WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Friday, February 20th

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 21, 2015 | 1:08 AM

With a couple of exceptions, the top seeds in each of the eight postseason basketball tournaments cruised through the First Round. That all changed BIG TIME on Friday when three top-seeds were eliminated from the district gold chase. Here are the recaps from the Boys Triple-A, Boys Single-A, Girls Quad-A and Girls Double-A Quarterfinals game from another frigid Friday night.

A special thanks to Lou Rood, Dennis Fischer, Terry Neary, Bob Orkwis, Adam Hoerner, Randy Gore, Brandon Showers, Bob Gregg, Sean Meyers, Sam Hall, Rob Longo, Mike Sackley and Bob Barrickman for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAA Quarterfinals:

Ambridge Bridgers 46 – Mars Fighting Planets 45 
AMBRIDGE OVERCAME AN 11-POINT THIRD QUARTER DEFICIT TO WIN A 46-45 THRILLER OVER NUMBER ONE SEED MARS IN A WPIAL BOYS AAA QUARTERFINAL MATCHUP FRIDAY NIGHT AT NORTH HILLS.  THE PLANETS LED 10-1 AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER AND WENT AHEAD 17-6 EARLY IN THE SECOND.  THE BRIDGERS REBOUNDED TO CLOSE THE MARGIN TO FIVE AT THE INTERMISSION BUT MARS EVENTUALLY STRETCHED THE LEAD TO 11 AGAIN AT 33-22.  AMBRIDGE SCORED THE FINAL SIX POINTS OF THE THIRD PERIOD AND THEN TOOK ITS FIRST LEAD IN THE FOURTH AT 38-37.  FRESHMAN ROBBY CARMODY, THE SON OF MARS COACH ROB CARMODY, QUICKLY PUT THE PLANETS BACK ON TOP WITH A 3-POINTER.  THE BRIDGERS GOT A BREAK WHEN MARS JUNIOR CENTER JOHN CASTELLO FOULED OUT WITH 1:47 TO GO.  AMBRIDGE WENT AHEAD BY ONE BUT MISSED TWO FREE THROWS WITH TEN SECONDS REMAINING.  AMBRIDGE MADE ONLY NINE OF 24 FOUL SHOTS OVERALL.  THE STAGE WAS SET FOR MARS BUT CARMODY MISSED A JUMPER WITH TWO SECONDS AND AMBRIDGE ESCAPED WITH THE VICTORY.  DAYLON CARTER LED THE 16-7 BRIDGERS WITH 21 POINTS WHILE JUNIOR POINT GUARD DARIUS LAWRENCE CHIPPED IN WITH 12.  CARMODY HAD 12 POINTS TO LEAD THE 22-2 PLANETS, WHICH SAW THEIR 17-GAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED.  CASTELLO AND ALEX GRUBER ADDED 11 EACH FOR MARS.  AMBRIDGE CLINCHED A PIAA BERTH AND WILL MEET INDIANA IN THE SEMIFINALS ON TUESDAY.  MARS WILL HAVE A STATE PLAY-IN CONTEST ON MONDAY AGAINST HIGHLANDS.  THE WINNER WILL ADVANCE TO THE STATE PLAYOFFS.  THE LOSING CLUB WILL PLAY EITHER SOUTH FAYETTE OR HAMPTON ON THURSDAY FOR THE FINAL PIAA SPOT.

Indiana Little Indians 71 – Highlands Golden Rams 54 
recap still to come

Beaver Falls Tigers 69 – South Fayette Lions 46 
BEAVER FALLS CONTROLLED THE GAME FROM THE OUTSET AND COASTED TO ITS 13TH STRAIGHT WIN WITH A 69-46 DECISION OVER SOUTH FAYETTE IN A WPIAL BOYS AAA QUARTERFINAL HELD AT NORTH ALLEGHENY FRIDAY NIGHT.  THE TIGERS LED 31-20 AT THE HALF BEFORE DOMINATING THE THIRD QUARTER, OUTSCORING THE LIONS 18-7.  JOSH CREACH LED BEAVER FALLS WITH 22 WHILE FELLOW SOPHOMORE DONOVAN JETER ADDED 19.  BRETT BRUMBAUGH LED SOUTH FAYETTE WITH 12 POINTS, AS SOUTH FAYETTE WAS WITHOUT HEAD COACH RICH BONNAURE WHO HAD A BOUT WITH THE FLU.  THE VICTORY CLINCHED A PIAA BERTH FOR THE 21-2 TIGERS AND WILL FACE SECTION 2AAA FOE NEW CASTLE FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS SEASON ON TUESDAY IN THE SEMIFINALS.  BEAVER FALLS WON THE REGULAR SEASON GAMES AGAINST THE RED HURRICANE.  SOUTH FAYETTE, 18-5 WILL MEET HAMPTON IN A STATE PLAY-IN GAME ON MONDAY.  THE WINNER WILL CLINCH A STATE PLAYOFF SPOT WHILE THE LOSING TEAM WILL PLAY THURSDAY AGAINST THE LOSER BETWEEN MARS AND HIGHLANDS.

New Castle Red Hurricane 78 – Hampton Talbots 61 
The New Castle Red Hurricane continued its hold on the Hampton Talbots in the postseason as the #6 seed Hurricane upset the #3 Talbots in the quarterfinal round of the boys Triple A tournament with a 78-61 win on Friday night at Geneva College. The win marks the fourth season in a row that New Castle has eliminated Hampton from the WPIAL playoffs, the three previous meetings coming in the title game. Hampton led 16-13 at the end of the first period, and 29-28 at the half.  But New Castle began to employ a confounding trapping defense in the third period that led to multiple Hampton turnovers and easy points that led to a 52-42 Hurricane advantage with eight minutes to play.  The Red Hurricane saw five players reach double figures in scoring, including both Marquel and Marcus Hooker with 18 each, Robert Natale with 13, Micah Fulena with 12, and Geno Stone with 11.  Hampton’s Joey Lafko was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, while Jack Morrison added 16 and Antonio Ionadi chipped in 12.  New Castle (20-4) will move into next Tuesday night’s semifinal round to play the winner of the #2 Beaver Falls/#7 South Fayette game, the site and time to be determined.  Hampton (19-5) will play next Monday night in the PIAA Play-in Game against the loser of the Beaver Falls/South Fayette game, the site and time to be announced later.

WPIAL CLASS A Quarterfinals:

Eden Christian Academy Warriors 38 – Sewickley Academy Panthers 35 
The Cinderella story continues for Eden Christian Academy, as the Warriors upset top-seeded and previously undefeated Sewickley Academy 38-35 in the Class A quarterfinals at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School. After registering the first playoff win in school history on Tuesday, Eden Christian, the No. 8 seed, used suffocating defense throughout the contest, and Warriors’ sophomore Drew Aiken made the game-winning layup with 25 seconds left. Aiken’s basket put his squad ahead by one point, as Eden Christian’s defense again proved up to the task, as Panthers’ sophomore Justin Pryor missed a difficult jump shot with less than five seconds remaining. After corralling the rebound, Carter Ehms, who led the Warriors (19-5) with 12 points, knocked down a pair of foul shots to extend the lead, and the Panthers’ failed to get a shot off with 1.2 seconds remaining. Although both squads struggled to score throughout the contest, the Panthers (22-1) could not muster any points in the opening quarter, as they fell into a 10-0 deficit. Although Sewickley Academy’s offense improved in the second frame, the Warriors still held a narrow 14-12 lead at halftime. Ehms and Blake Carpenter provided all of the offense in the opening half for Eden Christian, but six players found the scoring column for the Warriors after the intermission. Conversely, Pryor and Chris Groetsch shouldered the scoring burden for the Panthers in the second half, as they accounted for 16 of the team’s 22 points. Pryor finished with a game-high 13 points, while Carpenter reached double figures in the triumph, as he notched 10 points. With the victory, the Warriors advance to face No. 5 Jeannette on Tuesday, while Sewickley Academy enters the PIAA play-in bracket to determine which team will earn the No. 5 seed in the state playoffs.

Jeannette Jayhawks 55 – Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans 50 
The fifth seed Jennette Jayhawks took their first lead of the game with 14 seconds remaining and defeated the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans 55-50 Friday night at Gateway. The Jayhawks trailed by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter before out scoring the Trojans 29-12 down the stretch to get the incredibly dramatic win. Julian Batts led Jannette with 20 points and in the process became the second all-time leading scorer in the history of Jennette boys basketball with a career 1719 points behind only Terrell Pryor. Batts despite being in foul trouble scored 14 of his points in the second half after being held to just six in the first. After chipping away at the big North Catholic lead the Jayhawks got the Esmark play of the game following a timeout trailing by one when, with the Trojan defense chasing Batts all over the floor, head coach Adrian Batts called for an set inbound play to feed Anthony Schmidt down low off the slip screen and Schmidt got the bucket and was fouled on the process giving Jeannette a 51-50 lead with 14.6 seconds remaining on the clock. On the ensuing free throw coach Batts cleared the blocks of Jayhawks and Schmidt after missing the free throw somehow managed to get the offensive rebound battling three Trojans by himself to do so. Afterwards A nearly voiceless coach Batts was said he never doubted his team, “Down by 12, in foul trouble I just told my guys to relax, keep playing and the shots would start to fall, I am so proud of them and so happy for them it really is incredible to be here, Anthony Schmidt worked so hard we all worked so hard!” Cardinal Wuerl falls to 14-9 on the year and sees the attempt to reach at least the semi-finals for  remarkable 8th straight season under 16 year head coach Dave Long fall just short. Jeannette moves on into the semi finals to face upstart Eden Christian Tuesday night on the MSA Sports Network.

Monessen Greyhounds 73 – California Trojans 38 
Monessen is a force to be reckoned with in Class A. The 2nd-seeded Greyhounds faced 10th-seeded California for the third time this year and came away with another dominating victory, 73-38, in the quarterfinals of the Class A boys basketball playoffs Friday night at Charleroi High School. The Trojans started off well, especially on the boards, but Monessen started to set the tone in the 1st quarter by knocking down multiple three-pointers. From then on, it was the Greyhounds defense that was the story, keeping California from establishing any rhythm. The Monessen press was too much and the Greyhounds turned it into offense. A 24-14 game in the 2nd quarter quickly ballooned into a 39-14 Monessen lead. Monessen’s relentless defense continued to keep the pressure on Cal in the 2nd half as the Greyhounds ran away with the victory. Sophomore Justice Rice led the way for Monessen with 21 points on the evening. Junior Lavelle Rush was right behind with 16 points. Sophomore Kass Taylor and senior Tray Matthews each had 12 for the Trojans. With the new state playoff play-in system, California will have a chance to play their way in to the PIAA playoffs. The Trojans now at (17-6) will face Cornell Monday at Peters Township. With the win, the Greyhounds improve to (18-6) as they move on to the WPIAL semifinals for a rematch with Vincentian Academy Tuesday. Those two teams played in the semifinals a year ago, a game won by Monessen 110-99.

Vincentian Academy Royals 87 – Cornell Raiders 73 
It was obvious Cornell (13-10) was going to try to run with Vincentian (16-8) early in the ballgame. And it worked for the much of the first quarter until the Raiders got into some early foul trouble and backed off a bit defensively, allowing the Royals to ultimately take the quarter 21-20. The Section 2 champions built on that momentum to take a 10-point lead at halftime, and they extended it further early in the third quarter. Cornell got on the comeback trail, cutting the Vincentian lead to eight just over midway through, but Jamison Nee squelched that with a dagger of a three-pointer, restoring the double-digit lead for good. The Raiders took the final period 20-16, but it was too little too late. Still, strong performances came from Devin Hines (24 points), Dane Jackson (20) and Blake Lipke (19) in the loss. The Royals got a game-high 29 from Ryan Wolf, a strong 24 from Jay Cortese and 14 from Nee.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:

Penn Hills Indians 40 – Penn-Trafford Warriors 22 
The Penn Hills Indians used a stifling defense and fantastic rebounding and foul shooting to oust the Penn Trafford Warriors from the WPIAL girls AAAA bracket Friday night at Gateway high school 40-22. Trailing at the end of the first period 6-2 the Indians extended their zone defense and began to pressure the basketball in the middle of the second quarter. By the end of the half with both teams shooting very poorly the Indians had cut the lead to one with Penn Trafford frustrated into many turnovers. Penn Hills turned up the heat even more in the second half. Penn Hills outscored the Warriors 10-7 in the third quarter and took a lead they would never relinquish. Jade Ely and Desiree Oliver, as they did in the opening round win over Mount Lebanon led the Indians offensively, with Ely scoring a game high 21 points and Oliver chipping in 14. Ely was especially sharp from the charity stripe making 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the deal on the win. Penn Trafford struggled from the floor all night having an especially poor shotting performance in the loss. The Indian defense gave third year head coach John Tate a very special performance holding the top seed to single digits in every quarter of the game and just two points in the final frame. Marlon Herring was dominant on the glass and as a shot blocker for Penn Hills. John Tate was unabashed in his feelings about being the nine seed in the tournament after being the champions of Section 2 during the regular season. When asked how big of a chip was on their shoulders he said, “It’s huge man, I mean for us to win our section and to be seeded ninth, below a third place team from another section it’s a slap in the face, but our girls they just want to go play, you know?” Play they shall moving into the semi-finals against the Bethel Park Black Hawks Tuesday night on the MSA Sports Network. The Warriors got 11 points from senior standout Maria Palarino, but she was the only Penn Trafford player to reach double digits. Penn Trafford falls to 22-2 on the year they remain alive for the state playoff and will face Pine-Richland in the PIAA play-in bracket Monday at North Allegheny. Penn Hills improves to 15-9 on the year and after ousting the eight seed and the one seed they will now take aim at the four seed, with that big chip still firmly in place.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 58 – Pine-Richland Rams 42 
In a battle of Sophomore Sensations it was creative defense and Bethel Park’s Justina Mascaro that came out ahead over Pine Richland. Justin had eight points in the first half but it was all about her team holding off the attack of Pine Richland. The first quarter started out and it seemed as if the route was on when Bethel Park took a 20-8 lead after the first eight minutes. Pine Richland’s own Sophomore Star, Amanda Kalin had other plans for the 2nd quarter. The rams pulled it with in four out scoring Bethel Park 14-6 in that quarter and we went to the break with a 26-22 ball game. The second half adjustments seemed too much for Cliff Foster’s Rams as Bethel Park came out gunning and reversed the second quarter scoring behind Mascaro. The defensive side of the ball was all Shannon Conley shutting down Kalin and although allowing 19 points to her it was nothing compared to the first round game when Kalin put up 31 points agains McKeesport. Mascaro was able to out do her first round total by one putting up 19 points and was 7 of 9 from the line. The 58-42 win puts Bethel Park in the semi-finals to face the nine seeded Penn Hills Indians on probably Tuesday next week while the Rams’ season will end with a 19-5 overall record.

North Allegheny Tigers 41 – Baldwin Highlanders 27 
The Baldwin Highlanders trimmed a 15-point halftime deficit into a seven-point deficit by the fourth quarter, but the second-seeded North Allegheny Tigers finished strong for a 41-27 victory in the WPIAL quarterfinals on Friday night from North Hills High School.  Baldwin cut the score to, 33-26, midway through the fourth quarter, but the Lady Tigers responded with a game-ending 8-1 run to finish off the Highlanders. In the first half, North Allegheny’s pressure defense forced the Highlanders into 19 turnovers as the Tigers built a 27-12 lead by intermission.  Both teams were cold from the outside, but North Allegheny controlled the paint and used its transition game to construct a 15-point lead. Abby Gonzales, Meg Morningstar and Taylor Lake combined to score 21 of NA’s 27 points in the first half. Baldwin played with poise in the second half and limited the Tigers to just four points in the third quarter.  While the Highlanders scored points grudgingly, it was enough to make it a 31-21 game at the end of three periods.  Sophomore Lauren Gilbert did her best to lead the Highlanders back, finishing with 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting from the field. After Baldwin trimmed the score to 33-26, North Allegheny returned to form with clutch buckets by Gonzales and Lake, and a stifling defense that forced seven more turnovers in the final stanza.  In all, Baldwin ended the game with 29 turnovers. Helping NA finish off Baldwin in the waning minutes, Gonzales totaled 13 points for the game and Lake added 11. North Allegheny improves to 22-2 with the victory and advances to the WPIAL semifinals for the second straight season.  In the semifinals on Tuesday night, the Tigers will face one of only two teams to beat them this season, the Norwin Knights.  Baldwin slips to 15-9 overall and will play Shaler in the PIAA Play-in bracket on Monday night.

Norwin Knights 48 – Shaler Titans 36 
Norwin returned to their playoff home away from home – Fox Chapel High School – and for the second consecutive playoff Friday the Knights emerged victorious posting a 48-36 win over 6th seeded Shaler to advance to the WPIAL Girls AAAA Semifinals for the first time in the four year tenure of Head Coach Brian Brozeski. For the second consecutive Friday, junior Alayna Gribble paced the Knights with double digits, finishing with 19 points and 6 rebounds in the win. Unlike the opening round 18 point victory over the Plum Mustangs, this game was a much more ragged contest but that didn’t bother Coach Brozeski.
“This is the playoffs and just like in any other sport, they get ugly at times. You just have to grind it out sometimes and keep battling and that’s what they did.” What wasn’t ugly for Norwin was the Knights foul shooting down the stretch as they converted 10-of-12 in the last part of the fourth quarter to seal the win. No other player finished in double figures for the 3rd seeded Knights but 6-2 senior forward Laura Buchanan was a force down low finishing with 6 blocked shots and 4 rebounds to go with her 5 point effort. Seniors Amanda Batey and Delaney Arbore both scored 7 points for Norwin who improved to (19-4) on the season. Shaler was paced by their leading scorer on the season, senior Andi Lydon, who fouled out of the game with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Lizzie Kline added 10 points and 8 rebounds in a losing effort for the Titans who fell to (19-5) and saw their seven game winning streak snapped. Next up in the semifinals for Norwin is the tournament’s second seed, the North Allegheny Tigers. NA defeated Baldwin 41-27 to reach the final four with a record of (22-2). That matchup is set for Tuesday at a site & time to be determined. The game also marks a rematch from December 18th during the regular season between the Knights and the Tigers.  Alayna Gribble scored 21 points in that contest to lead Norwin to a 50-48 victory. Unlike past seasons, Shaler does not have to wait until the championship game is over to realize their PIAA Playoff fate. The Titans will face Baldwin in the PIAA Play-In Tournament next Monday at 6:30 PM right back at Fox Chapel. Norwin also earned a spot in the state playoffs with the win which will mark the first PIAA appearance for the Knights since they qualified in back-to-back years in 2006-2007.

WPIAL CLASS AA Quarterfinals:

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 60 – Neshannock Lancers 43 
Top-seeded Seton-La Salle proved why it is once again not only a contender for another WPIAL crown, but for another state title as well in Friday’s 60-43 win over Neshannock at the Metheny Fieldhouse on the campus of Geneva College. Both teams had turnovers early on, as the Rebels held a tenuous12-11 advantage after the first quarter. The Lancers took the lead briefly, but Seton-La Salle went on an extensive run to take a 32-17 lead heading into the locker room. The hot 3-point shooting of Neshannock’s Tayler Grybowski couldn’t save the Lancers in the second half, despite four 3-pointers from the senior in the second stanza. Seton-La Salle extended its lead to 18 after three quarters, and finished with a 17-point gap to move on to the Class AA semifinals against Carlynton Tuesday. The Division-I commits of Seton-La Salle was too much for Neshannock to handle, as Cassidy Walsh (Pitt) scored 14 points, while fellow senior Nicolete Newman (Cleveland State) added 12. Junior point guard Shaunay Edmonds had a team-high 15 points to go along with a strong defensive effort that included several steals, which resulted in easy buckets.
Neshannock saw two players in double-figures in seniors Grybowski, who had 16 off five 3-pointers and a free throw, and Madison McHale, who had a game-high 20 points. The Lancers will head to the play-in portion of the bracket to take on OLSH at Ambridge Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Carlynton Cougars 58 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 46 
The Carlynton Lady Cougars and the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Lady Chargers seem like they’ve been joined at the hip all season.  They split two previous contests and tied for the Section 5-AA championship.  The teams met again Friday night in the rubber match, a WPIAL playoff quarterfinal contest at West Allegheny High School, and Carlynton was the better team on this night, winning 58-46. Senior guard Conor Richardson led the way for the Lady Cougars with 27 points and junior Abby Greiner added 16 along with some outstanding rebounding.  But the story of the game was the Carlynton defense, which hounded OLSH into numerous turnovers and never allowed the Lady Chargers to really get their offense set for most of the night.  OLSH was paced by senior Jackie Mathews with 14 points. Carlynton (19-5) advances to the semifinal to face the winner of the Seton LaSalle – Neshannock contest on Tuesday.  The Chargers’ record drops to 19-4 and they will meet an unknown opponent in a PIAA Play-in game next week.

Burrell Buccaneers 66 – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 38 
Burrell ran off 15 straight points in the middle of the first quarter, including three straight three-pointers, then cruised to a 66-38 win over Chartiers-Houston.  Junior Natalie Myers had seven of her 16 points in the run.  Eliza Oswalt fired in 15 of her game-high 18 points in the second half as Burrell improved to 21-3.  Senior Sydney Bordonaro added 14 points for last year’s WPIAL runner-up.  Chartiers-Houston (16-8) started three freshmen, a sophomore and a senior, a lineup even younger that Burrell’s starting five.  Alexa Williamson, one of the CHHS freshmen, scored 17 points, eight in the fourth quarter.  Jalynn Myers, a senior, hit a three-pointer with a minute to play, giving her 11 points in the loss.  Burrell faces Bishop Canevin in the WPIAL semifinals while Chartiers-Houston will take on Greensburg Central Catholic in the first round of the WPIAL’s inaugural consolation PIAA qualifier bracket Monday.

Bishop Canevin Crusaders 54 – Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 46 
#3 Greensburg Central Catholic took on #6 Bishop Canevin at Charleroi in WPIAL Girls AA Quarterfinal action.  The game ‘was closely contested throughout with numerous lead changes and end to end action.  GCC led 18-15 at the end of one courtesy of Carolyn Appleby’s 7, Brittany Stawovy’s 5, and Leah Bisignani’s 4 points in the quarter.  Gina Vallecorsa kept Canevin close with 8 poins on two treys and a bucket.  The 2nd quarter saw Bishop Canevin outscore GCC 9-6 to force a 24 all tie at the half. Erin Joyce dropped a pair of treys to key Canevin.  Vallecorsa came out in the 3rd quarter on fire for Canevin as she hit two more 3’s and added a pair of baskets to put the Lady Crusaders in the lead 36-30 at the end of the period.  The 4th quarter epitomized the entire game as each team gave it their all.  The game was tied by GCC at 36 and the teams exchanged shots back and forth with neither gaining a significant edge until there were under 3 minutes left in the game when Erin Joyce dropped two key 3 pointers and Gina Vallecorsa added another 3 to give some breathing space to the Lady Crusaders.  Forced to foul, freshman Lauren Gamble who had not scored in the game, nor attempted a shot to that point, calmly sank for consecutive free throws to seal the game for Canevin.  GCC was led by Carolyn Appleby’s 17 points, then Leah Bisignani with 14, Brittany Stawovy with 9 and Nicole Adisey with 8.  Vallecorsa led Canevin and all scorers with 26 including 5 treys.  She was followed by Erin Joyce with 15 on all 3’s, Sarah Green with 7, Lauren Gamble with 4 and Brionna Allen with 2.  GCC will play in a consolation bracket game on Monday and Canevin will take on Burrell in the semi-finals.