halftime edge.

Derek Errett led a balanced FC attack with 14 points, Jack Kitzmiller followed with 12 and Matt Sieg had 11. Nine different Fort Cherry players entered the scoring column.

Frazier (1-1, 6-5) was led by Dailan McManus’ 10 points.

In other games

The Canon-McMillan girls won a non-section game at Beaver, 65-47. No game details were reported by press time.