Path to the Pete Recaps From Wednesday 2/17

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 | 10:26 PM

While 24 WPIAL Basketball Playoff games were scheduled for Tuesday, the only winner was Mother Nature as the 12 boys and 12 girls opening round games were pushed back 24 hours. On Wednesday, the higher seeds all prevailed with the exception of three teams including two defending champions. #4 Peters Township in Girls AAAA was upset in the opening round Wednesday, as were two-time defending Girls AA champion and #3-seed Seton-LaSalle and defending Boys AAA champion and #7-seed Indiana. Here are the summaries from the end of the First Round in Boys AAA, Boys A, Girls AAAA and Girls AA.

A special thanks to Steve Nagler, Gary Frankhouser, Mike Azadian, James Dotson, Greg Kuntz, Tom Hays, Jason Tennant, Brian Mroziak, Rob Longo, Sam Hall, Dennis Fischer, Nate Regotti, Sean Meyers, Cory Campano, Bob Barrickman, Bob Gregg, Paul Paterra, Mark Uriah, Kevin Zielmanski, Josh Rowntree, Mark Schaas and Bob Orkwis for their help on these recaps.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round:

New Castle Red Hurricane 78 – Montour Spartans 39 
To Montour head coach Will Saunders, it must have felt like that his team was facing twice as many defenders, instead of the normal five. New Castle forced 34 turnovers to cruise to the quarterfinals for the sixth straight year. The Red Hurricanes led 38-16 at the break and pulled away in the third quarter using a 26-4 advantage to invoke the mercy rule with 1:30 remaining in the quarter. Senior Marcus Hooker led all scorers with 23 points, including 4 trifectas. Junior Geno Stone added 14 points, the Canes’ buried 8 three-pointers. Junior Garrett Farah, senior Pat Minenok and sophomore Georgie Eggleston all scored 8 points. New Castle was 10-16 from the line and committed just 9 turnovers. Senior Caleb Bryan scored 15 points for the Spartans. Montour’s leading scorer, sophomore KJ Rhodes was held scoreless. The Spartans were 6-7 from the line  and committed 20 miscues in the first half. Montour ends the season 13-10.

West Allegheny Indians 64 – Ambridge Bridgers 61 
Ambridge took the court with heavy hearts as the Bridges played without their head coach, Mark Jula. Mark’s youngest son Brett passed away late last week from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. Assistant coach Matt Kupper filled in for Coach Jula and led the Bridgers to a 29 to 23 half time lead. West A. Came alive in the second half building a lead of six points and eventually winning 64 -61. West Allegheny was led by Jared Lanni with 23 points while Alijah Crowe had 16 and his younger brother Isaiah Crowe had 14 to pace the Indians. Ambridge was led by Darius Lawrence with 28 points and Aaron Hilzendeger had 10 points. Ambridge ends their season at 11-11, while West Allegheny advances to take on number one New Castle.

Highlands Golden Rams 87 – Trinity Hillers 58 
Highlands jumped out to a 15-2 early lead and still led by as many as 11 into the second quarter, but Trinity battled back to cut the Rams’ lead to 7 at halftime. Highlands then scored the first 14 points of the third quarter and outscored the Hillers 28-10 in the third, on their way to an 87-58 victory. Mitch Dezort led all scorers with 25 points, including five three-pointers. Jamison Nee tossed in 20 for the Rams, and Lavontai Martin also reached double figures with 11. Defensively, Highlands held Trinity’s leading scorer, Joey Koroly to just four points, 12 below his season average. Dylan Kern led Trinity (13-9) with 12. Adam Raggi added 11. Highlands (19-4) has now won 15 of its last 16 games. The Rams move onto the WPIAL quarter-finals against section rival Hampton. The Rams defeated the Talbots twice during the regular season.

Hampton Talbots 60 – Central Valley Warriors 57 
The #5 seed Hampton Talbots advanced to the quarterfinal round of the WPIAL Triple A boys basketball playoffs with a come-from-behind 60-57 win over the #12 seed Central Valley Warriors on Wednesday night at Chartiers Valley High School.  The Talbots trailed 20-17 at the end of the first period, fell behind by 11 midway through the second quarter, and clawed its way back to within two at the half, 28-26.  Hampton gained the advantage, 42-41, by the end of the third period, and then traded leads with the Warriors throughout the final quarter before pulling away at the end.  The Talbots were led by junior Ryan Shehedy with 20 points, junior Kyle Reese with 17, and junior Antonio Ionadi with 15.  Central Valley saw four players reach double figures, juniors Michael Simmons and Parker Hudson with 15 each, senior Josh Carter with 12, and senior Adam Kline with 10. Hampton (16-7) will meet Section 1 rival, Highlands, on Friday night at a site and time to be announced on Thursday.  Central Valley ended its season at 11-12.

Beaver Falls Tigers 62 – Thomas Jefferson Jaguars 49 
A 15-0 run by Beaver Falls in the first quarter proved to be enough for the Tigers as they defeated Thomas Jefferson in a Boys AAA first round game at West Allegheny Wednesday night, 62-49.  The Jaguars stormed back a couple times including early in the fourth quarter when a 7-2 run cut the Beaver Falls lead to 49-43.  But, the Tigers rebounded and pushed the advantage to as high as 18 points.  Junior guard Bryce Strati had the hot hand early for Beaver Falls by scoring 13 of his 15 points in the first half.  Junior forward Josh Creach also had 15 points for the Tigers but sat out much of the first half with two fouls.  Senior guard C.J. Mason did not play in the first period for Thomas Jefferson due to a coach’s decision but sparked a Jaguar rally with three 3-pointers in the second.  Mason ended up leading all scorers with 21 points.  Junior swingman Justin Farrell added 11 points for the Jaguars before fouling out with just under two minutes left.  Junior center Donovan Jeter added 14 tallies for Beaver Falls, which is now 20-3 on the season.  Thomas Jefferson ended its season at 11-13.  The Tigers will meet West Mifflin in a quarterfinal round game on Friday.

West Mifflin Titans 73 – Indiana Little Indians 57 
West Mifflin overcame a slow start to knock off the defending champions Indiana Little Indians 73-57 in the Class AAA first round at Plum High School. The No. 7 Indians jumped out to an early advantage, as they found success around the basket in the opening frame to lead 20-9. After the perimeter shots did not fall in the first quarter for West Mifflin, the Titans got hot in the second, as senior Josh Long scored seven straight points to pull his squad within four, at 33-29. Less than one minute into the third quarter, the Titans deadlocked on the contest on a three-pointer by Ken Rouse-Strothers, and after the teams exchanged baskets for the next few minutes, the Titans took the lead for good at 43-41 on another Rouse-Strothers hoop. That basket sparked a 9-0 run that put West Mifflin in command late in the third quarter. The Titans continued their surge into the fourth quarter, and also shot well from the foul line to seal the victory. The tenth-seeded Titans were paced by Long, who scored a game-high 24 points, including five 3-pointers. Rouse-Strothers added 23 points, while Karlyn Garner chipped in with 12. For the Little Indians, Jake Benhart tallied a team-leading 20 points. West Mifflin will next face the other 2015 Championship finalist, as the Titans play Beaver Falls on Friday.

Mars Fighting Planets 83 – Laurel Highlands Mustangs 35 
The Mars Planets were just too much for the Laurel Highlands Mustangs. In control from the outset, the Planets took an early 25 to 10 first quarter lead and just continued to add on for the 83 to 35 victory.  The Planets were led by their sophomore sensation Robb Carmody who poured in 30 in just three quarters of action. Mars will move on easily to face Steel Valley in the AAA quarterfinals on Friday night.

Steel Valley Ironmen 53 – South Fayette Lions 48 
The 11th seeded South Fayette Lions gave 6th seeded Steel Valley everything they could handle in this WPIAL Boys Class AAA First-Round matchup at Baldwin High School  leading by 9 points at halftime and by as many as 16 points in the second half, before the Ironmen came from behind with a big fourth quarter to defeat the Lions 53-48. Senior Josh Castelluci came off the bench to spark the Lions in the first half, nailing 3-three pointers and scoring all of his team-high 14 points in the first 16 minutes. South Fayette led 29-20 at the break and built a 16-point lead on strong play by Ryhan Culberson and Matt Thomas. Thomas, a junior, finished with 9-points for the Lions while the sophomore Culberson also added 9 to go along with 10 rebounds, Culberson also made several great hustle plays for South Fayette before being hit with a personal foul and a technical foul in the 3rd quarter which sent him to the bench with four personal fouls. With Culberson on the bench for the Lions, sophomore Amonte Strothers came off the bench for Steel Valley and was the spark the Ironmen needed after not playing in eight days. The 6-1 Strothers scored 8 of his 10 points in the third quarter to help pull Steel Valley to within 7 points at 42-35 after three. Strothers also finished with 6 rebounds for Steel Valley. The Ironmen finally broke through, taking their first lead of the game with 3:26 remaining. Senior guard Kennedy Smith raced up the floor and nearly beat the entire South Fayette defense to make a layup to tie the score at 43-43. Smith, who finished with a game-high 18 points, was fouled on the play and when he converted the free throw, Steel Valley had a one-point lead.  The Ironmen were stellar on defense in the second half, holding South Fayette to just 19 points, and that defense was even better down the stretch as the Lions netted just 6 points in the fourth quarter. Senior Dylan Smith scored 5 of his 9 points in the fourth quarter for Steel Valley. South Fayette did a great job limiting 6-5 Ja’Mier Fletcher, holding the sophomore forward to just 4 points. Fletcher did pull down a game-high 14 rebounds to help Steel Valley improve to (16-5). The Lions season ends at (12-10). The victory avenged a first round loss from last season, when South Fayette ended Steel Valley’s season with a 77-58 win. The Ironmen head into the quarterfinals on Friday with little time to prepare for their next opponent, 3rd seeded Mars. The Fighting Planets defeated Laurel Highlands 83-35 to improve to (18-5) on the season. Friday’s quarterfinal matchup will be played at a site and time to be determined.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS A First Round:

Monessen Greyhounds 95 – Leechburg Blue Devils 31 
The top-seeded Monessen Greyhounds (20-3) flew out to a large lead and never looked back, crushing No. 16 Leechburg 95-31 on Wednesday night at Charleroi High School. The Greyhounds forced 30 first half turnovers, building a 77-17 halftime lead. Dwight Moore scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Jaden Altomore scored 21 points and snagged 12 rebounds, while Lavalle Rush and Justice Rice each contributed 14 points each for Monessen, which advances to face No. 8 Union in the WPIAL Boys Class A Quarterfinals. Christian Hack scored 15 points for Leechburg (8-11), which was playing during the fallout of a hazing scandal involving the boys basketball program. No other Blue Devil scored more than four points in the contest. Monacan out-rebounded Leechburg 43-26 in their 14th straight win. Monacan’s Quarterfinals showdown against Union will be played Friday at a site and time to be determined.

Union Scotties 51 – California Trojans 31 
The Union Scotties avenged a first round playoff loss to California a year ago, by downing the Trojans 51 to 31 in a Boys A 1st Round Matchup on Wednesday  Night at West Allegheny High School.  Garrison Bell scored a game high 19  points for Union, while Trevon Charles was also in double figures with 11 points  for the Scotties.  California was lead by John Defranco who scored 12  points.  The Trojans leading scorer Kass Taylor suffered a knee injury early in the 4th quarter and did not  return.  After yielding 14 points to the Trojans in the 1st quarter, Union’s defense, allowed just 5 California points in the 2nd  quarter, 7 points in the 3rd quarter and just 5 in the 4th. Union will take on top seed Monessen in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Sewickley Academy Panthers 63 – Springdale Dynamos 36 
The 2nd seeded Sewickley Academy Panthers defeated the 15th seeded Springdale Dynamos 63 – 36 at Northgate High School to advance to the quarterfinals. Neither team scored during the first three minutes of the game as the Dynamos were executing their plan to slow down the tempo of the game. To get their offense going, the Panthers turned up the defensive pressure which forced Springdale to play faster, exactly what Coach Palmer intended. The faster pace allowed the Panthers to get into transition, whether from missed shots or turnovers, and build a 29-14 lead at the half. There was much more of the same in the second half as Springdale continued to struggle on offense until the game was out of reach. During a third quarter run, Junior Chris Groetsch scored on three consecutive possessions in transition, pushing his total to 10 points for the game. Leading all scorers was Freshman Nate Ridgeway with 19 points for the Panthers. Senior Scott Brown also reached double figures with 10 points. Only four players scored all game for Springdale as Alex Pane scored 13 points and Sammy Carey scored 10 points.

Vincentian Academy Royals 81 – West Greene Pioneers 46 
The Royals of Vincentian Academy blew past West Greene in the First Round of the Class-A Boys Basketball Playoffs, 81-46, Wednesday night at Canon-McMillan High School.  The first few minutes of the game showed a nice pace for both teams with back-and-forth scoring.  West Greene was able to trade baskets with the Royals as they were able to break Vincentian’s press defense with nice crisp passing to set up easy looks at the rim. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, that only lasted for about the first half of the first quarter.  Vincentian started to pull away midway through the opening quarter as their depth became a key factor.  The Royals constantly substituted, using several players off the bench to keep fresh legs on the floor as they continued to run the press defense.  It became apparent that West Greene was not going to be able to keep up with the Royals’ depth, and that problem only became worse as the game went on. By the end of the first quarter, Vincentian led 26-12 with balanced scoring from 5 different players all with at least 4 points in the quarter.  At one point early on, Vincentian led 10-7.  They then would use a 32-5 run to bury West Greene. The halftime score was 54-22 and the mercy clock was initiated in the third quarter.  The nice balance to the Royals’ offense continued as they ended with 4 players in double digits, but none reached 20 points. Vincentian was led by Thomas Quinlan who scored 18, David Jen with 17, Geno Conroy with 15, and Garret Barto, who chipped in 13. Quinlan and Jen combined for seven of the Royals’ ten 3-pointers. West Greene’s leading scorer was Kolten Rush, who finished with 14. Vincentian moves on to the Quarterfinals where they will face Sewickley Academy.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Hempfield Spartans 62 – Peters Township Indians 56 
There are times when basketball games are decided at the free throw line. That was the case in this thriller. After Ali Belgiovane made two foul shots with 22 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, Hempfield made 16 of 20 free throws in overtime. Each of Hempfield’s 16 points in the overtime period came at the foul line. For the game, Hempfield went 27 of 32 at the line. In regulation time neither team led by more than six points. Michelle Burns paced Hempfield with 27 points. Belgiovane added ten. Madison Kerr led Peters Township (18-5) with 22 points. The Indiana University of Pennsylvania recruit also had 10 rebounds. Cameron Morgan added 9 points and 13 rebounds. Hempfield (15-8) advances to the quarterfinals to play Pine-Richland.

Pine-Richland Rams 55 – McKeesport Tigers 49 
Both the Pine-Richland Rams and the McKeesport Tigers had players who averaged more than 20 points per game in Amanda Kalin and Johnasia Cash respectively.  Also, both teams came into their matchup Wednesday night at Fox Chapel High School giving up averages of less than 43 ppg.  Even moreover, both teams came into the playoffs winning 5 of their last 6 in the regular season.  It was the Rams, however, who jumped out to the early lead as Kalin single-handed carried the load, scoring the first 15 points for PR.  They also played stifling defense against Cash and company, at times double- and triple-teaming her in the low post.  Cash was held to 6 points in the first half while Kalin exploded for 24.  Pine-Richland maintained a double-digit lead until the 4th quarter when the Tigers started to chip away at that lead, whittling it down to 2 with under 2:00 to play.  Clutch free-throw shooting by the Rams, however, insured the victory and a spot in the quarters. Kalin finished the game with 41 of PR’s 56 points.  Cash was the high-scorer for the Tigers with 21, and she got support from Maniah  Robinson and Ronnie Upsher, who had 11 apiece. McKeesport’s season comes to an end at 15-7, but Pine-Richland moves on with a 17-5 record.  The Rams will face the winner of Peters Township and Hempfield in the quarterfinal round.

Penn Hills Indians 76 – Latrobe Wildcats 35 
The third-seeded Penn Hills Indians overwhelmed the Greater Latrobe Wildcats early and often en route to a 76-35 victory at Plum High School. Penn Hills, which was the runner up to Quad-A Champion Norwin last season, built an insurmountable 22-3 lead in the first quarter. Although the No. 14 Wildcats settled in a bit as the game progressed, they never pulled closer than 17 points, as their shooting woes and frequent turnovers allowed the Indians to score often in transition. After a nightmare start to the contest, the Wildcats tightened the clamps defensively in the second frame, allowing just 10 points to the potent Indians’ lineup. However, GL could not trim into its deficit, as the Wildcats (12-10) scored just six points, including four from senior forward Maddie Kollar. Penn Hills (21-2) opened the third stanza with a 9-0 run, all of which were scored by the exceptional duo of Desiree Oliver and Jade Ely. Ely, a senior who has committed to play at Cleveland State, netted nine points in the contest while battling foul issues, while Oliver, another Division I prospect, scored a game-high 26 points. Although the Wildcats scored 13 points in the quarter to more than double their first-half output, the Indians netted 20 in the frame to hold a 30-point lead. With both teams in the bonus in the fourth, the Wildcats netted nine of the 13 points from the charity stripe, while the Indians made 10 free throws in the quarter. Kollar paced the Wildcats with 12 points, while sophomore Laura Graytok, who enjoyed a breakout season, netted six points. In addition to Oliver and Ely, the Indians received a big performance from freshman Tayonna Robertson, who contributed 14 points, including several uncontested layups. Penn Hills will next play Canon-McMillan in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Canon-McMillan Big Macs 51 – Fox Chapel Foxes 49 
Canon-Mac junior Cheyenne Trest drove into the lane and converted a layup with just 7 seconds on the clock to propel the Big Macs to a 51-49 win over Fox Chapel in the first round on Wednesday night. The victory was the first ever post season win in Canon-Mac school history. Fox Chapel led 38-35 going into the fourth quarter, but the Big Macs regained the lead and never looked back. Trest led all scorers with 27 points. Senior Rebecca Turney chipped in 9 for the Big Macs. Fox Chapel was led by senior Kayla Slovenec with 11 points. The Big Macs advance to take on Penn Hills in the quarterfinals.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS AA First Round:

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 52 – Apollo-Ridge Vikings 31 
The top seed in girls AA, the OLSH Chargers had little difficulty in knocking off the 16 seed, Apollo-Ridge Vikings at Northgate high school in first round action of the WPIAL playoffs Wednesday night by a margin of  52-31 . The Chargers had to wait an extra day after yesterday’s postponements but did not look rusty at all in picking up their 20th win of the year and advancing to the quarterfinals where they will face the 9th seed Chartiers-Houston Buccanneers on Friday night right here on the MSA Sports Network. OLSH was led by  Courtney Alexander who poured in 16 points on the night including 13  in the third   quarter. The Vikings were led by Meagan Ost who scored 10 but, Apollo-Ridge just did not have the manpower or the bench to match up with the Chargers. Apollo-Ridge sees their season come to a close as they fall to 12-12 on the year after winning their first playoff game for third year head coach Jim Callipare last week over Frazier to enter the tournament “proper”. Guard play and defense have been the theme for the 2015-2016 Chargers and that was very evident at Northgate as the Chargers held a young and improving A-R team to nine first half points, including just a single field goal. Depth has been a hallmark for Don Eckerle’s Chargers all season long as well, witness their nine different girls who have led them in scoring at one point or another during the campaign.

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 49 – Washington Little Prexies 48 
Keaira Walker scored one field goal the entire night.  It just happened to come with five seconds to play, lifting Chartiers-Houston to a 49-48 win over Washington.  The Bucs (17-6) advance to play #1 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Friday’s quarterfinal round.  The Little Prexies (18-5) saw their 8-game winning streak snapped.  What was a back-and-forth game into the early second quarter turned into a game of runs the rest of the way.  Over a 3-1/2 minute span, the teams traded the lead six times and were even up twice.  Trailing 14-12, the Bucs used free throws and a Cassidy Stollar field goal to go up three with just under two minutes to play.  Washington got two field goals from Tajah Gordon within 6 seconds to retake the lead, then a trey from Niki Hoffman, taking a 24-20 lead to the lockerroom.  Chartiers-Houston sprinted off on a 9-1 run to open the third quarter, led by Jules Vulcano who scored 8 points in the quarter.  The Bucs built 6-point leads twice,  but Gordon got a floater and two foul shots to pull the Little Prexies to within 36-34 at the end of three.  Jala Walker took matters into her own hands in the fourth, getting a deuce, a couple of free throws, and an old-fashioned three-point play, pushing Chartiers-Houston to a 9-point margin, 43-34, with 5:30 to play.  Hoffman’s three-pointer brought a spark to Washington, and a bucket by Mikala Maltony made it a two-point game halfway through the quarter. Jala Walker twice gave the Bucs a little breathing room but Washington would not go away.  Torri Finley and Gordon made field goals to pull the Little Prexies to within 47-43.  With under a minute to play, Maltony hit back-to-back free throws. CHHS had a four-on-one when Carley Allen hustled back to steal a dribble and get the ball in front court.  Maltony was fouled at the low post and hit the first foul shot.  The senior missed the second and scrambled for the rebound.  But Jala Walker got to it first, avoided falling over Maltony and passed ahead for another four-on-one, and Keaira Walker didn’t miss the chance.  Jala Walker finished with 18 points, Vulcano 15 for the Bucs.  Gordon has 18, Hoffman 13 for Wash High.

Bishop Canevin Crusaders 40 – Mohawk Warriors 34 
For a few brief minutes of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 4 Bishop Canevin
and No. 13 Mohawk, it seemed as if the Warriors had a good chance of an upset, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to jump out to a 6-0 lead. However, Bishop Canevin went on a run of its own and never looked back, leading 22-10 after eight minutes of play. The Crusaders got in foul trouble early in the second quarter, which allowed Mohawk to claw back into the contest with only an eight-point deficit. Bishop Canevin became possession-oriented in the second half, chewing up chunks of clock at a time on offense. When the final whistle sounded, Bishop Canevin moved on to face Neshannock Friday with a 40-34 win despite a late rally by Mohawk. The Warriors were led by senior Aliya Gage, who had a game-high 14 points. Shamyjha Price had 10 points for Bishop Canevin off the bench.

Neshannock Lancers 58 – Charleroi Cougars 23 
The vaunted Neshannock Lancer defense clamped down to throttle the young Charleroi Cougars en route to a quarterfinal berth in the 2016 WPIAL Girls Basketball Playoffs.  Neshannock forced a total of 21 Cougar turnovers on the night and jumped on Charleroi from the jump, outscoring the Cougars 20-2 to start the game.  The Lancers didn’t relinquish a field goal until around the 4:00 of the 2nd quarter on their way to the 35-point victory.  Eight Lancers scored, led by sophomore Carmie Matarazzo who scored a game-high total of 19 points, twelve of which came in the 2nd half.  Three Lancers (Regan Moorhouse, Allie Zarilla and Stephanie Paras) chipped in with 8 points and Bella Burrelli had 7.  Charleroi was led by Maria Claybaugh who had 8 points.  Kaitlyn Riley was held to 5 points before fouling out in the 4th quarter.  With the loss, Charleroi ends their season with a respectable 16-8 record while Neshannock (19-3) presses on and will face Bishop Canevin in the quarterfinals on Friday night.

Burrell Buccaneers 48 – Shenango Wildcats 47 
At Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School in Girls AA  first round playoff action the number 2 seeded Burrell Bucs withstand a serious threat from the 15th seeded Shenango Wildcats  to win a barn burner 48-47 to move to the second round. The Wildcats came out strong in the first period and led 8-0. Strong rebounding and defense kept them ahead. Angela Sibeto ran the point and had 2 big buckets early as Burrell led 15-11 after one quarter. Into the second quarter Burrell was struggling. Their star Natalie Myers could not score. In fact she couldn’t shoot. Shenango had three different girls rotate on defense to shadow her and take her out of the game scoring wise. This tactic worked as the Wildcats went to their biggest lead 21-11 midway thru the second. Jacqui Baker was strong on the boards for the Bucs, they dominated the boards and had an 19-11 lead on rebounds at the half as they took  a 24-18 lead. Into the 3rd quarter Burrell came on strong and took the lead midway thru the stanza. Eliza Oswalt was on fire, she hit a huge three as they took the lead 28-26. The game would be close as Shenango briefly took the lead 29-28, but the Bucs went on a 7-4 run to end the quarter and led 35-33. As the 4th quarter began it seemed the Wildcats were tiring, and Burrell went on a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead at 44-33. With an 11 point lead they slowed the game down and forced Shenango to foul. This led to a Wildcat revival. They would go on an 11-2 run, helped by 4 Buc turnovers, and got the game back to 46-44. Down two with less than a minute to play they were forced to foul again. After two Buc foul shots it was 48-44 and it looked like Shanango was done, but Sibeto hit a huge three with under :15 seconds to play to get the Wildcats within one at 48-47. They immediacy fouled, and Burrell missed the front end of a one and one. Sibeto got the inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and dished a perfect pass to  Baker under the basket. With a chance to win at the buzzer the shot was missed. Burrell erupts in joy, Shenango was devastated in loss. A great first round game. For Shenango Samantha Seaburn lead them with 16 points, Sibeto had a 13. For the Bucs it was Eliza Oswalt leading the way with 25. She was white hot all night. Calm and cool all night, She had 5 three pointers to lead all scorers. Myers was held to 8 points, 20 under her average, but she hit big free throws in the 4 th quarter and rebounded well, and as she was double and triple teamed she didn’t force shots, instead she found open teammates for buckets. A big reason why the Bucs won. Shenango ends their season at 14-10 while Burrell improves to 19-4 and will face Carlynton in a second round game.

Carlynton Cougars 37 – West Shamokin Wolves 30 
Carlynton coach Tim Bonner takes pride his team’s pressure defense. The Lady Cougars
used that defense to near perfection, forcing 27 turnovers en route to a 37-30 victory over West Shamokin in the first round of the WPIAL Girls Class AA playoffs. With the extra off day due to the weather, neither team had played in over a week, and the rust showed early. The teams combined for 15 turnovers in the opening stanza, with Carlynton the beneficiary of many transition buckets. The strong rebounding of the Lady Wolves, especially from Katie Glover and Andrea Orlosky, kept West Shamokin within reach at half. Carlynton would take a 17-14 lead into the locker room. West Shamokin scored the first bucket of the third quarter to cut the lead to one, but a 17-4 Lady Cougars run broke the game open for good. Diamond Thomas led all scorers with 14 points, including 10-18 from the foul line (the rest of the team was 0-2 from the charity stripe). Thomas and fellow guard Ashleigh Wilson controlled the game from driving the lane and either drawing fouls or finding the open teammate. Abby Greiner was the beneficiary of many of those assists, following with 10 points and five rebounds for Carlynton. Stephanie Schrecengost led West Shamokin with 8 points and six rebounds, followed by Olivia Fusaro with 6 points, and Katie Glover with 6 points and 10 rebounds. The Lady Wolves finish the year with a 15-8 record. Carlynton has now won 10 of their last 11 games. They advance to face 2-seed Burrell, a 48-47 victor over Shenango, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 56 – Seton-LaSalle Rebels 54 
The #14 seed Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions upset the #3 seed Seton La Salle Rebels on Wednesday night at Peters Township High School.  The defending WPIAL champs could not advance past the first round as Brittany Stawovy yet again led the Centurions to victory. She had 19 points, including the game winning shot with 7 seconds left to seal the victory and the upset 56 to 54. Stawovy hit a shot with less than 5 seconds to go last year when these teams met in the PIAA playoffs, only to see Seton La Salle hit a half court buzzer beater and send the Centurions home.  The Centurions got their revenge this year as they sent a powerhouse Seton La Salle team home with a sour taste in their mouth. Seton saw it’s stars Shaunay Edmonds and Madalena Psillidis score 19 and 18 points respectively, but it was not enough to stop the balanced scoring attack from GCC. It was a two point game at halftime, tied heading into the fourth, and ultimately a two point victory margin when the final horn buzzed.  The game was just as even as the final score. Each team had 19 turnovers and there was a sense it would take one big play to end the game. Brittany Stawovy’s jumper was that big play, but this time there was no buzzer beater by the Rebels to follow. Seton La Salle will look to upset teams the rest of the way and their first attempt will come on Friday night as they take on #6 Riverside at a site to be determined.

Riverside Panthers 45 – Brentwood Spartans 42 
The Panthers turned up the heat in the second half, forcing 13 turnovers to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2011. Senior Katie Stang scored 23 of  her game high 26 points to lead the comeback. Riverside outscored Brentwood 18-9 in the fourth quarter. The six seeded Panthers go to 20-3 overall. Senior Morgan Bailey scored 8 other 9 points in the first half to keep Riverside in the game. Brentwood led 26-15 at the half, despite having Alecia Folino and Stephanie Thomas with 3 fouls each. Thomas picked up her fourth foul in the third and fouled out with two minutes remaining., she was held to 10 points. The Panthers did the job at the free throw line, going 19-25 for the game , Coach Hohn Wolf said he emphasizes free throw shooting, shooting at different time during practice to simulate all game conditions. Riverside committed 15 turnovers. Brentwood ends the season at 13-9, the Spartans were 10-16 from the line