Path to the Pete Recaps From Saturday 2/13

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 13, 2016 | 5:29 PM

While the weather outside was freightful…and frigid, the postseason basketball inside was delightful for the winners, not so much for those teams that saw their 2016 season come to an end. Here are recaps from the Boys AAAA, Boys AA, Girls AAA and Girls A Preliminary and First Round games, 18 games in all on Saturday afternoon on the Path to the Pete.

A special thanks to Mike Azadian, Mark Schaas, T.J. DiStefano, Bob Orkwis, Sean Meyers, Steve Nagler, Brandon Showers, Brian Mroziak, Greg Kuntz, Jason Tennant, Nate Regotti, Lee Mohn, Bob Barrickman and Bob Gregg for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Preliminary Round:

Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 54 – Franklin Regional Panthers 52 
Mark Lamendola scored 30 points for Mount Lebanon, which held off a late surge to prevail 54-52 against Franklin Regional in the Quad-A preliminary round at North Allegheny High School. After a slow start, the Blue Devils outscored the Panthers 15-7 in the second quarter to take command at the intermission, 24-17. Mount Lebanon extended that lead in the third, as Lamendola scored 11 of his team’s 16 points in the quarter. However, the Panthers clawed back in the fourth, behind the hot shooting of Nick Susich and Andrew Mastovich. That duo combined for five 3-pointers in the final stanza, which helped Franklin Regional trim its deficit to two in the final minute. The Panthers missed a pair of shots to tie or take the lead, though, the Antonio Garofoli hit two foul shots to seal the outcome. With the triumph, the Blue Devils advance to face top-seeded Greater Latrobe at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Gateway High School.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Pine-Richland Rams 62 – Norwin Knights 50 
The Pine-Richland Rams used an 11-0 run to snap a an 11-11 1st quarter tie on its way to its first playoff win since February of 2007 and a 62-50 victory over the 13th seeded Norwin Knights at Fox Chapel High School. The 11-0 run was part of a larger 28-10 run that led to a point halftime lead. The Rams used the three-point shot to their advantage during the first quarter run, as Adam Alexander and Andrew Petcash each hit one trey while Alex Goitz hit a pair. The senior guard ended up with three trifectas on the game and finished with 11 points. Petcash, the 6-3 junior who led the Rams on scoring during the regular season at 21 points-per-game, led all scorers with a game-high 19. Sophomore Phil Jurkovec also finished in double figures for Pine-Richland scoring 17 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. The Knights were led in the game by both of their leading scorers, senior Gage McCracken and junior Anthony DelleFemine who finished with 10 points each. Norwin’s season ends at (14-8). The 4th seeded Rams (17-6) head into the quarterfinals where they will face a familiar opponent. Fifth seeded Pittsburgh Central Catholic outlasted Peters Township 73-67 to advance. The Vikings were Tri-Section Champions in AAAA/ 3 along with Pine-Richland and North Hills. The Rams swept the season series from Pittsburgh Central winning 61-53 and 58-37. The Rams and the Vikings will play for a spot in the WPIAL Quad-A final four next Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 73 – Peters Township Indians 67 
The 5th-seeded Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings were in firm command of their 1st-round matchup with the Peters Township Indians for at least 3 quarters, leading by double digits at the end of each.  The #12 Indians, however, were able to put together a major comeback in the 4th, pulling to within 2 with 1:25 remaining, shooting 7 of 15 from 3-point range.  The Vikings came through with some clutch free throws to put the Indians away.  The Vikings finished with 3 players in double-figures, led by Bobby Kiernan’s 18.  Steve Votodian, who was in foul trouble most of the, had a career-high 16, and Luke Nedrow had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  The Indians’ Michael Cortese led all scorers with 24 points, and he got support with 15 from Nick Valentic and 13 from Kelson Marisa.  The one disconcerting note for the Vikings was turning the ball over 16 times as opposed to PT’s 9.  The Indians’ season comes to a close at 14-9 while PCC’s continues at 15-7.  The Vikings move on to face an all-too-familiar foe in the quarters, the Pine-Richland Rams.  This will be the third meeting between the two squads with PR winning the first two.

Penn Hills Indians 64 – Butler Golden Tornado 46 
In a tale of two halves, the Section 2 champion Indians pulled away to advance in the first round matchup. Junior Sherron Schifino and senior Jeremiah Ligon each scored 14 points as Penn Hills moves to 18-5 with the win at North Allegheny. Butler led 17-12 after the first quarter, hitting on four three-pointers. The Indians started to chip away in the second, but it was not until Ligon’s drive down the middle of the lane capped an 11-2 Penn Hills run to end the half. Penn Hills used another run to widen the gap. A 10-0 Indians run forced Butler coach Matt Clement to call a time out. That didn’t help as Penn Hills scored six straight while holding Butler scorelee for the final 5:31 of the third. The Golden Tornadoes got no closer than seven points in the fourth. Penn Hills hit five three-pointers, the Indians were 20-27 from the line and committed 18 turnovers. Butler was led by sophomore Luke Michalek with 10 points. The Golden Tornadoes hit seven three-pointers and were 5-8 fron the line. Butler committed 19 turnovers and ends the season at 15-8.

Plum Mustangs 63 – Penn-Trafford Warriors 60 in Overtime
In a Boys AAAA matchup between the 6th seeded Plum Mustangs and the 11th seeded Penn Trafford Warriors at Gateway high school, Plum won a tough hard fought game in overtime 63-60 to move on to a second round game against section Rival Penn Hills. The Warriors led after one quarter 17-13 in a fast paced 1st period. Plum would cut it to a 2 point deficit at the half as it was 31-29 Warriors heading into the 3rd quarter. Both teams rebounded well, shot the 3 pointer well, played  tough down on the blocks well, and both teams guards were finding shots as they drove hard to the bucket. Each team had a lead, but give the lead up in a back and forth first half. The 2nd half was a bit different as the 3rd quarter was a war. Only 19 points were scored by both teams. Heading into the 4th quarter it was 40-39 Penn Trafford. Both teams  had numerous players in foul trouble and even scoring among all players in a game that was close in not only statistics, but on the scoreboard as well. The game would go down to the end as both teams had a chance to win at the end, but neither could score and it was tied 55-55 heading to overtime. For Plum James Edwards an Air Force recruit fouled out with a minute to go in the 4th quarter and for the Warriors Brendan O’Toole fouled out early in the 4th quarter. In the overtime no one could score early but finally Plum would get a big bucket by Adam Mahr and they would stave off a Warrior last minute shot to win and  end a tough first round game by a score of 63-60. For Penn Trafford Sean Stinelli had 13 points, Dom Coccincelli had 12 to led the way. For Plum they had five  players in double figures.  Robert Deemer put in 14, Edwards 12, Jack Marold 12, Mahr 11, and Kevin Brown 12. Penn Trafford ends their season at 15-7 while Plum moves on. To the second round with a 17-5 record.

WPIAL CLASS AA Preliminary Round:

East Allegheny Wildcats 68 – Riverside Panthers 62 in Overtime 
Defensive pressure led by guard Tech Brown caused numerous Riverside turnovers in overtime and propelled East Allegheny to a 68-62 victory in a boys AA preliminary game Saturday at Fox Chapel.  The Panthers jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the first quarter before the Wildcats stormed back to go up 19-17.  Riverside came right back on an 11-0 run to take a 28-19 advantage but East Allegheny roared from behind again to tie the game at halftime, 33-33.  The Panthers responded in the third period by outscoring the Wildcats 16-11.  Down the stretch in the final stanza though East Allegheny’s pressure defense kept Riverside off balance and eventually took a 58-57 lead late in the fourth.  But, senior forward Adam Bannister fouled out with 2.3 seconds left which sent Panther junior guard Dylan Speicher to the foul line for two free throws.  However, Speicher missed the first of two and the game went to the extra session.  East Allegheny outscored Riverside 10-4 in the bonus four minutes.  Senior Eddie Gibbs led the winning Wildcats with 19 points while sophomore T.J. Banks added 17 and Brown chipped in with 12.  Sophomore Austin Dambach paced the Panthers with 16 points, as Riverside ended its season at 10-13.  East Allegheny improved to 12-9 and will face number one seed and undefeated Aliquippa in the first round on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tipoff at the Ambridge Fieldhouse.

Shady Side Academy Indians 89 – Waynesburg Raiders 44 
The Shady Side Academy Indians advanced into the Round of 16 as the cruised past Waynesburg in the Preliminary Round, 89-44. The Indians opened up a double digit lead in the first quarter, led by an outstanding performance from Etai Groff, who scored 15 points in the opening quarter alone.  Shady Side Academy led 25-15 heading into the second quarter and more than doubled that lead heading into halftime at 50-28. Groff continued his stellar game with 12 points in the second quarter and 16 more in the third before the Indians pulled many of the starters as the mercy clock was initiated prior to the fourth quarter.  In addition to Groff’s total of 43 points, Shady Side got 23 from Kirf Olander.  Both players each drained 5 shots from beyond the arc. The loss for Waynesburg overshadowed another nice performance from Darton McIntire who led the Raiders with 27 points. In the second half, McIntire scored all but 2 of the Raiders’ 16 points. Shady Side Academy will next face Lincoln Park on Wednesday in the Round of 16.

Wilkinsburg Tigers 66 – Beth-Center Bulldogs 24 
It had been 7 years since the Beth-Center Bulldogs made the playoffs and their run was short lived playing in preliminary action against the Wilkinsburg Tigers. The Tigers used a combination of skill and speed as well as stifling defense to win 66-24. The game was very close for the first half of the first quarter until Wilkinsburg used their defense to create 7 first quarter turnovers and went onto a 26-2 run ending the half with a score of 32 to 9.  Their defense only gave up two points in the 2nd quarter causing 6 turnovers in the 2nd.  The Tigers who roster nine players had eight of them register points in the contest while being able to hold Brady McDonnell to two points. McDonnell averaged 18 points per a game but was never able to get his shot going due to the defense of the Tigers. The Bulldogs were lead in scoring by Luke Hess who scored 10 points. For the Tigers their leading scorers were Dremar Everette with 16 points and Dominique Aime with 17 points off the bench. K’saun Mattox also scored 8 off the bench for the Tigers. The Tigers will move on to face Quaker Valley in the next round on Wednesday while Beth-Center ends their year at 8-10.

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 80 – Charleroi Cougars 59 
AJ Myers pumped in 42 points leading Chartiers-Houston to an 80-59 win over Charleroi Saturday afternoon.  The Bucs (13-10), winners of five of their last seven, now face #4 Greensburg Central Catholic Wednesday at Peters Township.  The Cougars see their season end at 16-6.  Charleroi’s Erict Tedrow and Brock Shannon combined for three early treys, putting the Cougars up 11-2.  Adding in two pointers by Tedrow, Sam Miceli and John Arnold, Charleroi held an 8-point lead with two minutes to play in the opening frame.  Myers buried a three-pointer from 22 feet out, igniting an 11-0 run that put the Bucs in front for the first time, eventually by 6 points with 5:40 left before intermission.  The Cougars answered wtih a 12-3 run of their own to retake the advantage with just under three minutes remaining.  Myers’ third trey of the game and a fast break duece gave the Bucs a 36-35 lead at the break.  After recess, Miceli’s three-pointer tied the game at 38-all in the opening minute, but a pair of three-pointers from Ryan Mele, a pair of two’s from Cam Hanley, Spencer Terling’s offensive put-back and 11 more points from Myers put the Bucs comfortably in front.  Charleroi was not able to close the 14-point deficit over the final 8 minutes, thanks to Myers 14 points over the final period.  Miceli paced the Cougars wtih 19 points.  Arnold had 13, Tedrow 11 and Shannon 10.  Tedrow and Arnold were held to just one point after intermission.  Mele finished with 12 points for Chartiers-Houston despite picking up four fouls deending the 6′ 9 Arnold.

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 86 – Frazier Commodores 39
Seton-LaSalle got off to a nice start in their quest to get back to a WPIAL Championship Game with a dominating 86 to 39 win over Frazier in a Boys AA Preliminary Round Game on Saturday Afternoon at Baldwin High School.  Billy O’Malley scored a game high 21 points, while Cletus Helton (18 points) and Conor Pederson (14 points) were also in double figures for the Rebels.  Frazier was lead by Caleb Cox who scored 15 points.  The Rebels advance to play Our Lady of Sacred Heart on Wednesday Night.

WPIAL CLASS AAA Preliminary Round:

Ringgold Rams 50 – Laurel Highlands Mustangs 47 
The Ringgold Rams used a 15-0 run in the 1st quarter to build an early 15 to 2 lead, but Laurel Highlands rallied back and lead in the 2nd half, but it was Ringgold Sophomore Hanna Gosliak that hit the buzzer beating three pointer with the game tied at 47 to give the Rams a 50 to 47 win over The Laurel Highlands Fillies in a Girls AAA Preliminary Round Game at Baldwin High School on Saturday Afternoon.  Ashley Briscoe lead the Rams with 16 points while Bailey Cooper went over 1,000 points in her high school career netting 13 on Saturday for the Rams.  Laurel Highlands was lead by Ashley Galderisi who scored 16 points while Siteri Tale was also in double figures with 13 for the Fillies. Ringgold will play top seed South Fayette on Wednesday Night at Peters Twp. High School.

Belle Vernon Leopards 56 – Central Valley Warriors 37 
Belle Vernon used a 26-6 run that spanned the 2nd and 3rd quarters as fuel to defeat Central Valley in a preliminary game in the Class AAA Girls Basketball Playoffs.  Central Valley would score the first bucket of the 2nd quarter giving them a 10-5 lead but the Leopards would outscore the Warriors 17-4 the rest of the half and took a 22-14 lead into halftime.  Belle Vernon’s changing looks defensively forced the young Warriors into 28 turnovers and Central Valley also committed many personal fouls, which resulted in 35 Leopard foul shots on the afternoon.  The Leopards’ super sophomore, Kelsey Green, led the way with 15 points and had several assists as well.  Rylie Campbell came in off the bench and scored 13 points for Belle Vernon and Alyssa Larson chipped in with 10 points.  Central Valley was led by Kaelyn Underwood who had 12 points and Kaleah Jones had 10 points before fouling out in the 4th quarter.  With the win, Belle Vernon (10-13) will face the 2nd-seeded Trinity Hillers in the first round of the Class AAA Girls Basketball Playoffs on Wednesday.  The Warriors season ends with a record of 13-10.

Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles 49 – Highlands Golden Rams 41 
Keystone Oaks used a stifling full court press to jump out to an 11-0 lead and the Golden Eagles never trailed on its way to the 49-41 win in a WPIAL Class AAA Preliminary round game at Fox Chapel High School. Keystone Oaks led by 9 points after the first quarter and held a 29-24 lead at halftime. Highlands battled back and cut the lead to 31-30 in the second half but could never overcome the fast start by the Golden Eagles and were never able to grab the lead. Junior Ashlyn Jonczak paced the Golden Rams in a losing effort finishing with 13 points. Fellow classmate Nicole Boda, who battled foul trouble in the second half, added 12 points for Highlands.  The Golden Rams end the season with a (13-10) record. Keystone Oaks (10-13) was paced by senior Maryah Agurs who scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter. Freshman Gillian Piccolino, the Golden Eagles leading scorer at 15 PPG, added 12 points including a pair of three-pointers. With the win, Keystone Oaks moves into the Triple-A first round as the 14th seed in the tournament. The Golden Eagles will face 3rd seeded Ambridge. The Bridgers (19-3) and the Golden Eagles will play Wednesday night at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School with tip-off set for 6:30 PM.

Deer Lakes Lancers 62 – Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions 54 
The first half was the tone setter for this girls Class AAA preliminary round matchup as the Deer Lakes Lancers held off the Greensburg Salem Golden Lions 62-54 Saturday afternoon at Gateway High School. It was a rough first quarter for the Golden Lions as they were outscored 14-5 and only made one field goal. However, Greensburg Salem would recover in the 2nd quarter as freshman Megan Kallock led the way with 11 points and three 3 point baskets as the Golden Lions were only outscored 19-16. The story of the first half was the three point shooting by Deer Lakes as Alexa Burke, Jessica Philistine and MacKenzie Kacsur combined for 8 three pointers. The Lancers held a 33-21 lead at halftime. The play got sloppy on both sides in the 2nd half with missed opportunities and miscues on both sides. The Lancers would outscore GS 21-12 in the third frame and extend the lead to 54-33 heading into the 4th. The Golden Lions tried to battle back led by the play of senior Maggie Kallock, who had 14 points and 4 three pointers. But despite outscoring Deer Lakes 21-8 and the Lancers only making one field goal and six foul shots in the 4th, the Lancers were able to hang on for the victory. Deer Lakes had three players in double figures, Alexa Burke with 18, MacKenzie Kacsur had 15 and Jessica Philistine added 11. Greensburg Salem was led by the Kallock sisters, Megan with 20 and Maggie with 19. Deer Lakes improves to 15-8 and becomes the #13 seed and will face #4 Blackhawk Wednesday night at North Hills High School. Greensburg Salem finishes 7-16.

WPIAL CLASS A First Round:

Ellis School Tigers 82 – Leechburg Blue Devils 79 in Double Overtime
The Ellis School Tigers escaped from the Leechburg Blue Devils upset bid on Saturday afternoon winning 82-79 in double overtime.  These two schools net the last game of the season with Ellis winning by three over Leechburg.  This game did not look like it would be close but Ellis used a 21-5 2nd quarter to break open the game.  Ellis School connected on seven three pointers in the first half.  Leechburg would fall behind as many as many as fourteen points but slowly battled back. They would finally take their first lead of the game with 3 minutes left but could not hold on.  Both teams had chances to win but could not convert.  The first overtime went back and forth and finally ended on a miss layup by Mikayla Lovelace of Leechburg.  The second overtime Ellis School finally prevailed when Dayna Rouse connected on a 10 footer with six seconds left to secure the victory.  Dayna Rouse led all scorers with 39 points while teammate Charlotte Forsythe added 28.  For Leechburg Mikayla Lovelace had 38 points and teammate Brittany Robilio added 23 points,  Ellis School will now take on Cornell in the quarterfinals next Saturday.  Leechburg seasons end with a record of 14-9.

Cornell Raiders 58 – West Greene Pioneers 35 
Cornell advanced to the Quarterfinals with a 58-35 win over West Greene in the first round of the Class-A playoffs Saturday at Keystone Oaks.  Despite West Greene seeming to control the play in the first quarter, Cornell was able to establish a lead, which ballooned to 11 points by the end of the quarter.  This due in large part to the play of Deaja Quick, who was the biggest offensive threat on the floor, but also due to West Greene’s inability to score despite more than enough good opportunities.  Those two things remained constant throughout the game as Quick easily led all scorers with 31 points. West Greene on the other hand only converted 5 field goals through 3 quarters. It was not for lack of opportunities though, as late in the game, West Greene had hit just 7 of 45 shots from the field! The Raiders of Cornell, who led by 21 at the half and 27 after 3, also had double-digit points from Dominique Richards, who finished with 14, all in the first half. The Pioneers leading scorer was McKenna Lampe with 15. Cornell advances to the Quarterfinals next Saturday against Ellis.

Quigley Catholic Spartans 82 – Imani Christian Saints 54 
In a battle of two of the WPIAL’s top scorers, it was the senior besting the freshman to help her team advance to the quarterfinals. Gabby Smith scored 47 points as Quigley Catholic cruised to their 14th straight win. Smith had 18 field goals and a three pointer, in addition to 8 of 10 from the line before checking out with about two minutes remaining. Freshman Cali Konek led the WPIAL in scorring but struggled to find her range in the first half,scoring only 14 points. She started to dial it in the second. Ending with 35 points, with a perfect 10 for 10 at the line. Quigley Catholic led 13-9 after the first quarter. The Spartans used an 11-0 run to start the second and cruised to a 35-20 advantage at the break. A 31 point third quarter allowed the Spartans to go to 18-5 on the year. Freshman Taylor Kirschner exploded in the second half, scoring 17 of her 21 points. The Spartans hit only two trifectas, but were 10-13 from the foul line. Quigley Catholic committed 15 turnovers. The Saints end the season at 14-9. Imani Christian hit three triples and was 17-18 from the stripe. The Saints committed 18 turnovers, 14 in the first half.

Winchester Thurston Bears 41 – Jefferson-Morgan Rockets 33 
Winchester Thurston upset 3-A champion Jefferson Morgan on Saturday afternoon 41-33 at Trinity High School. Sophomore Ayanna Townsend’s 23 points were too much to overcome for the Rockets. Jefferson-Morgan led 17-15 going into halftime, but were out scored 15-6 in the third quarter. Winchester Thurston became just the 5th team all season to score at least 40 points against J-M this season and the Rockets’ point total was the lowest of the season. Winchester Thurston advances to play the winner of Quigley Catholic on Saturday afternoon at a place and time to be determined.