WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Tuesday 2/28

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 | 10:15 PM

In a postseason with very few surprises across both genders, we saw a 7th-seed advance to the finals and a pair of top-seeds get eliminated on Tuesday.  After knocking off #2 Pine-Richland in the Girls 6-A Quarterfinals, #7 Bethel Park followed up by beating #3 Penn Hills to advance to the title game. Meanwhile, two teams not championship bound are #1 Mars in 5-A and #1 Greensburg Central Catholic in 2-A. The Fightin' Planets were ousted by rival Hampton while the Centurions undefeated season earned its first blemish with a loss to OLSH. Here are recaps from the eight Semifinals games on Tuesday from Boys 5-A, Boys 2-A, Girls 6-A and Girls 1-A.

A special thanks to Sean Saputo, Randy Gore, Rennie Detore, Andy Stanko, Dennis Fischer, Bob Barrickman, Nate Regotti and Sean Meyers for their help with these recaps.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS 5-A Semifinals:

Hampton Talbots 61 – Mars Fightin' Planets 59 
The #5 seed Hampton Talbots advanced to the WPIAL Boys 5A championship game at the Petersen Events Center with a 61-59 upset win over the #1 seed Mars Planets on Tuesday night at North Allegheny High School.  For the second straight game, the Talbots fell behind by 15 points in the first half only to storm back and defeat a higher seeded team.  Hampton trailed 15-8 after one period of play, saw the Planets race out to that 15 point lead in the second quarter, then chipped away to get to within five at the half, 31-26.  Mars scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take what appeared to be a commanding 13 point lead before Hampton rallied to outscore the Planets 21-5 for the rest of the quarter to take a 46-43 lead into the final frame.  The Talbots (16-9) were led by senior Antonio Ionadi with 21 points and freshman Isaac DeGregorio with 10, including three three-point field goals to lead that second half comeback.  Mars (15-9) was paced by junior Robby Carmody with 31 and sophomore Andrew Recchia with 13.  Hampton will meet the Moon Tigers in the title game on Friday night at 9:00 PM.  Mars will enter the PIAA tournament the following weekend.

Moon Tigers 65 – Chartiers Valley Colts 43 
Jarrod Simmons of Moon scored 31 points, and that was just part of the Simmons story as the 6’8” senior led the Tigers to a convincing 65-43 victory over Chartiers Valley in a Boys 5A semifinal Tuesday night at West Allegheny.  The Penn recruit also had a field night blocking shots, rebounding, and making the Colts weary of going inside.  Moon led at the intermission 34-16 and Chartiers Valley never got closer than 14 points in the second half.  Sophomore Connor Ryan added 14 points for the 19-5 Tigers while senior guard Ross Wilkerson paced the Colts with 18 points and fellow senior Coleman Vaughn chipped in with 15.  Moon will take on Section 2 foe Hampton on Friday night in the WPIAL title game at the Petersen Events Center.  The Tigers beat the Talbots in both regular season meetings.  Chartiers Valley dipped to 17-7 and will be idle until March 10 when the Colts compete in the PIAA playoffs.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS 2-A Semifinals:

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 54 – Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 49 
Greensburg Central Catholic entered its Class 2A semifinals matchup against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart as the only undefeated WPIAL boys team. The top-seeded Centurions suffered their first loss, however, as the No. 5 Chargers scored a wire-to-wire 54-49 upset at Fox Chapel High School to advance to the championship. The Chargers opened the contest in dominant fashion, as they scored the first eight points of the contest. After a three pointer by GCC's Neal McDermott, the Chargers then notched the next seven points, taking a 15-3 lead just minutes into the tilt. Greensburg Central Catholic coach Greg Bisignani did not use a timeout, but his team struggled to respond to the OLSH outburst, as the Centurions committed a bevy of turnovers. Conversely, the Chargers came out of the gates red hot, including freshman Donovan Johnson, who tallied 11 points in the first quarter, including three trifectas. With OLSH holding a 22-8 edge, the Chargers slowed the pace in the second quarter, as both offenses sputtered. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart still managed to outscore its foe 9-6 in the frame, though, and carried a 31-14 lead into the locker room. The third quarter saw a reversal of fortunes, though, as GCC played inspired basketball, while the OLSH offense went cold. The Centurions turned off the defensive intensity and physicality, and as a result, outscored the Chargers by 10 points in the stanza, 14-4. Jack Liberatore led the way in the quarter for GCC, as he netted six points and ferociously snagged rebounds. The Chargers scored the final two points of the quarter, though, and opened the fourth quarter with a bucket to extend the lead to nine points, 37-28. Showing their resolve, the Centurions continued to battle back, and pulled within a single point, 44-43, late in the contest. However, the Chargers were nearly flawless in the closing minutes, as Ethan Harrell scored 10 points in the final quarter, while Matt Quinn converted all four of his free throws to seal the outcome. Johnson paced OLSH with 20 points, while Harrell finished with 16. In the setback, McDermott and Ben Hertzog both contributed 16 points. While GCC will have a chance for redemption in the PIAA postseason, the Chargers now will turn their sights to Sewickley Academy in the Class AA Championship, to be played at the Petersen Events Center on Friday at 5 p.m.

Sewickley Academy Panthers 67 – Bishop Canevin Crusaders 51 
In the third meeting between 2-A section 3 opponents, it was #3 Sewickley Academy winning the rubber match over #2 Bishop Canevin 67-51. Through the first half of play it seemed to be another hard-fought affair with Bishop Canevin. Canevin outscored SA by a single point in each of the first two quarters and led 30-28. The Crusaders lead stretched to as many as six points in the first quarter, but was quickly erased thanks to back-to-back threes from freshmen Isiah Warfield and Isaiah Smith off the Panther bench. The teams combined for seven threes in the first quarter, but four for the rest of the game. Sewickley Academy took control of the game with a 9-0 run to open the third quarter, and held the Crusaders scoreless for the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter. Sophomore Nate Ridgeway powered the Panthers to victory in the second half with four three-point plays on his way to a game-high 23 points. Canevin cut the Sewickley lead to eight points in the fourth quarter, but was unable to draw any closer.  Chris Groetsch added 11 and Justin Pryor and Smith scored 10 points for the Panthers. Sewickley outscored Canevin's bench 17-0 thanks to Smith and Warfield's efforts. Walter Bonds paced the Crusaders scoring efforts with 21 points. Senior Mitchell King finished with 15, and Julian Bonds added eight points. Sewickley Academy advances to the Pete for the second consecutive season. The Panthers were runners-up to CW North Catholic in class A last season. Sewickley will meet another familiar foe #5 OLSH in the 2-A championship game after the Chargers defeated previously unbeaten Greensburg Central Catholic. That championship game will tip-off at the Pete on Friday night at 5 p.m.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS 6-A Semifinals:

North Allegheny Tigers 61 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 44
For the second straight season, the North Allegheny Tigers have punched their ticket to the Petersen Events Center to play in the WPIAL championship. The Lady Tigers advanced to the Class 6A title game by beating the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils on Tuesday night, 61-44, in the WPIAL semifinals at North Hills High School. North Allegheny moves on to face the Bethel Park Black Hawks on Saturday night. Mt. Lebanon held an early 5-4 lead in the first quarter thanks to a 3-pointer and lay-up by junior Alyssa Hyland. After testing the waters in the first couple minutes of the game, the top-seeded Tigers vaulted ahead with a 14-0 run to a take an 18-5 lead. Sophomore Rachel Martindale scored eight points in the first quarter on her way to a game-high 22 point night. North Allegheny increased the advantage to as much as 23 points with 1:52 remaining in the second quarter and took a 38-18 lead into the locker room at halftime. Stony Brook University recruit Kenzee Bushee and Cornell University recruit Kate Sramac were both held scoreless by the Tigers defense in the first quarter, but the talented Mt. Lebanon duo finally started to heat up in the second half. In particular, Bushee tallied seven of her nine points in the third quarter and helped the Blue Devils trim the deficit to 14 points, 43-29, late in the third. Sramac chipped in with five points in the second half. Behind the hot hand of Martindale, and the inside presence of junior Madelyn Fischer, the Tigers pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 61-44 triumph. Fischer added 14 points and five rebounds junior Piper Morningstar drained three triples for a nine-point effort. North Allegheny shot 50-percent from the field (23 of 46) and were 11 of 24 on 3-pointers. Mt. Lebanon shot 32-percent (17 of 53) and was paced by Hyland’s 17 points. North Allegheny improves to 23-1 overall on the season and will take on Bethel Park for the WPIAL Class 6A championship on Saturday night at 7:00. Mt. Lebanon falls to 18-6 on the season and will await the PIAA playoffs next week.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 41 – Penn Hills Indians 36
No one expected Bethel Park to be contending for a chance at the WPIAL Section 6 title. That is, of course, besides the Blackhawks. Bethel Park continued its torrid pace in the playoffs and stellar performances as the No. 7 seeded underdog by knocking off No. 3 Penn Hills 41-36 on Tuesday night at North Allegheny High School in a Class 6-A semifinal game. The Blackhawks (19-6), since the return of star player Justina Mascaro from an ACL injury, is now 9-0, including 3-0 in the playoffs. Bethel Park also scored a quarterfinals upset over No. 2 seeded Pine-Richland on February 24. Mascaro led the Blackhawks with 16 points against the Indians and their star player Desiree Oliver. Oliver, who averages 19 points per game, checked in with 13 as the Bethel Park defense held the Temple recruit in check for most of the game. Both defenses played exceptionally well in a game that Penn Hills never led. The key to victory for Bethel Park in addition to defensive play was its ability to withstand several pushes by Penn Hills to take the lead. Well timed time outs by Bethel Park head coach Jonna Burke never allowed Penn Hills to fully capture the momentum of the game. Oliver also seemed frustrated and out of sorts thanks to Bethel Park's defense, as she amassed only five points in the first half and was held scoreless in the final quarter. Conversely, her cross court counterpart Mascaro started slow but dominated in the second half and often drew the attention of the Penn Hills defense, which allowed her teammates open looks and better shots throughout the night. The win pushes Bethel Park (19-6) to a title tilt against another Tuesday night winner, North Allegheny, a 61-44 victory over Mount Lebanon. Bethel Park plays North Allegheny at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 4 at the Petersen Event Center. DJ Whittington also finished in double figures for Penn Hills, and Kamryn Lach added nine for Bethel Park on 3-for-3 shooting on 3-pointers.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS 1-A Semifinals:

Winchester Thurston Bears 55 – West Greene Pioneers 50 
Winchester Thurston advanced to the WPIAL championship game by outlasting West Greene in a very entertaining semifinal on Tuesday night 55-50. The Bears (20-1) started the game hot with an uptempo offense that propelled them to a double digit lead in the opening minutes forcing West Greene (19-5) to call two early timeouts. Junior Ayanna Townsend scored six first quarter points to eclipse the 1,000 mark in her career and gave Winchester Thurston a 19-7 lead after one quarter of play. Using their pesky press to cause turnovers, the Pioneers went on a 9-0 in the second quarter that led to their first lead of the game 26-25 with 2:00 remaining in the first half, but Winchester Thurston went on a small run of its own to grab a 31-27 lead at the intermission. Neither time led by more than 5 points the rest of the way. The Pioneers took a 45-44 lead thanks to a pair of Marisa Rode free throws with just over five minutes remaining in the game, but it would be their last as Townsend and Junior Gia Thorpe made key steals that turned into points for the Bears and sealed the win. Thorpe and Townsend combined for a whopping 52 points, scoring 29 and 23 respectively. Lampe tallied 20 to add to twin sister Madison's 19. Number one overall seed Winchester Thurston will face Cornell Friday at 3 p.m. in the championship game at Pitt's Petersen Event Center.

Cornell Raiders 51 – St. Joseph Spartans 42 
The Cornell Raiders and St. Joseph Spartans used runs of their own in each of the first three quarters to add to leads, but in the fourth, the Raiders pulled away and finally broke through the glass ceiling, advancing to the WPIAL 1A Championship with a 51-42 victory over the Spartans. The first quarter was a series of runs, with Cornell opening up the game with a slight 10-6 edge. Late in the first quarter and into the second quarter, St. Joseph went on a 12-1 run to take a 21-11 lead midway through the second. Cornell stormed back, finishing the second on a 13-6 run to head to the break trailing by just three at 27-24. Cornell and St. Joseph traded baskets to open the third, and it pushed the score to 29-26. However, Cornell showed its will and a fantastic change in game-plan, finishing the third quarter on another run, this time a 12-2 run, to take a 38-31 lead into the regulation period. St. Joseph fought back to tie the game 40-40 thanks to solid defense and quality shooting to start the fourth, but a timeout by Cornell head coach Shawn Urbano changed the complexion of the game. After the timeout, Cornell finished the game on an 11-2 run, clinch a trip to the Petersen Events Center with a 51-42 win. 1A leading scorer Daeja Quick, averaging 23 points per game, had a quiet nine points, but was complimented well by her front-court. Jaelah Smith also scored nine points and added 18 rebounds to the stat sheet. Smith’s opposite down low, Patience Gipson, equaled Quick and Smith with nine points, but corralled 14 rebounds. St. Joseph was led offensively by Lizzy Celko, who had 12 points, all in the first half and rebounds. The only other double-digit scorer for St. Joseph was Gia Angelo with 10. Cornell’s victory clinches a birth in the 1A Girls Championship game on Friday at 3pm against Winchester Thurston at the Petersen Events Center. St. Joseph has clinched a spot in the PIAA 1A tournament and its seeding will be determined by the fate of Cornell. St. Joseph will be a three seed with a Cornell victory, or a four seed with a Cornell loss on Friday.