Jan 5, 2024 7 min read

When Peters Township’s Jack Dunbar, the O-R Boys Basketball Player of the Year last season, makes his first couple of shots in a game, he can be difficult to stop.

He was unstoppable Friday night.

Dunbar scored 31 points, which included seven three-point field goals, and Peters Township rolled to a 102-38 thumping of Connellsville in a Class 5A Section 1 game at AHN Arena.

Dunbar wasn’t the only player for PT (1-1, 7-4) with a hot hand. The Indians made 19 three-point field goals and scored 62 points in the first half.

The Indians led 31-10 after one quarter and 62-27 at halftime. Dunbar had 22 of his points in the first half.

Dylan Donovan finished with 16 points for PT and Sean Thelk added 11.

Anthony Piasecki tossed in 15 points to lead Connellsville (0-2, 1-11).

Bethel Park 59, Trinity 58

Shawn Davis scored a game-high 25 points and Bethel Park rallied in the fourth quarter to edge Trinity 59-58 in a Class 5A Section 1 game at Hiller Hall.

After the first half ended tied at 25-25, Trinity (1-1, 6-5) moved out to a 45-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Bethel Park moved ahead in the fourth and held a two-point lead in the closing seconds. Trinity missed the front end of a one-and-one and wanted to miss the second attempt and grab a rebound. The Hillers, however, converted the free throw that made it 59-58.

Bethel Park then turned the ball over and Trinity had a desperation last-second heave from just beyond midcourt bounce off the rim.

Mike Mathias scored 15 points for Bethel Park (2-0, 7-4).

Dante DeRubbo and Jacob Dunkle paced Trinity with 18 points each.

Monessen 60, Jefferson-Morgan 41

Lorenzo Gardner scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as Monessen broke open a close game over the final eight minutes for a 60-41 home-court victory over Jefferson-Morgan in Class A Section 2.

Monessen (2-0, 8-1), which has won seven in a row, was locked in a 25-25 tie at halftime and held a 38-37 edge after three quarters. The Greyhounds won the game with a 22-4 scoring edge in the fourth.

Devontae Robinson also scored in double figures for Monessen. He finished with 10 points. Tyvaughn Kershaw scored all of his five points in the pivotal fourth period.

John Woodward led Jefferson-Morgan (1-1, 8-4) with 13 points. Jase Bedillion added 11. The Rockets had a three-game winning streak snapped.

South Fayette 68, Chartiers Valley 38

Michael Plasko scored 25 points and South Fayette shut down visiting Chartiers Valley for a 68-38 victory in Class 5A Section 4.

Gavon Orosz added 11 points for South Fayette (1-1, 5-5), which held CV to nine points in three of the fourth quarters.

West Greene 62, Geibel Catholic 26

Lane Allison led three West Greene players in double figures with 20 points and the Pioneers thumped visiting Geibel Catholic 62-26 in Class A Section 2.

West Greene’s Parker Burns and Matt Wassil each had a double-double in the win. Burns scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Wassil had 11 points and snatched 13 rebounds.

West Greene (1-1, 6-5) led 16-8 after one quarter and 34-15 at halftime.

Geibel (0-2, 0-11) received 14 points from Gary Tarbuk.

Frazier 64, Chartiers-Houston 60

Frazier charged back from a 19-point halftime deficit to stun host Chartiers-Houston 64-60 in Class 2A Section 4.

Frazier (2-1, 7-5) trailed 37-18 at halftime, but behind Dailan McManus’ game-high 21 points the Commodores rallied. Frazier cut C-H’s lead to 48-43 at the end of the third quarter.

Darian Bateman had 18 points for Frazier.

C-H was led by Justus Buckingham’s 14 points. Paul Williamson had 12 and Nate Gregory 10.

Bentworth 50, Carmichaels 40

Lucas Burt poured in a game-high 21 points as Bentworth won at Carmichaels, 50-40, in Class A Section 4.

It was the first section win for Bentworth (1-3, 1-9) and snapped an eight-game slide overall. The Bearcats led 14-11 after one quarter and then held Carmichaels to only two points in the second period.

Ben Hays scored 13 points for Bentworth.

Dom Colarusso led Carmichaels (0-2, 3-7) with 16 points.

Rochester 67, Avella 48

Westley Burchianti continued his hot scoring for Avella but Rochester pulled out a 67-48 victory over the Eagles in Class A Section 1.

Burchianti fired in 25 points, which matched Rochester’s Xavier Rigby for game scoring honors.

Brady Gorman had 12 points and Jayden Norman scored 10 for Rochester. which broke open a close game with a 21-7 scoring edge in the third quarter.

Burgettstown 63, Beth-Center 50

James Leuice and Zack Schrockman combined for 41 points as Burgettstown defeated visiting Beth-Center 63-50 in Class 2A Section 4.

Leuice scored a game-high 21 points and Shrockman was close behind with 20. Carson Tkalcevic and Parker Rommes each contributed 11 points for the Blue Devils, who led 25-23 at halftime.

Beth-Center received 16 points from Brody Tharp and 11 each from Jason Zellie and Santino Revi.

Baldwin 79, Canon-McMillan 53

Nathan Ri9chards led five Baldwin players in double figures with 16 points as the Highlanders defeated visiting Canon-McMillan 79-53 in Class 6A Section 2.

Eamon O’Donoghue scored 13 points for Canon-Mac while Ryan Galacic and Evan Morris each tallied 10.

Girls results

Trinity 63, Moon 46

Aggie Niccolai scored 19 points and combined with teammate Macie Justice on seven three-point field goals, powering Trinity to a 63-46 win over Moon in a Class 5A Section 4 game Friday night at Hiller Hall.

The win was the eight in a row for Trinity (2-0, 9-1). The Hillers put up 20 points in the first quarter and led 35-21 at halftime.

Justice finished with 14 points, which included four three-pointers. Niccolai added three baskets from behind the stripe. Sutton Williamson also scored in double figures, finishing with 11 points.

Charleroi 56, Ringgold 25

Charleroi got back on the winning track with a 56-25 win over Ringgold in a non-section game played on the Cougars’ home court.

Charleroi (5-5) snapped a four-game losing streak by dominating the middle two quarters. After the first quarter ended in a 10-10 tie, Charleroi outscored Ringgold 39-8 over the next two quarters.

Addison Conrad had a big game for Charleroi, tossing in 22 points. The Cougars played again without leading scorer Bella Carotto, who was sidelined with an illness.

Ringgold (3-8) received nine points from Jada Gernot.

Moon (0-2, 7-3) was led in scoring by Jaeden Griggs’ 15 points. Kayla Brown had 13.

Carmichaels 31, Bentworth 28

Carmichaels outscored visiting Bentworth 4-1 in overtime to pull out a 31-28 a Class 2A Section 4 win Thursday.

Alayna Simon scored 11 points to lead the way for Carmichaels (1-2, 2-9).

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half with the Lady Mikes leading 2-0 after one quarter and 6-5 at halftime.

Bentworth (0-4, 3-9) rode a 16-9 edge in the third quarter to a 21-15 lead but Carmichaels used a 12-4 run to go up by two late in the fourth quarter.

Bentworth’s Amber Sallee, who made three 3-pointers while scoring a game-high 15 points, sank a pair of free throws late in the fourth to force OT.

Aubrie Logan had 15 rebounds for Bentworth and Kayla O’Dell added 10.

California 53, Beth-Center 31

Rakiyah Porter racked up a game-high 20 points as California steadily built its lead throughout a 53-31 Class 2A Section 4 win over visiting Beth-Center.

California was up 9-6 after the first quarter, 21-13 at halftime and 36-24 after three frames.

Hayley Gibson also reached double digits with 15 points for California (2-1, 5-4).

Kayleigh McDaniel topped B-C (2-2, 5-6) with 10 points.

In other games

The Peters Township girls remained undefeated with a 59-50 home-court win over Plum in a non-section contest. Game details were not reported by press time.