WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Tuesday, February 17th

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 | 12:50 AM

After two days of no surprises, eye-brows were raised all over in Boys Class AAA as the lucky #13-seed rung true after the Highlands Golden Rams squeaked past the 4th-seed West Mifflin Titans. There were also a couple of scares for a pair of top-seeds. Here are recaps from the Boys AAA and A and Girls AAAA and AA First Round games played on Tuesday.

A special thanks goes out to Gero Von Dahn, Lee Mohn, Matt Vandriak, Paul Paterra, Bob Gregg, Chris Lackner, Steve Nagler, Sean Meyers, Randy Gore, Mark Uriah, T.J. DiStefano, Lou Rood, Scott Briggs, Cory Campano, Mike Azadian, Brian Mroziak, Dennis Fischer, Bob Barrickman, Mark Schaas, Josh Rowntree and John Smathers for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round:

Mars Fighting Planets 90 – Laurel Highlands Mustangs 54 
Top-seeded Mars used a dominant third quarter to break open what had been a competitive game against Laurel Highlands, as the Fighting Planets rolled to a 90-54 victory in Class AAA first-round play at Fox Chapel Area High School. Mars forced a slew of turnovers to jump out to the lead early in the contest, but the Mustangs settled down as the first quarter progressed, and began to solve the Planets’ aggressive pressure defense. As a result, No. 16 Laurel Highlands played Mars even in the second frame, in large part because of the contributions of Jake Swartz, who netted 18 first-half points for the Mustangs. After holding a 12-point edge to begin the second half, Mars outscored Laurel Highlands 24-7 in the frame, highlighted by the gravity-defying alley-oop dunk by freshman Robby Carmody. Mars (22-1) asserted its dominance on the glass, as well as from behind the arc, in the contest. To that point, John Castello notched 18 points, including several on offensive rebounds and putbacks, while Christian Schmitt scored a game-high 24 points, keyed by six makes from behind the arc. Alex Gruber also reached double-figures in the victory, as he added 13 points. Swartz led the way for Laurel Highlands (13-11) with 22, but he was limited to just one field goal in the second half. With the triumph, the Fighting Planets advance to face No. 9 Ambridge in quarterfinals play on Friday.

Ambridge Bridgers 86 – Uniontown Red Raiders 69 
The dynamic duo of Daylon Carter and Darius Lawrence combined for 75 of Ambridge’s 84 points as the Bridgers avenged a first round playoff loss suffered against Uniontown last year and defeated the Red Raiders 84 to 69 in a Boys “AAA” 1st round game on Tuesday Night at Canon-McMillan High School.  Carter lead the Bridgers with 42 points while Lawrence added 33.  After Uniontown scored the opening 5 points of the game, Ambridge went on a 24 to 12 run to lead Uniontown 24 to 17 after 1 quarter of play.  The Bridgers outscored Uniontown 18 to 15 in the 2nd quarter to lead 42 to 32 at halftime.  After the teams picked up 14 points a piece in the 3rd quarter the Bridgers lead 56 to 46 going to the 4th, Uniontown pulled to within 6 points of Ambridge with 4 minutes left in the game but missed layups, poor free throw shooting and foul trouble would be the demise of the Red Raiders in the final four minutes as Rodney Harris, Lyric Ellis and Deaundre Winfrey would all foul out of the game for Uniontown and Ambridge pulled away for the 84 to 69 win.  While Uniontown struggled at the foul line going 18 of 35 for the night, Ambridge’s star players shined, Carter was 19 of 21 from the foul line and Lawrence was 16 of 19 from the stripe.  Ambridge now 15-7 advances to the WPIAL Quarterfinals on Friday to play Mars, the season ends for Uniontown with an 18-5 record.

Highlands Golden Rams 77 – West Mifflin Titans 76 
In a WPIAL Boys AAA First Round thriller, No. 13 Highlands (13-11) knocked off No. 4 West Mifflin, 77-76, on Tuesday night at Baldwin High School. Mitch Dezort led the Golden Rams with 23 points and ten rebounds, while Brayden Thimons (16 points), Ryan Boda (13 points) and Tyler Alworth (12 points) all hit double figures. Highlands was able to jump out to an early lead, taking an 18-12 lead to the end of the first quarter. But the Titans (19-3) would battle back in the second quarter behind 11 of Josh Long’s game-high 28 points, including a three-pointer with seconds left, giving West Mifflin a 35-34 halftime lead. But momentum shifted to Highlands side after intermission, as the Golden Rams would outscore the Titans 24-11 in the third quarter behind four three-pointers. Down by 16 at one point, West Mifflin would fight back in the final quarter thanks to 13 points from Long and 11 of Karlyn Garner’s 22 points. The teams would exchange blows and leads during a series of end-to-end drives and layups in the final minutes of the game. Down 77-75, West Mifflin senior guard Aaron Adams, who scored 13 points in the game, would get a shot to tie the game at the foul line. Adams would make the first shot but miss the second. However, Highlands would throw the ball away after securing the rebound, allowing West Mifflin a chance to win with 6.3 seconds left. Long would take an inbound near the mid-court line, but slip and lose control of the ball, which fell into the hands of Titans senior forward Phil Jackson. Jackson would throw a shot from near half court towards the rim, but it would fall well short, giving Highlands the narrow win. The Golden Rams will move into the WPIAL AA Quarterfinals, where they will meet No. 5 Indiana on Friday at a site and time to be determined. The loss is the first in eleven games for West Mifflin, who fall in the first round for a fourth consecutive season.

Indiana Little Indians 67 – Central Valley Warriors 48 
Indiana defeated Central Valley, 57-48, Tuesday night in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, knocking out the defending champion Warriors. Kevin Jack led the Indiana effort with 16 points, followed by Dylan Stapleton with 14 and Blake Shields with 11. In the fourth quarter, Riley Stapleton scored all of his 10 points for Indiana on five dunks.

Beaver Falls Tigers 68 – Knoch Knights 51 
The Knoch Knights boys basketball season came to a close Tuesday night the same way it has for the past three years – with a loss in the first round of the WPIAL Playoffs at North Allegheny HIgh School.  Beaver Falls, the 2nd seeded team in the tournament, shook of some early rust, and eliminated the Knights 68-51.  The Knights outplayed Beaver Falls most of the first quarter before the Tigers’ Keyan Gibson knocked down three straight triples to give them a 14-11 lead after the first eight minutes. The stubborn Knights would battle to keep the lead only in single digits until midway through the final quarter when the Tiger’s speed and size took over.  Beaver Falls nailed 18 of 20 second half free throws to expand their lead and lock up the game midway into the 4th.  Beaver Fall’s Josh Creach and Donovan Jeter lead the winners with 18 and 15 points.  Knoch’s Matt Zanella led the Knights with 18, giving him a career 801 points – good for 12th on Knoch’s all-time scoring list.  Knoch sophomore Mac Christy added 10, while junior point guard Aiden Albert netted 9 – proving that the cupboard will not be bear for head coach Ron McNabb heading into the next season.  He’ll also return sophomores P.J. Gourley, Jackson McKee, Devin Campbell, and Josh Knochel – all who made significant contributions to the Knights this season.  In addition to Zanella, Troy Hixon finished his basketball career at Knoch – Hixson was a key part of Knoch’s season as a defensive specialist, clutch scorer, and team leader.  Beaver Falls moves on and will face South Fayette in the quarter final round.  All three other section 1 teams advanced to the quarters – Mars, Hampton and HIghlands all were winners Tuesday night.  Mars will face Ambridge, Highlands faces old foe Indiana, while Hampton has a rematch of last year’s AAAA final with New Castle.
AND:
BEAVER FALLS LOOKED LIKE A TEAM THAT HADN’T PLAYED IN 11 DAYS EARLY IN ITS CONTEST AGAINST KNOCH BUT FOUND ITS RHYTHM LATE IN THE FIRST QUARTER AND THEN WENT ON TO WIN 68-51 IN A BOYS AAA 1ST ROUND GAME TUESDAY AT NORTH ALLEGHENY.  THE KNIGHTS TOOK AN EARLY 5-0 LEAD BEFORE KEYAN GIBSON CAME OFF THE TIGER BENCH TO HIT THREE 3-POINT FIELD GOALS TO PUT BEAVER FALLS UP 14-11 AFTER THE PERIOD.  THE TIGERS STEADILY INCREASED THE LEAD BUT STILL LED BY ONLY 45-36 AFTER THREE QUARTERS.  BEAVER FALLS PULLED AWAY IN THE FOURTH, HOWEVER, OUTSCORING THE KNIGHTS 23-15.  THE VICTORY WAS THE 12TH STRAIGHT FOR THE TIGERS AND PUSHED THEIR RECORD TO 20-2.  JOSH CREACH LED BEAVER FALLS WITH 18 POINTS, FOLLOWED BY DONOVAN JETER WITH 15, WHILE GIBSON NETTED 14 AND JAVON TURNER ADDED 13.  MATT ZANELLA LED KNOCH WITH 18 POINTS, AS THE KNIGHTS FINISHED THEIR CAMPAIGN AT 14-10.  BEAVER FALLS WILL MEET SOUTH FAYETTE IN THE QUARTERFINALS ON FRIDAY.

South Fayette Lions 77 – Steel Valley Ironmen 58 
The South Fayette Lions beat the Steel Valley Ironmen for the third time this season by a score of 77-58. Surprise news was released just hours before the teams tipped off that Steel Valley would be without head coach Drew Schifino and star forward Dom Keyes.  Schifino was a no-show and Keyes was lost due to academic ineligibility.  Had the Ironmen had their full arsenal, they may have put up a better fight.  South Fayette led by just a single point at halftime, but they had a bit of a sloppy two quarters.  A scoring domination of 21 points, to Steel Valley’s 9, in the third quarter sparked the Lions. They fed off of momentum provided by Jack Relihan’s 28 points and Brett Brumbaugh’s 17 point 11 rebound double double.  Brendan Donovan put up 20 for Steel Valley to try and make up for the absence of Keyes, but it was not enough.  Once South Fayette extended their lead to beyond 10 points in the second half they seemed to keep it there.  They also went 14 for 23 at the foul line while Steel Valley got to line just 7 times the entire game.  South Fayette’s adjustments at the half proved wise and they played with total poise in the second half. The lions move to 18-4 on the season and have a tall task ahead of them, as they look to face #2 seed Beaver Falls on Friday.

Hampton Talbots 77 – Southmoreland Scotties 48 
The #3 seed Hampton Talbots advanced to the quarterfinal round of the WPIAL Triple A boys basketball tournament on Tuesday night with a 77-48 win over the #14 seed Southmoreland Scotties at North Hills High School.  Hampton led 16-10 after one period, 41-23 at the half, and 63-37 at the end of three quarters.  The Talbots were led by senior Jack Morrison with 16 points, senior Pat Murray with 15, and seniors Joey Lafko and Dave Huber with 10 points each.  Hampton converted eleven 3-point field goals, including four by Morrison.  Southmoreland’s top scorers were junior Doug Leighty with 14 and sophomore Tom Pisula with 10.  Hampton (19-4) will meet New Castle, an 80-64 winner over South Park, on Friday night in the quarterfinals at a time and site to be determined.  The Scotties end their season at 18-6.

New Castle Red Hurricane 80 – South Park Eagles 64 
The three-time champions won their thirteenth consecutive WPIAL playoff game against a game South Park team on Tuesday night at Moon High School. Junior Micah Fulena scored a career-high 23 points in the victory, which sets up another New Castle vs. Hampton match-up in the quarterfinals on Friday. New Castle led 23-18 after one quarter, helped by three pointers by Geno Stone, Marquel Hooker and Fulena, the Red Hurricanes dictated the pace the entire night. South Park would take a 30-29 lead in the second but that lead lasted less than ten seconds and New Castle would not trail again. The Red Hurricanes pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 21-8. Fulena added another eight points in the frame, all on drives into the lane and over the taller South Park defenders. The Eagles got as close as 11 in the fourth quarter but New Castle converted free throws down the stretch to advance, the Canes were 12 of 17 from the line in the fourth. Three other New Castle players ended in double figures, Marquel Hooker had 17 points with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Marcus Hooker scored 13 points and equaled that with 13 rebounds, Robert Natale added 11 points for New Castle, now 19-4 and winners of three straight. For South Park, it was all seniors leading the way, Dan Wanker scored 20, Justin Gorny added 18 and Shawn Coologhan with 10. The Eagles finish 16-7. New Castle and Hampton will meet for the eleventh time in the last three seasons, including three times in the WPIAL title game, the Canes are 9-1 in those meetings, the only loss came earlier this season to Hampton 87-67 at the New Castle Field House.

WPIAL CLASS A First Round:

Sewickley Academy Panthers 60 – Serra Catholic Eagles 50 
The top-seeded Sewickley Academy Panthers survived some opening round jitters and poor first quarter shooting en route to a Class A first round victory at West Allegheny HS on Tuesday night.  While struggling to hit shots, the Panthers looked up at an early 11-4 deficit against the game Serra Catholic Eagles nearly four minutes into the game.  However, the Panthers were able to find their shooting touch enough to outscore the Eagles 10-2 to close out the first quarter and give themselves a slim 14-13 lead after one quarter of play.  The would go on to outscore Serra Catholic 15-11 in the 2nd quarter to take a 5-point lead into the break.  And while the game got close down the stretch with the Eagles closing the lead to just one point with just over 3 minutes to go in the game, the Panthers hit 11-14 foul shots late to salt away the victory.  Chris Groetsch led the way for Sewickley Academy by scoring 16 points and the Groetsch, Declan Hickton (11), Justin Pryor (9) and Drew Johnson (11) combination scored 47 of the sixty Panthers points on the night.  Sewickley Academy did a great job defensively on Eagles standout Joe Satira.  Satira entered the game averaging 23.5 points on the year and fresh off his 35-point performance in the preliminary win against Geibel but could manage just 11 points on the night.  Eagles senior Zac Quattrone paced Serra Catholic by scoring 15 points before fouling out late in the 4th quarter.  Anthony Koval (11) and Nate Andrews (10) both scored in double-digits for the Eagles.  With the win, the Sewickley Academy Panthers advance to the quarterfinals to face familiar section foe Eden Christian, time and location to be determined.

Eden Christian Academy Warriors 60 – Clairton Bears 46 
The #8 seed Eden Christian Warriors jumped on the #9 seed Clairton Bears in the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 60-46 win Tuesday night in the first round of the playoffs at Gateway High School. The win marks the first ever playoff win in Eden Christian history. The Warriors led the Bears 13-4 after one quarter and extended the lead to 30-13 at the half. The keys to the game were Eden Christian making shots and doing well at the foul line, while Clairton struggled to do both. The Bears are a very athletic team and just couldn’t get into a rhythm the entire contest. Eden would extend the lead to 42-27 after three. Despite a late run in the fourth frame it wasn’t enough for the Bears. Eden Christian had three players in double figures led by Carter Ehms with 16, Drew Aiken added 12 and Kenny Scott chipped in 12 coming off the bench. The Warriors shot were 17 of 20 from the foul line. On the other side, Clairton was led by Uri Meyers with 13 points and Aaron Matthews with 10. Clairton struggled at the charity stripe going only 4 of 15. Eden Christian improves to 18-5 on the season and will battle #1 seed Sewickley Academy for the third time this season on Friday night. Sewickley won the first two meetings 67-52 and 56-45. Clairton ends the season at 8-13.

Monessen Greyhounds 76 – St. Joseph Spartans 47 
Norwin High School hosted #2 Monessen and #15 St. Joseph’s in first round Class A action.  The game was close through the first half with the Greyhounds leading 14-10 after one and 31-24 at the half.  Sam Beaver the Spartan’s 6-4 center returned to the lineup after missing games for injury and had an immediate impact on the game scoring 14 points in the first half, coming up with key rebounds and blocking shots as the Spartans gave Monessen a battle.  Lavalle Rush had 9 for the Hounds and Justice Rice and Dwight Moore each chipped in 7 points to key Monessen.  The start of the second half marked a change in momentum as the Hounds outscored the Spartans 21-12 in the. 3rd quarter to open up a 52-36 lead.  It continued into the 4th as Monessen outscored St. Joe’s 24 to 11 which led to the final of 76-47.  Sam Beaver who keyed the Spartan’s first half run was held to 2 points in the 2nd half and finished with 16.  John Ferguson added 10 points as the only other Spartan in double figures.  Lavalle Rush led a balanced Monessen attack with 20 points followed by Jaden Altomore with 18, Justice Rice with 13 and Dwight Moore with 11.  Monessen moves on to the next round to play section foe California-a team they have defeated convincingly twice already.

California Trojans 46 – Union Scotties 44 
Union’s Garrison Bell had his runner in the lane bounce off the rim as time expired, and California defeated the Scotties 46-44 in a thriller Tuesday night at Chartiers Valley in the boys Class A playoffs. The Trojans Kass Taylor gave California the lead with just seven seconds to play, following a Trojans time out with 25 seconds to play. California led 28-20 at halftime, but the Scotties outscored the Trojans 15-6 in the third quarter to lead by one going in to the fourth. Union’s Cornell Charles let all scorers with 17 points. Bell was also in double figures with 10. Tray Matthews led a balanced California attack with eleven points. Kass had 10 for the Trojans who face section rival Monessen in Friday’s quarter-finals.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Penn-Trafford Warriors 45 –  Seneca Valley Raiders 43 
The defending girls AAAA champion Penn Trafford Warriors the number 1 overall seed, barely squeaked by the number 16 seeded and upset minded Seneca Valley  Raiders  by a score of 45-43. They will face the number 9 seeded Penn Hills Indians on Friday February 20th at a site and time to be determined. The Raiders started strong with an 8-0 run n the first 3:00 minutes of the game, they out rebounded the Warriors, and took advantage of turnovers.  Penn Trafford would come back to tie the game at 10-10 at the end of the quarter. The second quarter saw  Seneca run out on a 7-0 run to take a 17-10 lead. But the Warriors closed with a 12-4 run to lead by one at the half 22-21. Emma Munn hit a three pointer at the buzzer to give Penn Trafford the lead. For Seneca Michaela LaMont had 8 points to lead her team at the half. The start of the third quarter saw Penn Trafford go up early and take a lead. It looked like cinderella may be done as the Raiders were not playing well and turning the ball over. But in the last 3:00 minutes the Raiders came back and took the lead 35-33  going into the fourth quarter. In a game where the underdog led most of the game the 4th quarter was very low scoring. Both teams worked the offense and tried taking good shots. With the game tied at 43-43 and under :30 seconds to play Seneca Valley had the ball and were working for the last shot, but they turned the ball over under their own basket. Penn Trafford moved up court and with under :10 seconds worked  the ball around, and with time expiring found Katy Abreu alone under the basket for an easy lay up to win the game 45-43. A heartbroken Raider team walked slowly off the court as the Warriors celebrated. Seneca was led in scoring by LaMont with 12 points. Penn Trafford’s Maria Palarino had 14, and Kylie Grabowski added 10 for the victors. Warrior head coach John Giannikas after the game was relieved his team won, “thats a good team we just played, I have no idea how they are a number 16 seed”

Penn Hills Indians 65 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 42 
Perhaps disrespect was the motivating factor…but the Penn Hills Indians came out looking to scalp someone in this opening round matchup at North Allegheny.  Penn Hills, who were the regular season champions of Section-2, felt the #9 seed was a little low for a section champion, took out their frustrations on Mt. Lebanon, scoring the first 15 points of the game.  The Indians led 19-4 after the opening quarter, and pushed that lead to 23-4 early in the 2nd quarter.  But the Blue Devils weren’t going to go down without a fight, as a 10-0 run in that 2nd quarter got them back into the game.  Mt. Lebanon outscored Penn Hills in the second frame 17-11, cutting the Indians lead to 9 at the half.  The Blue Devils cut that lead to 6 early in the 3rd quarter, but then Penn Hills dynamic duo of Desiree Oliver and Jade Ely took over.  Oliver and Ely would combine for 43 points, and the Indians would outscore the Blue Devils 18-9 in the 3rd quarter, and 17-12 in the fourth, en route to a 23 point win.  Penn Hills was led by Oliver’s game high 22 points, while Ely finished 1 point behind with 21.  Mt. Lebanon was led by Maura Wallace’s 17 points, while Kate Sramac contributed 10 points.  The Indians improved to 14-9 overall with the win, and will face #1 seed Penn-Trafford in the Quarterfinals on Friday night.  Mt. Lebanon finished the 2014-15 season with a record of 13-10.

North Allegheny Tigers 67 – Latrobe Wildcats 21 
For the second straight season, the North Allegheny girls’ basketball team dealt the Latrobe Wildcats an early post-season exit with a 67-21 triumph in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs. Last season, NA bounced Latrobe with a 77-34 win and in similar fashion handed the Wildcats a lopsided defeat on Tuesday night at Fox Chapel. The Lady Tigers leaped to a 14-0 lead with hot shooting from the field and ballooned the lead to 36-10 by halftime thanks to a stifling defense.  North Allegheny shot 48 percent in the first half and pressured Latrobe into 14 first half turnovers and 28 turnovers for the game.  The Tigers invoked the mercy rule in the early stages of the fourth quarter and cruised to the 46-point victory. North Allegheny junior Abby Gonzales harassed the Wildcats into several miscues and turned them into points.  Gonzales finished with a game-high 19 points and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the victory.  Joining Gonzales in double figures was senior Devvin LaBarge and junior Taylor Lake who totaled 11 and 10 points, respectively.  Sophomore Hailey Zeise dominated the glass with 13 rebounds and chipped in with six points.  For Latrobe, junior standout Madison Kollar paced the Wildcats with seven points.  NA’s pressure defense prevented Latrobe from getting the ball into the hands of Kollar, relegating the talented forward into a non-factor. Laura Graytock, an up-and-coming freshman for Latrobe, had four fouls by halftime and finished with four points.
Second-seeded North Allegheny improves to 21-2 on the year and will take on the Baldwin Highlanders in the WPIAL quarterfinals on Friday night.  After reaching the playoffs for a second straight season, Latrobe’s season ends with a 9-14 record.

Baldwin Highlanders 34 – Gateway Gators 28 
Baldwin did not make a field goal in the fourth quarter. It didn’t matter. The Highlanders hit six foul shots in the frame to break a 28-28 tie and emerge victorious at Norwin high School in a game that featured strong defense by both teams. Baldwin entered the fourth quarter on a 14-2 run and took a 28-22 lead into the quarter. Gateway evened the score at 28-28 on two baskets by Morgan Hainsey and a long jumper by Alexis Smith. However, Gateway would not score again.  Lauren Gilbert – whose free throw gave Baldwin a 29-28 lead – led the Highlanders with 13 points and Amanda Larkin chipped in with 10. Hainsey paced Gateway with 8.

WPIAL CLASS AA First Round:

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 65 – West Shamokin Wolves 36 
Defending WPIAL Girls AA Basketball Champion and top-seeded Seton-LaSalle started their march to a seventh consecutive appearance in the WPIAL Basketball Championships in impressive fashion, running away with a 65-36 victory over No. 16 West Shamokin on Tuesday night at Baldwin High School. After a slow start and just a 15-6 lead after one quarter, the Rebels (16-7) put their foot on the gas and got hot from beyond the arc, building a 45-12 halftime lead thanks, in part, to eight first half three-pointers. With the commanding second half lead, the Rebels were able to rest their starters for Friday’s Quarterfinal showdown vs No. 8 Neshannock. Morgan Henderson scored a team-high 14 points and Nicolete Newman added ten for Seton-LaSalle. West Shamokin (12-12), which fell to Seton-LaSalle in the First Round for a second consecutive season, was paced by Lizy Cornish’s 14 points, as well as Katie Glover’s nine points and 13 rebounds.

Neshannock Lancers 39 – Shady Side Academy Indians 24 
The Neshannock Lancers broke open a close game at halftime and pulled away from Shady Side in the 2nd half and defeated the Indians 39-24 in first round AA girls action Tuesday night.  Neshannock broke a 5-5 tie in the first quarter by going on a 9-0 run with 3 pointers from Madison McHale and Taylor Grybowski but the Indians would tighten their defense and cut the lead to 2 points early in the 3rd but Maddison McHale hit a 3 pointer after a Lancer rebound and the Lancers would open up a 9 point lead at the end of 3 quarters and would go on to victory.  Madison McHale led the Lancers with 20 points and Cassidy Burrelli chipped in with 11.  For Shady Side Sarah Hacke had 7 points to lead the Indians.  Neshannock will now move on to the quarterfinals where they will face #1 seeded Seton LaSalle on Friday night.

Carlynton Cougars 52 – Frazier Commodores 22 
After a 1st half defensive struggle, Carlynton took charge in the 2nd half and defeated Frazier 52 to 22 in a Girls “AA” 1st Round Game on Tuesday Night at Canon-McMillan High School.  The Cougars lead just 14 to 9 at Halftime but outscored Frazier 20 to 6 in the 3rd quarter and 18 to 7 in the 4th quarter to pull away in the 2nd half.  Carlynton Sophomore Ashleigh Wilson scored a game high 18 points and Conor Richardson who is headed to Duquesne University on a basketball scholarship next year was also in double figures with 15 points for the Cougars.  Hannah Fell lead Frazier with 7 points.  The Commodores season ends with a 13-9 record.  Carlynton improves to 18-5 and moves in the Girls “AA” Quarterfinals on Friday.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 65 – Washington Little Prexies 34 
Washington led 13-12 after one quarter but it was all OLSH after that. The Chargers outscored the Little Prexies 20 to 5 in the second quarter, and cruised to a 65-34 win. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s pressure defense forced Washington into turnovers and the Chargers depth was too much for the Prexies to overcome. Heidi Langhorst led the way with 18 points, Courtney Alexander added 17 and Jackie Matthews 16 to lead the Chargers. Washington had three players with nine points each: Taylor Ellis, Mikala Maltony and Tajah Gordon.

Burrell Buccaneers 60 – Freedom Bulldogs 19 
The Path to the Pete continued on Tuesday night from North Hills High School. The #2 Burrell Buccaneers welcomed the #15 Freedom Bulldogs as their first test in the 2015 rendition of the Girl’s AA WPIAL basketball playoffs. Freedom earned the #15 seed last Friday in a 43-38 preliminary round win over Brentwood.  The Bulldogs had their work cut out for them if they wanted to take down a high powered Burrell team that boasts two of the stars of AA in Sydney Bordonaro and Natalie Myers. Bordonaro, Myers, and crew started the 1st half strong on both the offensive and defensive side of the basketball. So strong in fact that the Lady Bucs began the game on a 16-0 run that lasted the entire 1st quarter. Burrell spread the scoring love in the 1st to 4 of their 5 starters. Freedom struggled to advance the basketball out of their own backcourt with a pesky full court press being put on by head coach Meghan Ziemianski’s Bucs. The 1st half concluded with Burrell on a 28-2 run. Casey Spieler was the lone Lady Bulldog to get on the score sheet with a nice jumper in the 2nd quarter. The Burrell Lady Bucs broke away for good in the 3rd quarter. A gigantic 3rd for Bucs forward Natalie Myers sealed Freedom’s fate at North Hills High School. A 13 spot for Myers in the 3rd was more than enough to allow her go over 1,000 career points at Burrell. A nice achievement that was recognized by the rest of her teammates on the bench as well as the attending fans both local and opposing. A running clock in the 4th quarter sped up a dominating performance by the #2 seed. The final score in this 1st round game was 60-19 as Burrell was victorious over the Freedom Bulldogs. Leading scorers for Burrell were Natalie Myers with 20 and Sydney Bordanaro with 15. Madi Daubenspeck led Freedom with 4 points. The Lady Bulldogs end their season with 11-13 record overall. The Lady Bucs move on to face Chartiers-Houston in the next round. That game will be played Friday at a site and time to be determind.

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 54 – Mohawk Warriors 37 
Alexa Williamson scored 15 points in the first half, Jalynn Myers and Jala Youngblood each hit double digits after intermission as #10 Chartiers-Houston topped Mohawk, 54-37.  The Bucs scored the game’s first six points and never trailed.  Williamson finished the game with 19 points but spent the entire third quarter on the bench with four fouls.  CHHS (16-7) led by nine at the break and held the Warriors to one field goal in the third quarter, scoring the final 11 points of the period including Myers’ two three-pointers.  Mohawk (16-6) never challenged again.  Aliya Gage had 11 points for the Warriors, the only Mohawk player to reach double figures.  The win sets up a battle of the Bucs as Chartiers-Houston will take on #2 seed Burrell in the quarterfinals Friday.

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 64 – Beth-Center Bulldogs 33 
The Greensburg Central Catholic Lady Centurions clicked on all cylinders in their first round rout over Beth Center.  GCC outscored their opponent 31-10 in the first quarter and 14 of those points came from their stud senior Carolyn Appleby. She finished with 18 points on the evening, while sitting the entire second half.  Abbey Mirgliano added 14 points of her own, while Leah Bisignani pulled down 10 boards in a dominant victory.  Anna Bartman had a solid output in her last high school game for Beth Center putting up 15 of the team’s 33 points.  Winning and moving on to the next round, GCC will face the 14 and 9 Bishop Canevin Crusaders on Friday at a site to be determined.  They are now 19-2 on the season and prove as a worthy 3 seed in Girls AA Basketball.

Bishop Canevin Crusaders 53 – Riverside Panthers 21 
The Bishop Canevin Crusaders had no problem with the Riverside Panthers in a class AA matchup at Moon High School.  The Crusaders used a 12-0 game opening run to jump in front and they were never threatened.  Stifling defense kept the Panthers without a point until the final minute of the first quarter.  A 26-11 halftime lead would quickly turn into a 42-11 Crusader lead and Bishop Canevin cruised to a 53-21 victory and a date with Greensburg Central Catholic on Friday.  5’9 jr forward Gina Vallecorsa was a force for Canevin with 12 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 asissts and 2 blocks to go along with 6 points.  Junior guard Erin Joyce led all scorers with 14 points for the Crusaders who held Riverside’s electric guard Katie Stang to just 6 points.