High school roundup for Feb. 21, 2022: Laurel Highlands, other top seeds cruise in 5A 1st round

By: Tribune-Review
Monday, February 21, 2022 | 11:15 PM

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Rodney Gallagher scored 22 points and Keondre DeSheids followed with 21 to lead No. 1 Laurel Highlands to a 74-44 victory over Woodland Hills in a first-round game in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball playoffs Monday night.

Brandon Davis added 15 and Joe Chambers chipped in with 11 for Laurel Highlands (22-0), which jumped out to a 24-9 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Mustangs move on to play No. 8 Hampton in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Shanir Pinkey led No. 16 Woodland Hills (8-15) with 13 points.

Mars 71, Thomas Jefferson 48 – Zach Schlegel scored 19 points, Tasso Sfanos added 13, Chris Dvorak followed with 12, and Austin Campbell netted 10 to lead No. 3 Mars (21-2) to a 71-48 win over No. 14 Thomas Jefferson (8-15) in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The Planets will play No. 6 Gateway in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

New Castle 85, West Mifflin 52 – Mike Wells scored 25 points, Isiah Boice had 20, and Ralphie Blundo added 10 to lead No. 2 New Castle (21-1) past No. 15 West Mifflin (10-12) in a Class 5A first-round game. New Castle will face No. 10 Shaler in the quarterfinals Thursday. Shai Newby scored 17 points, Jordan Lucas-Johnson had 13, and Nolan Stephenson added 10 for West Mifflin.

Penn Hills 72, Chartiers Valley 57 – Noah Barren scored 19 points, Daemar Kelly followed with 14, George Mitchell added 13, and Julian Dugger finished with 10 as No. 4 Penn Hills (18-4) was in command in its Class 5A first-round victory. Penn Hills moves on to play No. 5 Highlands in the quarterfinals Thursday. Jayden Davis led all scorers with 32 points and Drew Sleva netted 10 for No. 13 Chartiers Valley (8-15).

Gateway 69, West Allegheny 63 – Jaydon Carr led with 18 points and Bryson Pavlick added 10 to push No. 6 Gateway (14-5) past No. 11 West Allegheny (10-12) in a Class 5A first-round game that was tied after three quarters. Gateway will meet No. 3 Mars in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Class 3A

Aliquippa 71, Waynesburg 41 – Cameron Lindsey put up 15 points, D.J. Walker scored 12, and Randall Anderson added 10 to lead No. 2 Aliquippa (16-7) to an opening-round Class 3A victory. The Quips advance to play Neshannock in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Chase Henkins netted 17 points and made three 3-pointers for No. 15 Waynesburg (10-12).

Ellwood City 72, Summit Academy 42 – Joseph Roth recorded a double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Alexander Roth scored 23 points to lead top-seeded Ellwood City (21-2) to a victory in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. Caden Crizer added 12 points and Steve Antuono finished with 10 for the Wolverines, who will play No. 8 Avonworth in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Kylee Davenport recorded a double-double (25 points, 11 rebounds) for No. 16 Summit Academy (7-9).

Neshannock 47, Brownsville 34 – Mike Sopko led all scorers with 20 points and Jack Giles added 12 as No. 7 Neshannock (18-4) won in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. The Lancers advance to face No. 2 Aliquippa in the quarterfinals Thursday. Damarion Brown scored nine points and Harlan Davis chipped in eight for No. 10 Brownsville (12-9).

Shady Side Academy 68, Laurel 28 – Eli Teslovich and Josh Chu scored 14 points apiece to lead No. 3 Shady Side Academy to a Class 3A first-round win. Peter Kramer added 13 points for the Bulldogs (16-6), who will meet No. 6 Washington in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Kobe DeRosa led No. 14 Laurel (13-9) with 11 points.

South Allegheny 54, Brentwood 35 – Ethan Kirkwood scored 15 points and Bryce Epps and Michael Michalski had 12 points each to lead No. 5 South Allegheny (16-6) to a Class 3A first-round win over No. 12 Brentwood (15-8). South Allegheny will face No. 13 Steel Valley in the quarterfinals Thursday. Nathan Ziegler scored 13 points and Carter Betz had 11 for Brentwood.

Washington 57, Beaver Falls 45 – Tayshawn Levy led with 20 points and Brandon Patterson added 12 to lead No. 6 Washington (17-2) over No. 11 Beaver Falls (10-11) in a Class 3A first-round game. Xaviere Collins scored 13 points and Jaren Brickner added 10 for Beaver Falls. Washington will meet No. 3 Shady Side Academy in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Girls basketball

Class 2A

Apollo-Ridge 40, Fort Cherry 39 – Brinley Toland had 18 points, five assists and five steals to lead ninth-seeded Apollo-Ridge to a road victory over eighth-seeded Fort Cherry in the first round in Class 2A. Apollo-Ridge led by three at the half and trailed by one after three quarters in a back-and-forth battle. The Vikings will visit top-seeded OLSH in the quarterfinals Thursday. Raney Staub led Fort Cherry (15-7) with 18 points.

Burgettstown 65, California 22 – Madeline Newark scored 15 points, Jill Frazier put up 14 and made four 3-pointers as No. 6 Burgettstown (18-3) cruised past No. 11 California (13-10) in the first round in Class 2A. Kaitlyn Nease also scored 14 and Addie Cairns added 11 with three 3-pointers for the Blue Devils, who advance to the quarterfinals to play Serra Catholic on Thursday night.

Neshannock 65, Ellis School 18 – Neleh Nogay and Addi Watts each scored 15 points and Mairan Haggerty put up 12 to lead No. 2 Neshannock (21-2) to a Class 2A opening-round win over No. 15 Ellis School (7-14). The Lancers will play No. 10 Shenango in the quarterfinals Thursday.

OLSH 53, Frazier 13 – Emily Schuck led with 11 points, Kyleigh Nagy followed with nine and Katie Hoff and Mia Grisafi added eight each to lead top-seeded OLSH (19-4) over No. 16 Frazier (8-15) in a Class 2A first-round matchup. OLSH will face No. 9 Apollo-Ridge on Thursday. Eliza Bomer led Frazier with 10 points.

Serra Catholic 45, South Side 41 (OT)– Cate Clark put up 18 points and Brianna Battles netted 12 as No. 3 Serra Catholic (19-1) outscored No. 14 South Side (14-10) 8-4 in overtime to earn a victory in the first round in Class 2A. The Eagles will play No. 6 Burgettstown in the quarterfinals Thursday. Emily Bailey led the Rams with 14 points.

Seton LaSalle 48, Sto-Rox 35 – Ava Dursi scored 17 points and Mallory Daly added 14 to lead No. 5 Seton LaSalle (16-6) to a victory in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs. The Rebels will play No. 4 Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals Thursday night. Alicia Young scored 18 points to lead No. 12 Sto-Rox (9-11).

Shenango 61, Winchester Thurston 41 – Kylee Rubin led all scorers with 22 points, Emilee Fedrizzi added 14, and Kassidy Peters finished with 10 as No. 10 Shenango (13-8) won in the first round in Class 2A. The Wildcats advance to play No. 2 Neshannock on Thursday. Nadia Moore scored 20 points and Sky Still chipped in with nine for No. 7 Winchester Thurston (12-9).

Class A

Bishop Canevin 76, Avella 54 – Ashley Lippold scored a career-high 32 points and Amber Cross also had a career best with 15 points to lead No. 7 Bishop Canevin (14-9) to a victory over No. 10 Avella (10-12) in the first round of the Class A playoffs. The Crusaders advance to play No. 2 West Greene in the quarterfinals Thursday. Rachel Boehm scored 12 points and Josie Bochicchio added 10 for Bishop Canevin.

Eden Christian 49, Clairton 41 – Abby Stover scored 12 points, Emilia Johnson had 11, and Violet Johnson added 10 to push No. 11 Eden Christian (10-10) to an upset of No. 6 Clairton (15-4) in a Class A first-round game. Eden Christian will face Union on Thursday. Iyanna Wade led Clairton with 19 points.

Hockey

Central Catholic 4, Baldwin 1 – George Acklin scored two goals Alex Paluso and Sam Gaffney scored a goal each for Central Catholic (9-9) in a Class 3A win over Baldwin (10-7-3).

Franklin Regional 7, Latrobe 4 – Zach Abdallah scored two goals and Brett Bowser had three assists for Franklin Regional (15-2-1) in a win over Latrobe (8-10) in a Class 2A. JD Robinson and Nik Manolakos scored two goals each for Latrobe.

Greensburg Salem 4, Kiski 3 – Owen Tutich scored two goals and Colton Humphrey and Chase Kusher scored a goal each for Greensburg Salem (12-7) in a Class A win over Kiski (10-8-2). Ethan George, Jacob Kraus and Kyle Guido scored for Kiski.

Hempfield 6, Armstrong 3 – Caden Horton and Logan Eisaman had two goals apiece and Damon Busch and Aiden Dunlap also scored for Hempfield (8-9-1) in a Class 2A game. Maddox Rearic, Caleb Hoffman and Jon Yancy scored for Armstrong (13-3-1-2).

Mars 10, West Allegheny 3 – Sam Steigerwald scored a hat trick and had an assist while Luke Raymond, Ethan Lipchin and Jacob Lestitian each scored two goals and Ryan Mitchell added another as Mars (5-13) beat West Allegheny (0-18) in Class 2A play. Brayden Bates and Luke Gyergyo scored for West Allegheny.

Moon 5, Chartiers Valley 4 – Connor Moran and Zachary Love scored two goals each for Moon (12-6-1) in a Class A win. Tommy Phillips had a hat trick for Chartiers Valley (4-10-4).

North Allegheny 2, Seneca Valley 1 – Connor Chi and Nate Spak each scored a goal for North Allegheny (16-2-1) in a Class 3A win. Tobias McKee scored the lone goal for Seneca Valley (11-7-1-1).

Norwin 13, Wheeling Park 6 – Alex Thomas had a seven-point game with four goals and three assists, Ty Shigo netted a hat trick, and Marion Cavallaro added two more goals as Norwin (12-4-2) beat Wheeling Park (5-14-0-1) in Class A. Dom Barca, Robbie Chappell, Jack Meier and Dom Cerilli each added a goal for the Knights. Grant Parshall scored a hat trick while Jason Haller, Ian Richards and Landon Szazynski scored a goal apiece for the Patriots.

Plum 2, Freeport 1 – David Westbrook and John Hanlon scored for Plum (7-9-2) in a Class A win over Freeport (8-8-1).

Ringgold 5, Morgantown 3 – Nathan Boulanger scored two goals and Ethan Saylor and Trent Hawk scored a goal each for Ringgold (12-4-1) in a Class B win over Morgantown (6-8-1). Emerson Wilson scored two goals for Morgantown.

South Fayette 4, Butler 3 (SO) — Tyler Brandebura scored the tying goal in the final minute of the third period and South Fayette (14-3) went on to win in a shootout in Class 2A. Joey Trinkala had a goal and an assist, and Jack Yoos also scored. Brody Simko scored twice and Parker Worsley had a goal and an assist for Butler (6-12).

Wheeling Catholic 4, Blackhawk 1 — Tommy Woods had two goals and and assist and Austin Nestor added a goal and an assist for Wheeling Catholic (10-8-2) in a Class A win. Owen Keister scored for Blackhawk (1-16-1).