WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Saturday, February 18th

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 18, 2012 | 8:02 PM

There were a good deal of blowouts, several nail-biters and a handful of eyebrow-raisers were the story of Day Two as Boys Class AAAA, Boys Class AA, Girls Class AAA and Girls Class A got a chance to tip off their respective postseason tournaments. Here are ALL of the recaps from the 15 boys and 11 girls basketball games played on Saturday afternoon of the Battle to the Bluff.

Special THANKS to Mark Schaas, Paul Paterra, Don Rebel, Bob Barrickman, Josh Rowntree, Sam Hall, Justin McKim, Dan Zangrilli, Bob Gregg, Melissa Carle, T.J. DiStefano, Lee Mohn, Mike Krcil, Matt Vandriak, Johnny Lee and Jason Tennant for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL BOYS CLASS AAAA Preliminary Round:

McKeesport Tigers 51 – Norwin Knights 49 
The McKeesport Tigers took the lead for good on a JaQuan Davidson bucket with 1:37 to play and held on to advance in the McDonald’s WPIAL Boys Quad A playoffs. Norwin had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Tommy Quealy’s three pointer came up short, giving the Tigers the win. Norwin led 25-18 at the half, led by junior Matt Stewart, he scored 16 points in the first half and controlled the glass with eight rebounds. But McKeesport slowly worked their way back, cutting to a three point lead 37-34 after three. The Tigers stood up defensively, forcing 15 second half turnovers and 25 for the game. McKeesport shot 17 of 49 from the field and 13 of 19 from the line. The Tigers turned it over only 7 times. Carlito Acie led the way with 15 points, Jamar Clark and Davidson each added 11, McKeesport is now 11-10 on the season. For Norwin, Stewart was held to three second half points, he led all scorers with 19, Quealy and Nicholas Idele each scored 11. The Knights were 17 of 35 from the field, but 12 of 22 from the foul line, including 4 of 11 in the final quarter. Norwin ends the season at 11-12. The Tigers will meet the number one seed, the Shaler Titans on Wednesday night in the first round, site and time to be determined.

WPIAL BOYS CLASS AAAA First Round:

Peters Township Indians 67 – Woodland Hills Wolverines 56  
The fourth seeded Wolverines took a wrong turn and it ended up costing the Wolverines in an upset at California University. The bus carrying the Wolverines ended up at IUP instead of Cal, delaying the game for 45 minutes at the start. Peters Township was in the gym before 11 am, and came out cold, falling behind 16-4 at the end of the first quarter. But the Indians turned it up on the defensive side, holding the Wolverines to just 5 second quarter points and took the lead 23-21 at the break. The game remained close in the fourth quarter, but turned very ugly as the Wolverines lost control in a one minute span. After disputing a call, head coach Mike Decker was hit with a technical foul with 4:27 remaining. That was mild, after an foul was called on Cincinnati football recruit Shakim Alonzo, he stormed from the bench area and sucker-punched Gabe Pritz of Peters Township in the left ear. Pritz was down on the floor for several minutes, but did return after receiving medical attention. Both Alonzo and Trent McPherson of the Indians were tossed from the game, McPherson for throwing the game ball at Alonzo after the incident took place. The Indians took advantage of the closely called game the rest of the way, going 19 of 24 in the final quarter from the line and 26 of 31 for the game. The Indians also shot 18 of 36 from the field. Pritz scored 30 points, playing the final two and half minutes with a bandage wrapped around his head. R.J. Pfeuffer scoed 15 and Kevin Glod and Dakota Norton each added 10. The Indians are now 12-11 and will meet Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the quarterfinals next Saturday. Alonzo scored 15 points before being ejected, Jeremy McMunn scored 13 and Tom Greene added 10 for the Wolverines. Woodland Hills was 22 of 56 from the field and just 4 of 9 from the line. The Wolverines end the season at 17-6.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 70 – Hempfield Spartans 44  
Central Catholic stormed out to a 20-6 first-quarter lead and never looked back in defeating the Section 1-AAAA champions. Lincoln Davis displayed his athletic ability in leading the way for the Vikings on the court and on the score sheet. The 6-foot, 2-inch senior led Central Catholic with 19 points, one of eight Vikings who tallied points. Sam Calhoun added 13 points  and Claude Scott contributed 10. Hempfield's talented freshman Kason Harrell topped the Spartans' score sheet with 21 points and Lane Waltenbaugh added 10. Central Catholic will play Peters Township in the quarterfinals, which upset Woodland Hills.

Seneca Valley Raiders 45 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 42  
The opening round boys AAAA surprises continued late Saturday afternoon at Chartiers Valley High School as #14 Seneca Valley edged #3 Mount Lebanon. Defense was the theme of the day, especially early on as Seneca Valley held a 6-4 lead after on quarter. The Raiders hit a wall on offense in the second quarter as the Blue Devils took a 17-13 lead into the locker room. SV outscored Lebo 16-8 in the third as the raiders took a 29-25 lead into the fourth quarter. But the Blue Devils came back to tie tow minutes in and then the teams went back and forth until a key point with 3:22 left in the fourth quarter. Mount Lebanon senior Kamic Anyang was called for a charge, then was hit with two technical fouls and was ejected with the Blue Devils leading 34-33. Alex Maxfield hit three foul shots and the Raiders claimed the lead. With the game still close in the final minute, the Blue Devils missed a free throw and a short shot from the paint that hurt their comeback cause, as did Tyler Roth fouling out of the game. Seneca Valley was 18 of 31 from the free throw line, but hit several clutch shots from the charity stripe down the stretch. Maxfield led the Raiders with a game high 16 points while fellow guard Matt Smith added 14 points. Mount Lebanon was led by Anyang, Roth and freshman Matt Hoffman off the bench with 10 points each. The Blue Devils, a state finalist a year ago, see their season end with a final mark of 17-6. The Raiders improve to 14-9 and will now battle defending champion Gateway in the WPIAL Class AAAA Quarterfinals next Saturday at a site to be determined.   

Gateway Gators 67 – Penn-Trafford Warriors 50  
The WPIAL champs took the first step toward defending their crown. Gateway broke open a close game  by outscoring Penn-Trafford 38-25 in the second half. Luke Kochka's long-range shooting was a big part of the victory for the Gators. The 6-foot, 4-inch senior paced Gateway with 27 points, nailing 5 three-pointers. Tyler Scott added 17 points to the Gator cause and Thomas Kromka chipped in 10. Penn-Trafford was led by Corey Stanford's 21 points. Christian Rohaus added 13 off the bench, including two three-pointers.

WPIAL BOYS CLASS AA Preliminary Round:

Riverside Panthers 39 – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 27  
Riverside once trailed 10-2 in the first quarter but rebounded to defeat Chartiers-Houston, 39-27, in a boys AA preliminary game Saturday afternoon at the Ambridge Fieldhouse.  The Panthers led 24-22 after three periods but outscored the Buccaneers 15-5 in the fourth.  Tyler Falk had 16 points to pace Riverside including eight in the fourth quarter while Gig Jewell added 12.  Shayne Murphy led the Bucs with 13 points but Chartiers-Houston had no inside presence to match up with Falk and Jewell.  There were no missed free throw attempts in the game as Riverside made ten foul shots while the Bucs converted four.  Chartiers-Houston ended its season at 14-9 while Riverside sends the same record against defending champion and top seed Monessen on Wednesday night.

Shady Side Academy Indians 59 – California Trojans 38  
In the Boys AA Preliminary matchup Saturday at Gateway High School, Shady Side Academy routed California 59-38. The Indians were fronted by Will Suppowitz's 20 points and 6 rebounds. Jake Ellis (13), Pat Laughran (12) and Evan Lutins (10) all hit double figures in a game that was never really in doubt for the Indians, champions of section 1. Naz Victoria and Tanner Huffman each scored 11 points for California, who sees their season come to an end with an 11-12 overall record. Shady Side Academy, now 17-5 on the year, will move on to the first Round where they will take on Frazier Wednesday night at a site and time to be determined.

Frazier Commodores 46 – Riverview Raiders 37 
The Frazier Commodores moved into the WPIAL AA "tournament proper" with a solid 46-37 win over Riverview at Baldwin high school Saturday afternoon in a preliminary game. The Commodores were led by 6'3'' senior forward Robert Gondura with 15 points. Gondura started strong out of the gate in fact scoring ten points in the first quarter down low, but credit the Raiders post defense, as they regrouped and Gondura never scored another field goal the rest of the game adding his other five points from the stripe in the second half. The Radiers sorely missed leading scorer Corey Bickert out with an injury, they did not have any player reach double digits and as a team the only quarter in which they scored double digits was the third when they managed 15. Senior point guard Tyler Rock had an off shoting night for Frazier but contributed in many other ways with tenacious defense, great ball-handling, and he also made five of six from the stripe down the stretch to seal the deal on the win. Riverview's season comes to an end as they fall to 9-12 for the campaign. The Commodores become the nine-seed in AA and they will play the Shady Side Academy Indians in the first round Wednesday night on the MSA Sports Network. Frazier will enter that contest with a 15-7 record and a whole lot of confidence, plus the knowledge that Tyler Rock is due to get it going from the field. Don't miss a minute of the action all postseason long as the playoffs continue on "The Network".

Northgate Flames 57 – Freeport Yellowjackets 47 
Sparked by solid bench support, another stellar showing from its star, lethal outside shooting and a diminutive point guard performing like a giant, Northgate beat Freeport, 57-47, Saturday at North Allegheny. The victory in the WPIAL Class AA boys’ basketball preliminary round sends the Flames (13-10) to a Wednesday night first round contest against No. 4 Summit Academy. On Saturday, Northgate’s top scorer all year, Jon Girvin, continued his strong play with a game-high tying 17 points, including a thunderous second quarter dunk and several assists. The Flames used a 13-0 run in the second to shift the course of the game. Reserves Dan Bistrican and Justin Parra helped ignite that run and combined for 16 points. David Natale connected on four 3-point shots and finished with 12 for Northgate, while 5-foot-7 Matt Lee added 10 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Freeport (10-10) was led by Ryan Dunn’s 17 points. Dunn scored 10 points in the fourth.

Shenango Wildcats 69 – West Shamokin Wolves 44 
The Shenango Wildcats knocked down 12 three-pointers en route to cruising to a 69-44 win over the West Shamkin Wolves on Saturday afternoon at North Allegheny High School.  Jeff Williams led the Wildcats with 20 points. The Shenango Wildcats (15-8) advance to play the Greensburg Central Cathloic Warriors on Wednesday.  West Shamokin finishes with an overall record of 12-11.  Wolves' forward Anthony Rocco had 25 points in a losing effort.

Brentwood Spartans 53 – South Side Rams 41  
Brentwood overcame a 4-point deficit after three quarters by outscoring South Side 24-8 in the final period to beat the Rams, 53-41, in a boys AA preliminary game at Ambridge.  Jason Pilarski paced the Spartans with 17 points while Sean O'Brien chipped in with 14.  Justin Gentile had 19 tallies for South Side, which finished its season at 12-11.  Travis White scored 11 points for the Rams before fouling out.  Brentwood imnproved to 13-10 and will meet number two seed Beaver Falls in a first round contest on Wednesday.

Wilkinsburg Tigers 73 – Brownsville Falcons 53  
In the second Boys AA Preliminary Round matchup at Gateway High School on Saturday, the Wilkinsburg Tigers kept rolling, defeating the Brownsville Falcons 73-53. The 20-point margin was not a fair representation of how close the game was though or how hard the Falcons played. Brownsville would fall behind early, mainly due to 16 first half turnovers, but battle back in the 3rd Quarter to pull within 9 points of the Tigers. However, a 25-point 4th Quarter by Wilkinsburg would put the game away. The Tigers had four players in double figures, including Marc Williams (15 points off the bench), Elijah Hill (15 points, 6 rebounds), Jordan Howard (13 points, 8 rebounds), and Elisha Hill (11 points, 8 rebounds). Brownsville fought hard and got a game high 21 points from Cole Novotney. Brownsville, who were 3-19 in Head Coach Brian Brashear's first season, are 24-22 in the last two seasons. They only lose one senior who saw any playing time in the Preliminary round loss. Their season ends at 13-10 overall. Wilkinsburg, now 17-4, moves into the first round as the #7 seed and will play 10th-seeded Jeannette on Wednesday night at a site and time to be determined.

Jeannette Jayhawks 81 – Fort Cherry Rangers 49  
Ten different players scored, four of them in double figures, as Jeannette rolled past Fort Cherry, 81-49, claiming a berth in the WPIAL Sweet 16 against Wilkinsburg.  The Jayhawks (15-7) got 17 points from Demetrious Cox, 10 in the first quarter.  The game was too quick for the Rangers from the beginning, literally.  Seth Miller's opening tip sent Cox on a fast break where he was fouled, then hit the free throws giving Jeannette a 2-0 lead FOUR second into the game.  The Jayhawks scored 10 straight and added a 9-2 run in the quarter for a 21-8 lead after eight minutes.  In the middle of the second, when the Rangers went cold, Jeannette poured it on again, adding 11 straight points to lead 38-14.  Miller and Duke Brown each scored 6 in the period.  Another 11-0 run in the fourth pushed the margin to 73-36 and the coaches sent subs to the table to check in.  Miller also scored 17 for Jeannette, Brown had 16 and Julian Batts added ten.  Jeannette hit 21 of 27 free throws in the game, including 14 of the first 16.  Zach Dysert had 17 for the Rangers (7-16).

Aliquippa Quips 76 – Ford City Sabers 42  
Davion Hall scored 13 points in the opening quarter, leading Aliquippa past Ford City, 76-42.  Hall's points all came in the quarter's final three minutes including a back-breaking buzzer beater from just across the half-court line that gave the Quips a 5-point lead.  Ford City had just pulled to within two on Jon Shanty's third trey of the quarter.  Jahri Barbee's went on a 7-point scoring spree for Aliquippa midway through the second, pushing the margin to 31-20.  Barbee hit for two, two and three in a little less than two minutes.  If the Sabres had any thoughts of a rally, the Quips scored 13 of the first 15 points in the second half to end those dreams.  Hall finished with 20 points,  Dravon Henry scored 13, Barbee and Mikal Hall chipped in 10 for Aliquippa (11-12).  Shanty hit another three-pointer in the fourth and finished with 16 points in his final game.  Dave Lattanzio score a dozen for Ford City (13-10).  Aliquippa now faces #3 Sto-Rox in the WPIAL Sweet 16 Wednesday.

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 71 – Neshannock Lancers 25  
Seton-LaSalle turned a 12 point lead early in the third quarter into a mercy rule laugher in a rout of Neshannock Saturday afternoon at Chartiers Valley High School. Nothing worked for Neshannock as they mixed many turnovers with missed shots from beyond the three point line in scoring only 4 points in the first quarter. The Lancers trailed 30-15 at halftime when they scored the first 3-points of the third quarter and seemed to have momentum when SL coach Mark Walsh called time out. After the TO, senior Kevin Hart scored on a layup, they stole the ball and converted another layup in sparking the Rebels to a 20-5 run the rest of the third quarter. The game eventually kicked into the 40-point mercy rule when Neshannock scored only two points in the final quarter. Matt Onorato led the Rebels balanced attack with 17 points while Tim Plansinis added 15 and Malik White 10 points. The Lancers, whose season ends at 11-11, were led by the banged up John Sansone, who didn't start but scored 9 points. Seton-LaSalle improves to 15-8 and will face 6th-seed Quaker Valley in a Class AA First Round contest on Wednesday at a site to be determined here on MSA Sports.   

         WPIAL GIRLS CLASS AAA Preliminary Round:

Belle Vernon Leopards 59 – Indiana Little Indians 47  
 The Gateway Athletic Complex played host to the Class AAA girls preliminary round matchup between Belle Vernon and Indiana Saturday afternoon.  The Leopards and the Little Indians played nose-to-nose through the first quarter, ending in a 13-13 tie.  The start of the second quarter saw Indiana working its inside-outside game hard against the Belle Vernon zone defense, opening up several three-point opportunities for the Little Indians.  Turnovers plagued Indiana, however, and the Leopards took advantage.  Belle Vernon headed to the locker room with a 29-21 lead.  Halftime adjustments were unsuccessful for Indiana, and Belle Vernon continued to build its lead to 46-31 at the end of three quarters.  The Little Indians were not ready to roll over, though, as they opened up fourth quarter play with back-to-back three pointers to cut the Leopard lead to 48-37 with 6:56 to go in the fourth quarter.  Belle Vernon took a timeout to regroup, but was unable to inbound the ball in enough time on the ensuing play, requiring yet another timeout.  The Leopards still appeared frustrated, and committed a travel on the next inbounds play.  Indiana took advantage, converting a basket for two points off of the turnover.  The score cut the Belle Vernon lead to 48-39 with 6:23 to go.  The Leopards put the momentum of the Little Indians to rest, however, with a key three pointer at the 5:29 mark, upping the lead to 51-39.  Belle Vernon never looked back, and advanced with a 59-47 win.  The Leopards saw three players in double figures, including Jessica Slagus with 19, Natalie Bashada with 12, and Haley Bashada with 12.  Olivia Sipos finished with eight points for the Little Indians.  Indiana’s season will end with a (14-9) record.  Belle Vernon improves to (12-11) and moves on to top seed Hopewell on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Beaver Bobcats 62 – Knoch Knights 28  
After a two-minute offensive lull to start the game, Beaver overwhelmed Knoch, 62-28, in a Class AAA WPIAL girls’ basketball preliminary round game Saturday at North Allegheny. Emily Kondracki helped the Bobcats establish their footing offensively, scoring the team’s first eight points on her way to a game-high 20. From there, Beaver (13-9) used a balanced attack and swarming defense to thwart the Knights’ upset hopes. The Bobcats outscored Knoch (9-13) in the second, 23-2, after holding a seven point lead at the end of one. Freshman point guard Lexi Posset scored 13 points, Eleanor Neeley 12 and Ally Dehart 11 for Beaver. Celina Sanks and Sam Logan finished with seven points each for the Knights. The Bobcats move on to a first round matchup with fourth-seeded Chartiers Valley on Wednesday night. Beaver fell to the Colts, 49-42, on Jan. 3 in Beaver County.

Central Valley Warriors 60 – Trinity Hillers 27  
The Central Valley Lady Warriors, in only their second season since the merger, looked impressive in their first playoff appearance beating the Trinity Lady Hillers 60-27 in preliminary round action Saturday afternoon at Chartiers Valley High School. The Lady Warriors were too much offensively and defensively for the Lady Hillers, who never led in the game and were held to single digit scoring each quarter. Central Valley led 15-4 after one quarter of action and extended the lead to 31-13 at the half. The domination continued in the second half, with the Lady Warriors leading 50-21 after three quarters. Central Valley had three players in double figures, led by Seairra Barrett who had 19 points coming off the bench. Madalena Rowan had 12 points and Madeline May added 11. The team went 14-24 from the foul line. Trinity's leading scorer was Shanna Miller with 9 points and Morgan Kurtz added 6. The Lady Hillers were 11-17 from the charity stripe. After going 4-18 in their first season, Central Valley has made quite a turnaround this year improving to 15-7 and advancing to play the number 5 seed Uniontown Red Raiders on Wednesday night. Trinity finishes the season at at 7-16.

Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions 48 – Montour Spartans 44  
The Golden Lions withstood two runs in the fourth quarter to move on to meet the second seeded South Park Eagles in the next round. Greensburg Salem led 44-32 but Montour came back and cut the lead to two. But the Spartans went cold at the line, shooting just 4 of 15 from the game and 0-5 in the final quarter.  Angela Balya led the way for Greensburg Salem with 16 points, Jayne Oberdorf added 14 points, including two threes and Claire Oberdorf scored 11. Head Coach Janine Vertacnik said Balya has really came on in the second half of the season and did a great job running the point. The Golden Lions were 15 of 52 from the field and 14-24 from the line. Kadeedra Norris grabbed 11 rebounds for Greensburg Salem, now 13-10 overall.  Sophia Esposito led the Spartans with 15 points, Emily Mastrioanni added 11. Montour shot 18 of 41 from the field and turned the ball over 23 times. The Spartans finish 9-14.

West Mifflin Titans 68 – Kittanning Wildcats 49    
 West Mifflin dominated from start to finish Saturday afternoon defeating Kittaning 68-47.  With the victory the Titans will move on to face Blackhawk Wednesday night.  Leading the way for West Mifflin was Ciara Patterson with 20, Paige Fiore with 17 and Alysa Cairns with 14.  For Kittaning Emily Knepshield was game high with 22 points.  Kittaning finishes there season at 9-14.

WPIAL GIRLS CLASS A Preliminary Round:

West Greene Pioneers 51 – Frazier Commodores 31  
 The West Greene Girls celebrated the first postseason win in team history Saturday as they defeated the Frazier Commodores in a preliminary round matchup at Baldwin High School.  A physical game that included a combined total of 54 fouls committed, was really decided in the opening quarter.  The Pioneers opened up an 18-4 lead by the end of the period and the deficit proved too large for Frazier to fight back.  Coming off their high scoring first quarter, West Greene would be held off the scoreboard for the first 4 minutes of the 2nd leaving the door open for Frazier, but the Commodores only mustered 8 points in the quarter and still trailed at the half, 25-12.  An even third quarter, 12-12, allowed West Greene to maintain the 13 point margin, which given the style of the game, seemed to be more than enough heading into the final quarter.  Fouls were a huge part of the game as West Greene would attempt a total of 49 free throws, converting only 23 of them.  Still the leading scorer of the game, West Greene's Cheyenne Miller had as many points from the line, 8, as she did from the field.  Frazier went just 8 for 27 from the line.  For the Pioneers, Alyssa Raber put up ten, 8 of which were also from the line, and both Madison Raber and Paige Moninger would add 6 each.  Frazier was led by Lauren Timko and Hannah Kline, who each scored 8.  The Pioneers advance to face top-seeded North Catholic on Wednesday.

               Avella Eagles 39 – Clairton Bears 25

The Avella Eagles came out on top in an often sloppy, turnover-filled contest, defeating the Clairton Bears 39-25 in a battle of teams that had each lost five of their final seven regular season games.  Nicole Kinney, senior guard for the Eagles, led all scorers with 10 points – 8 of those coming in the first quarter.  Sophomore guard MacKenna Drazich added 9, and junior forward Olivia English contributed 7, including five from the foul line.  Clairton was led by juniors Taleese Ogletree and Tori James with 8 points a piece.  The Bears were also in foul trouble for much of the game, with four of the eight players on their roster playing the in the fourth quarter with four fouls.  Ogletree and junior Justice Hall eventually fouled out.  Avella led 17-6 at halftime, as neither team shot above 25% from the field in the first two quarters.  The Eagles improve to 11-12 on the season and face a tough test as they face the rested Vincentian Academy Royals in the next round.  The Bears finish their season 8-11.

WPIAL CLASS A First Round:

Monessen Greyhonds 60 – Rochester Rams 52  
If you're a fan of fast-paced, run and gun basketball, than you wanted to be at Chartiers-Houston on Sataurday as the Greyhounds and the Rams combined for 112 total points in this opening round shoot out.  Monessen was scoring 61.8 points per game coming in, which was the 3rd highest total in Class-A.  And the Greyhounds started hot, as Natawsja Sosnak hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 1st quarter points.  But the Rams got a boost from their bench as Tanaya Bacon scored 7 in the opening frame and the the two teams finished the opening frame tied 17-17.  The scoring slowed down in the 2nd quarter, but the pace didn't as the two teams continued to go end to end.  Monessen's Chelsea Szakal, who returned to the lineup after missing 5 games with a knee injury, scored 7 in the 2nd quarter and the Greyhounds took a 28-26 lead to at the half.  Monessen had their best defensive quarter of the game in the 3rd, holding Rochester to just 8 points, and led 41-34 heading into the final quarter.  The scoring picked back up in the 4th, as the teams combined for 37 points. In a game where offense dominated, the Rams defense held Mariah Ward to 10 points.  Ward averaged 21.7 points per game, which was the 2nd highest average in Class-A.  But the Rams didn't have an answer for the combo is Sosnak and Geena Schrader.  Sosnak scored a game high 20 points, while Schrader added 18.  Rochester was led by Tanaya Bacon's 16 points.  Demi McFrazier had 13 for the Rams and Miranda Robson chipped in 11.  Monessen (20-3) moves on to the 2nd round where they will face Riverview, who upset Quigley.  Rochester finishes up the 2011-2012 season at 10-13.

Riverview Raiders 54 – Quigley Spartans 50  
 If you would talk to the loyal followers of Riverview Raider Girl's Basketball this was not an upset; This was expected.  Although the Raiders were seeded #12 in the Class A Girls Tournament, you had the sense that they did indeed think that they could not only play with, but could beat the #5 seeded Quigley Spartans in an exciting playoff game at Baldwin High School. And win they would, as the Raiders held off a late Spartan rally and advanced in the playoffs with at 54-50 victory.  Quigley Catholic got off to a strong start with some solid inside play and the shooting of SR Guard Jennifer Deltondo who had 8 first quarter points. The Spartans looked like a the experienced playoff team that they are and led 19-11 at the end of 1. The Raiders would not go away though, and a little defensive adjustment by Coach Keith Stitt, the play of Mary Andrejko and Ashley Bruni, and just a toughness that would be their hallmark the rest of the afternoon resulted in the Raiders only being down 22-19 at halftime, holding QC to a mere 3 point in the second quarter.  Riverview took the lead midway through the third, scoring 21 points in the frame and lead 40-34 after 3.  Quigley responded, and though beset by foul trouble for most of the second half, fought back to tie the score half way through quarter four.  Losing Drew Meeker with five fouls was costly to Quigley but Natalie Delon and Morgan Dillon were finally able to get the Spartan offense untracked. But the afternoon would belong to the Raiders.  With great contribution from Rene Ault and Erin Kennedy, the Raiders would hold on for an exciting opening round win.  The Spartans were led in scoring by Natalie Delon and Morgan Dillon with 15 and 13 points, respectfully.  The victorious Raiders were led by Mary Andrejko with 20, Ashley Bruni with 13, and Erin Kennedy 11.  The Raiders will next be in action on Saturday, February 25th, against the Monessen Greyhounds, at a site and time to be determined.

Fort Cherry Rangers 68 – Aliquippa Quips 38  
From a close game to a blowout–things happen quickly sometimes.  Fort Cherry hadn't played in nine days, and it showed in the opening quarter.  Aliquippa got 10 points from Nakira Emerson in that quarter, keeping the Quips within three of the Rangers.  And, then, IT happened.  Bekah Bellhy erupted for 14 second-quarter points and the Rangers put two runs together in the quarter, 13-2 to start the perion and 9-0 to end it.  That was all Bob Miles' team needed.  But, just to be sure, Carolena Gasbarro dropped in 8 of her 20 points in the third quarter as Fort Cherry pushed the margin to 59-30.  In the Rangers' last outing, Gasbarro scored 11 points just hours before her mother, Maddy, passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Fort Cherry (22-1), WPIAL finalist a year ago, plays Cornell seven days from now in the WPIAL quarterfinals.  Bellhy had game honors with 29 points, including 13 of 17 at the foul line.  Emerson finished the game with 20 points for Aliquippa (7-12).  Jaclyn Watkins added 11.

Cornell Raiders 41 – Serra Catholic Eagles 34  
 The "Upset Special" was on the menu at the Chartiers-Houston Field House on Saturday as the 11th seeded Raiders knocked off the 6th seeded Eagles.  It didn't look good early for Cornell, as Serra jumped out to a 10-3 lead after the 1st quarter.  Serra's defense was stifling during the first 8-minutes as well, forcing seven Cornell turnovers in the opening quarter.  But the Raiders came to life in the 2nd quarter, outscoring the Eagles 16-9 to send the teams to the locker rooms at the half even at 19-19.  Cornell started the 2nd half hot, as the Raiders scored the first 9 points of the 3rd quarter, the first six of which were scored by Cornell's Marlana Fuller.  The Raiders would lead by as many as 12, before Serra cut the deficit to 9 and the 3rd quarter would close with Cornell up 33-24.  The Eagles mounted a comeback in the 4th quarter and cut the Cornell lead to 3, but the Raiders would remain composed.  Led by Marcena Sheperd's strong play at both ends of the court, the Raiders weathered the storm to hold on for the win.  Cornell's defense was the story in this game. Serra came in to the playoffs averaging 57.7 points per game, which was the 5th highest total in Class-A.  But the Eagles were held to 34 points by a Cornell defense that held Serra's leading scorer Jamie Tedescco to 7 points.  Nicole Pero also chipped in 7 for the Eagles.  Cornell was led by Brittney Hines, who scored a game high 12 points.  Fuller and Sheperd added 10 points each for the Raiders.  For Cornell (12-11) it was their 6th straight victory.  The Raiders will move on to play Fort Cherry on February 25th.  Serra finishes the 2011-2012 season at 14-8.