High school roundup for Feb. 9, 2019: New Castle sweeps Ambridge

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 9, 2019 | 11:30 PM

It took until the final night of section competition, but a boys basketball champion was crowned in Section 2-4A.

New Castle, Ambridge and Quaker Valley shared the top spot of the section standings throughout the season, and each established themselves as teams to beat in Class 4A.

On Saturday night, New Castle secured the section’s top seed with a 56-48 win over Ambridge.

Demetris McKnight had 12 points, and Donte Burnett, Sheldon Cox and Michael Wells all had 11 for the Red Hurricanes.

New Castle (16-4, 10-2), which has won three straight games, swept the season series with Ambridge (14-8, 9-3), which defeated Quaker Valley (17-3, 9-3) on Friday night.

Mt. Lebanon 52, Allderdice 50 — Sean Loughran had 19 points, including five 3-pointers, as Mt. Lebanon (18-3) earned a nonsection victory over Allderdice (16-4). Jackson Blaufeld had 19 points for the Dragons.

South Fayette 73, Brownsville 58 — Drew Franklin scored 16 points as South Fayette beat Brownsville in nonsection play. Kade St. Ledger added 12 points for South Fayette while Joey Alcorn and Connor Mislan tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively. Phil Pace (31 points) and Nick Seto (21 points) accounted for 52 of Brownsville’s 58 points.

North Hills 60, Gateway 45 — In nonsection play, senior Jordan Albright ended his high school career by scoring 33 points to lead North Hills (6-16) to the win over Gateway (5-16). Elgin Oliver scored 11 points to pace the Gators.

Seneca Valley 63, Blackhawk 54 — Marcus Might scored 18 points and Trey Berringer added 15 points as Seneca Valley (10-10) beat Blackhawk (9-13) in nonsection play. Tyler Fedsin scored 14 points to lead Blackhawk.

McDowell 59, Shaler 40 — Will Jeffress scored 19 points to lead McDowell to a nonsection win against Shaler (15-7). Mekhi Reynolds scored 13 points to pace Shaler.

South Park 55, Brentwood 53 — Aidan Rongaus scored 14 points as South Park (10-11) slipped past Brentwood (11-10) in nonsection play. Hunter Lindsay added 12 points in the win while C.J. Ziegler scored a game-high 17 points to lead Brentwood.

Greensburg Central Catholic 58, Mt. Pleasant 36 — Joel LoNigro had 23 points, and Geoff Helm added 22 as Greensburg Central Catholic earned a nonsection win.

The Centurions (15-6) trailed 11-9 in the first quarter but then went on a 29-12 run to take control.

Greensburg Central Catholic enters the WPIAL Class A playoffs riding an eight-game winning streak. The playoff pairings will be released Tuesday.

Luke Brandner had seven points to lead Mt. Pleasant (5-17).

Seton LaSalle 79, Monessen 59 — In nonsection play, Michael Bigley scored 27 points to lead Seton LaSalle (17-3) to victory over Monessen (14-8). Jake Verner added 13 points for Seton LaSalle, which led 46-24 at halftime. Devin Whitlock scored 27 points for Monessen, and teammate Elijahwa Payne had 10 points.

Girls basketball

Burrell 57, Riverview 51 — Ally Fisher hit six 3-pointers on way to scoring 24 points as Burrell (6-14) beat Riverview (9-12) in nonsection play. Kaylen Sharrow added 12 points for Burrell while teammate Hope Clark had 11 points and eight rebounds. Sydney McDonough scored 24 points to lead Riverview while Francesca Lio added 13 points.

South Park 80, Brownsville 49 — Maura Huwalt scored 30 points to lead South Park (15-6, 13-1) to a Section 2-3A win over visiting Brownsville (10-11, 4-10). Cassidy Zandier added 25 points for South Park, which won its 11th straight game. Aniya Tarpley’s 13 points paced Brownsville.

California 47, Jefferson-Morgan 33 — Completing a Section 2-A suspended game from Thursday night, Sydney Smichnick scored 13 points and Makayla Boda added 12 points as California (10-8, 8-4) defeated Jefferson-Morgan (5-15, 2-10). Autums Gustovich scored 12 points for Jefferson-Morgan while Bryn Boyd added 11 points.

Burgettstown 43, California 26 — Playing in its second game of the day, California (10-9) fell to Burgettstown (12-10) in nonsection play. Emily Prasko scored 16 points to lead Burgettstown as teammates Geene DeMario and Avery Havelka added 11 and 10 points, respectively. California’s McKayla Boda scored 13 points for her second double-digit performance of the day.

Mt. Lebanon 50, Cumberland Valley 44 (OT) — Morgan Palmer hit five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points as Mt. Lebanon (12-10) beat Cumberland Valley in overtime. Mt. Lebanon’s Nora Kogan hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to extra time, where the Blue Devils hit 7 of 9 free throws to seal the win. Julie Jekot led Cumberland Valley with 17 points.

Blackhawk 78, West Middlesex 51 — Mackenzie Amalia scored 23 points and added nine assists to lead Blackhawk (18-3) to a nonsection win against West Middlesex (19-2). Mady Aulbach scored 21 points and Sierra Richard added 11 points for Blackhawk, which led at halftime, 52-24. Makennah White scored 23 points in the loss.

Hempfield 77, Latrobe 60 — Emma Hoffner had 20 points, and Sara Liberatore added 18 as Hempfield (11-11) won a nonsection game. Carly Augustine scored 21 points for Latrobe (12-8).

Central Valley 66, Mt. Pleasant 23 — Christiane Frye had 14 points as Central Valley (19-1) won a nonsection game. Juliann Kalp scored 11 points for Mt. Pleasant (5-17).

Monessen 52, New Brighton 34 — Zykavia Hairston scored 16 points to lead Monessen (7-14) to victory over New Brighton (2-18) at the Pittsburgh Basketball Classic at Ambridge. Monessen limited New Brighton to seven first-half points. Bianca Anderson tallied 12 points in the loss.