WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Tuesday 2/21

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 | 10:44 PM

Another night of First Round games in the district postseason and the song remains the same as the favorites keep rolling into Round Two. On this third day of opening round contests, 12 of 14 higher seeds were victorious and only a pair of #10-seeds over #7-seeds were the so-called surprises. Here are the recaps from the ten 5-A and 2-A boys games and the four 6-A girls games from Tuesday nights action on MSA Sports.

A special thanks to Don Rebel, Andy Stanko, Dennis Fischer, Rennie Detore, Bob Gregg, Mark Uriah, Josh Rowntree, Mark Schaas, Brian Mroziak, Kyle Dawson and Tyler Friel for their help on these recaps.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS 5-A First Round:

Laurel Highlands Mustangs 49 – Highlands Golden Rams 48 
The Laurel Highlands Mustangs and Highlands Golden Rams played another Epic WPIAL High School Basketball Playoff Game on Tuesday Night at Norwin High School.  Laurel Highlands rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit and outscored the Rams 14 to 7 in the 4th quarter to pick up the win in a Boys 5A First Round Playoff Game.  The Mustangs lead only twice the entire game, at 3-2 in the opening quarter when Bryce Laskey hit an opening three for the Mustangs and in the final 13 second when Laskey sunk two free throws to put the Mustangs up for good at 49 to 48.  The Rams had an opportunity to retake the lead on their final possession, but an interior pass that was intended for Mitch Dezort was intercepted by Hudson Novak to seal the win for the Mustangs.  Laskey was the only Mustang to score in the 4th quarter outscoring Highlands 14 to 7 himself in the final frame.  He scored a game high 26 points.  Free throw shooting was the deciding factor. Brayden Thimons was 0 of 5 at the foul line for Highlands in the 4th quarter while Laskey was 7 of 8 at the foul line.  Mitch Dezort lead Highlands with 12 points, while Thimons added 11.  The Rams, who were a WPIAL Finalist in AAA last year and returned 4 starters, see their season end with a record of 12-11. Laurel Highlands, who fell in the playoffs last year to Mars, will get another shot at the #1 seed Planets in the WPIAL Quarterfinals on Friday.  The Mustangs have now won 8 games in a row and are 18-5 overall.  This game between the Mustangs and Golden Rams followed playoff matchups between the schools in 2007, where Laurel Highlands as a #15 seed upset the second seeded Rams 85 to 76 off a huge effort from Kayleb Ramsey.  In 2010, Laurel Highlands overcame a 22 point halftime deficit to force overtime with the Rams, but Highlands would outlast Laurel Highlands in double overtime 80 to 77.

McKeesport Tigers 46 – Armstrong River Hawks 42 
Entering Tuesday’s playoff game between #13 Armstrong and #4 McKeesport at Plum High School, both coaches knew the type of game that was going to unfold. Greg Hutcherson of Armstrong wanted his team to slow the pace and play the Armstrong style of basketball, an old school, drug out style of defensive-minded basketball. Gerald Grayson was aware the River Hawks would make an effort to slow the Tigers down, a team that likes to run and score at a high volume. After a 9-2 start for Armstrong, McKeesport battled back and took a 22-19 lead to the halftime break. After a back-and-forth second half, McKeesport came out victorious by four points, but it took what Grayson called postgame, a calming factor and disciplined effort. Grayson thought his team achieved that late. Eight different players scored for the Tigers, including one in double figures. That was senior Raquan Elliot, who scored the first ten points of the fourth quarter for the Tigers, giving them a lead they would never relinquish. For the River Hawks, Joe McCanna scored 15 points to lead all scorers in the game, while Nate Baillie scored 10 of his own. After staving off an upset, McKeesport moves on to the Class 5A quarterfinals to do battle with #5 Hampton, in what is shaping up to be a premiere Friday night matchup on MSA Sports at a site and time to be announced.

Hampton Talbots 60 – Kiski Area Cavaliers 44 
The Hampton Talbots defeated the Kiski Cavaliers, 60-44, on Tuesday night at Fox Chapel High School to advance to the quarterfinal round of the boys 5A basketball playoffs.  In a game that featured outstanding defense from both teams, Hampton led 14-10 after one period of play and 33-25 at the half.  The Talbots finally took control of the game in the third quarter, pulling away to a 50-35 advantage before winning by 16.  Hampton (14-9) was led by seniors Antonio Ionadi with 20 points and Nick Schuitt with 11, and freshman Isaac DeGregorio with 10.  Kiski was paced by sophomore Ryne Wallace with 13, while seniors Kyle Harris and Jon Bracy chipped in 11 and 10 respectively.  The #5 seed Talbots will meet the #4 seed McKeesport Tigers, a 46-42 winner over Armstrong, on Friday night at a site and time to be determined.  Kiski saw it's season end at 10-11.

Franklin Regional Panthers 80 – Trinity Hillers 69 
Franklin Regional made 12 three-point baskets and went 14-14 from the free throw line to defeat Trinity 80-69. Hunter Stonecheck led the Panthers with 15-points. Aiden Fisch and Tyler Giles each added eleven off the bench for Franklin Regional. Trinity (14-9) trailed by four after three quarters, 57-53. But the Hillers could not slow down the Panthers who received offensive contributions from nine different players. Trinity’s Joey Koroly led all scorers with 23 points. Franklin Regional (13-10) moves on to Friday’s quarter finals against second-seeded Moon.

Gateway Gators 47 – Thomas Jefferson Jaguars 36 
No. 6 Gateway (11-12) used a smothering interior defense to grind out a 47-36 win over No. 11 Thomas Jefferson (11-12) on Tuesday night at Plum High School. Junior J.P. Kromka scored a game-high 16 points, grabbed ten rebounds and blocked five shots, as the Gators advance to the WPIAL Boys 5A Quarterfinals, where they will meet No. 3 Chartiers Valley on Friday at a site and time to be determined. Early in the second quarter, Thomas Jefferson evened the game at 12-12 on a three-pointer by Nick Freiwald. But Gateway took over after that, closing the half on a 19-2 run, taking a 31-14 lead to the locker room. The Jaguars tried to claw back in the second half, holding the Gators to only one made field goal in the final 16 minutes. But Gateway went to the foul line 30 times after intermission, finishing the night 16-of-32 on foul shots. Courtney Jackson added eleven points and Jaquan Brisker scored ten points and pulled in nine rebounds for the Gators. Zane Zandier, the University of Virginia football recruit, led Thomas Jefferson with nine points. However, Jaguars leading scorer, Justin Farrell (18.1 points per game) managed to only score five points, as Thomas Jefferson starters contributed only 21 points against Gateway's defense. Dom DeCicco's Jaguars will lose four starters and six seniors to graduation. Gateway is off to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2014.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS 2-A First Round:

Neshannock Lancers 46 – California Trojans 45 
Ean Oprean’s pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining allowed the Lancers to move on to quarterfinals for their 4th straight year. The victory moves the Lancers to 16-7 overall and a secures a date with undefeated and number 1 seed Greensburg Central Catholic on Friday. Neshannock had two chances to win the game in the final 11 seconds as Oprean missed a runner but Danny Welker secured the rebound and gained a timeout to set up the game winning play. Oprean took the pass off the inbound, was trapped trying to put up a shot, but pushed to the ground, bringing the whistle. California had taken the lead on Kass Taylor’s two free throws with 37 seconds remaining. The senior led the Trojans with 13 points, John DeFranco added 11 with Nate Luketich grabbed 12 rebounds. Chris Maize led Neshannock with 15 points, all from behind the arc, while Oprean finished with 13 and Dante DeLillo had 11. The Lancers were 9 of 18 behind the arc and that was the difference in a back and forth affair. California ends the season at 19-4.

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 60 – Leechburg Blue Devils 52 
Andrew Clark's three-pointer nearly two minutes into the fourth quarter put the Bucs in front to stay as #4 Chartiers-Houston survived a poor shooting night, downing Leechburg, 60-52.  The Bucs went on a 13-0 run late in the first and early in the second quarter to lead, 23-10.  But the Blue Devils crashed the boards, turned rebounds into points, then rained down treys to lead 28-27 at the break. Cory Nulph hit three three-pointers in the first half, then drained two more in the third quarter, helping Leechburg (9-11) to a 37-31 lead.  Chartiers-Houston (19-4) fought back to square the game three times over the final 3:30 of the period, going to the fourth even at 43-all.  Down by a point early in the fourth, Clark popped from the left wing, burying the 20-footer to give CHHS its first lead since late in the first half.  Cam Hanley led the Bucs with 22 points, six in the final period, despite hitting just 6 of his 13 free throws.  AJ Myers, the team's leading scorer, was held to 14 points in the game, struggling from the floor and the stripe, going just 2-for-7 at the line.  Spencer Terling's 10 points, six in the fourth quarter turned out to be enough to put Chartiers-Houston into the quarterfinals, thought to be for the first time since the merger between Chartiers Township and Houston Borough in the 1950s.  Nulph's seven treys, part of his 22-point night, led Leechburg.  Christian Hack finished with 10 points.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 82 – Frazier Commodores 32 
The Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers scored the first 14 points of the game and never trailed #12 Frazier en route to a fourth WPIAL quarterfinals appearance in the last five seasons. The Chargers press kept the Commodores offense at bay for much of the first eight minutes, holding Frazier scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the quarter. OLSH led 25-2 after the first eight minutes thanks to an aggressive defense and and four three-pointers from Desmond Ross in the frame. The Chargers cruised the rest of the way, outscoring Frazier 26-14 to extend to a 51-16 halftime lead. The Chargers' starters checked out of the game early in the third quarter with a 67-20 lead. Ross led all scorers with 29 points and seven triples. Donovan Johnson added 17 points, and 11 additional Chargers added to the scoresheet. Senior Josh Cox paced the Commodores with 16 points. OLSH advances to the quarterfinals and will face #4 Chartiers-Houston on Friday.

Summit Academy Knights 73 – Fort Cherry Rangers 71 
Kyree Ghoulson scored the winning basket with 5.6 seconds left to give the Knights their first playoff win since 2014. The junior ended with a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Summit Academy improves 9-12 and meets #2 seed Bishop Canevin on Friday. The Knights trailed 22-10 late in the first quarter until Coby Jaggon banked home a three pointer to beat the buzzer. That shot sparked the Knights, who used a 20 point second to take a 33-32 lead at the half. But the Rangers came back after trailing by 7 points entering the fourth and took the lead, going 8-13 from the field in the final frame. Fort Cherry could not seal the victory at the line, going 5-10 during the same stretch. Jaggon led all scorers with 26 points, and he also grabbed 9 boards. 6-7 senior Devon Brown had a whale of a game for the Rangers with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Another senior in Chad Colussy led the comeback with 20 points, 10 in the fourth. Junior Ryhan Culberson was held to 14 points, 8 below his average of 22 per game. Culberson spent most of the third quarter on the bench with 4 fouls. Fort Cherry ends the season at 15-8, having lost their last 3 games played.

Jeannette Jayhawks 59 – Bentworth Bearcats 35 
Led by a stifling defense, and one of the WPIAL's top scorers, Jeannette (12-11) ousted Bentworth from the playoffs, 59-35 in a first round WPIAL Class 2A game at Norwin High School. The Jayhawks defense held the Bearcats to a meager four points in the first quarter and three in the second quarter as Jeannette jumped out to a 37-7 halftime lead en route to victory. Bentworth, making their first playoff appearance since the 2011-2012 season looked overmatched, taking wild shots throughout the game and having no answer for Jeannette's constant full court press. Jeannette's Mike Pompei scored a game-high 21 points, 15 of which came on 3-point shots, to lead the Jayhawks, who advance to play Sewickley Academy, the number 3 seed in Class 2A. Sewickley finished the season with a 12-2 record and defeated this same Jayhawks team last year in the WPIAL Class A semifinals. Bentworth (10-13) was led by senior forward Will Bashioum with 12 points.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS 6-A First Round:

Hempfield Spartans 65 – Canon-McMillan Big Macs 47 
The #8 Hempfield Spartans toppled #9 Canon-McMillan 63-45 at Charleroi in the first round of the girls 6-A playoffs. Hempfield scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed. Hempfield opened the game on a 16-2 run and led 20-7 after the first eight minutes. The Spartans extended their lead to 17 points at the half thanks to the strong play of Michele Burns, Allison Padkul, and Sarah Golden as each player had eight points in the first half, matching Canon-Mac's high scorer Cheyenne Trest. Canon-Mac never brought the margin closer than 15 points in the second half as Hempfield connected on 9-12 free throws in the second half. Four different Hempfield players finished the night in double figures. Ali Belgiovane and Burns finished with 18, Padkul added 15, and Golden chipped in a dozen off the bench. Trest was the only Big Mac in double figures and finished her career with 22 points in the loss. Trest scored 14 of her 22 points with four fouls after picking it up 19 seconds into the second half. Hempfield advances to play #1 North Allegheny in the 6-A quarterfinals.

Norwin Knights 52 – Butler Golden Tornado 26 
The Norwin Knights kept their hopes alive for a third consecutive WPIAL title with a 52-26 win over Butler Tuesday night at Fox Chapel. After going back and forth in the 1st quarter, the Knights were able to pull away thanks in part to double digit scoring performances from Danielle McMaster and Abi Gabauer. Alyssa Eyth recorded 11 for the Golden Tornado. The Knights will take on Mt. Lebanon Friday.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 38 – Penn-Trafford Warriors 36 
Much like they did last year, Bethel Park picked up a tight Round One win from the 7th-seed to advance to Round Two. The Black Hawks hit from behind the arc in the first half against the zone, then hammered the ball underneath in the second half against man-to-man as they edged Penn-Trafford 38-36 Tuesday at Baldwin High School. Bethel Park jumped out to a 22-13 halftime lead thanks to junior guard Kamryn Lach's 13 points, most from behind the 3-point line. But the Warriors fought back in the third quarter to close to within 4 points heading into the fourth quarter. The second half was the Justina Mascaro show for the Hawks as she ended up leading all scorers with 14 points. P-T's chances of victory was hurt when MacKenie Aunkst left the game midway through the final quarter with an ankle injury. The Warriors see their season come to an end with a record of 12-11 while Bethel Park improves to 17-6 and now 7-0 since the return of Mascaro from a torn ACL injury she suffered in the summer. The Black Hawks now battle #2-seed Pine-Richland in the Quarterfinals on Friday. 

Peters Township Indians 55 – Seneca Valley Raiders 41 
Peters Township used a 13-0 run to close the first quarter, then held Seneca Valley at arm's length the rest of the way as the Indians cruised to a 55-41 win over the Raiders.  From a 6-6 tie midway through the first, Peters Township (14-8) turned up the pace on both ends of the floor, rolling up 16 straight points and never looking back.  Makenna Marisa and Lillian Young each scored nine points in the first half with Marisa finishing with a game-high 17.  Young finished with 14.  Isabella Mills had seven in the first quarter and ended the night with a dozen.  McKenna Gross drained three three-pointers in the final period, giving her a team high 15 points in the loss.  Seneca Valley (9-14) also got 10 poitns from Gretchen Koken.