High school roundup for Feb. 27, 2024: North Catholic earns another trip to The Pete

By: Triblive
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 | 11:51 PM

Lauren Reitz had a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists and No. 2 North Catholic earned the right to compete for a third straight WPIAL championship with a 42-34 victory over No. 3 Elizabeth Forward in the Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Tuesday night.

Alyana Rocco added 15 points for North Catholic (16-7), which will meet No. 1 Blackhawk in the finals at 3 p.m. Saturday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center. Kaelynn Settles scored 14 points and Alyssa Terza had 11 for Elizabeth Forward (21-3).

Blackhawk 51, Laurel Highlands 32 – Alena Fusetti scored 21 points and Aubree Hupp added 16 to lead No. 1 Blackhawk (22-2) to a Class 4A semifinal win. The Cougars, who took control with a 16-4 run in the second quarter, will face No. 2 North Catholic in the WPIAL finals. Miya Harris scored 14 points and Ayrianna Sumpter had 11 for No. 5 Laurel Highlands (20-3).

Consolations

Aliquippa 40, South Side 37 – No. 2 Aliquippa (22-4) defeated No. 12 South Side (14-11) in the Class 2A third-place game.

Fort Cherry 61, Winchester Thurston 46 – Raney Staub scored 26 points and Brooke Cornali added 13 to lead No. 4 Fort Cherry (19-7) in the Class 2A seventh-place game. Jasmine Hollins led No. 11 Winchester Thurston (11-15) with 18 points and DaShae Cochran had 11.

Keystone Oaks 47, Seton LaSalle 36 – Bailey Rieg scored 10 points, reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career, to lead for No. 8 Keystone Oaks (18-7) in the Class 3A fifth-place game. Mallory Daly scored 25 points for No. 11 Seton LaSalle (15-9).

Neshannock 54, Beaver Falls 44 – No. 4 Neshannock (18-8) beat No. 3 Beaver Falls (16-8) in the Class 3A third-place game.

OLSH 41, South Park 31 – McKinley Walsh and Morgan O’Brien scored eight points apiece to lead No. 7 OLSH (17-9) over No. 5 South Park (16-10) in the Class 3A seventh-place game, claiming a PIAA playoff berth. Brooke Paylo scored 12 points for the Eagles.

Rochester 50, Clairton 46 – Marque Taylor scored 16 points, Kamryn Newman added 11 and Avah Williams had 10 to lead No. 9 Rochester (17-8) over No. 10 Clairton (19-6) in the Class 2A fifth-place game.

Boys basketball

Monessen 62, Carlynton 47 – Lorenzo Gardner scored 31 points and Devontae Robinson added 11 as No. 4 Monessen (20-6) secured a spot in the PIAA playoffs with a win in the Class A fifth-place game. Jake Moldovan scored 22 points for No. 6 Carlynton (9-16).

Montour 70, Knoch 58 – Ama Sow scored 30 points and Jake Wolfe added 20 as No. 3 Montour (21-5) clinched a PIAA playoff berth with a win over No. 8 Knoch (15-11) in the Class 4A seventh-place game. Jackson Bauman scored 16 points and Teegan Finucan had 10 for the Knights.

North Catholic 74, South Allegheny 61 – Max Hurray scored 24 points, Eli Stofko had 15 and Jude Rottmann added 11 to lead No. 5 North Catholic (16-9) past No. 7 South Allegheny (18-8) in the Class 4A fifth-place game. Cam Epps scored 19 points and Mike Michalski and Drew Cook had 17 for the Gladiators.

Union 62, Rochester 59 – Lucas Stanley scored 23 points, Braylon Thomas followed with 22 and Dayne Johnke added 12 to push No. 5 Union (15-11) past No. 3 Rochester (17-8) in the Class A third-place game. Xavier Rigby scored 26 points for the Rams.

Uniontown 59, Avonworth 55 – Jamire Braxton scored 29 points, Calvin Winfrey had 14 and Kelan Milsom added 10 to lead No. 4 Uniontown (22-4) in the Class 4A third-place game. Anthony Arlia scored 22 points for No. 6 Avonworth (17-9).

Hockey

Moon 3, Mars 2 – Luke Jeffries scored the tie-breaking goal with 42 seconds left in regulation and Tyler Rieke made 42 saves as Moon defeated Mars in a PIHL Class A play-in game. Luke Bonidie and Max Haag also scored for Moon, which will meet Chartiers Valley in the quarterfinals at 9:10 p.m. Monday at Mt. Lebanon. Grant Weaver and Declan Abbey scored for Mars.

Cathedral Prep 7, Canon-McMillan 0 – Ethan Cunningham had a hat trick and two assists and Chris Bruschi added two goals for Cathedral Prep (8-11-1) in a Class 3A game. Chase Sloane made 33 saves in goal for Canon-McMillan (1-18).

Connellsville 9, Trinity 2 – Ian Zerecheck had a hat trick and added three assists to lead Connellsville (9-9-1) to a Varsity D2 win. Hayden Gatewood and Cale Bitz scored for Trinity (3-16). Jesse Hodge scored two goals and Hunter Garlick, TJ Snyder, Sam Denny and Evan Sokal added a goal apiece for Connellsville.

Norwin 10, Armstrong 6 – Alex Thomas and Dom Cerilli each had a six-point night with two goals and four assists to lead Norwin (11-7-2) to a Class 2A win. Aaron Varrati scored twice, Dom Costantino collected a goal and three assists, and Zayn Zeravica had three assists for the Knights. Logan Hooks had three goals and two assists and Adam Hooks dished out five assists for Armstrong (7-13).